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Operation Market Garden was the Allied attempt at capturing an intact bridge over the Rhine river in september 1944. The 1st Allied Airborne Army (U.S 82nd, 101st and British 1st Airborne) were to drop infront of the British XXX Corps to secure its passage to Arnhem where the Rhine was to be crossed.
There were many canals to cross before reaching the Rhine river, all the crossing points were targets for the airborne. The major crossing for the 101st was the Son bridge which was destroyed by the Germans, the major crossing for the 82nd was Nijmegan which was not captured until XXX Corps provided support and the point for the 1st Airborne was Arnhem itself.
The idea was that XXX Corps would be rolling over Arnhem bridge after 4 days at the most. In the end 1st Airborne were surrounded on the north side of Arnhem and unable to capture both sides - they eventually retreated back across the river with the aid of Polish paratroopers after ten days against the 9th SS Panzer Division.
While the operation was 90% complete (XXX Corps did come within a few miles of Arnhem) it was all for nought as the Rhine was not crossed, which was the goal. The losses suffered by the Allies, especially the 1st Airborne, were not expected and painfully high. The 1st Airborne was decimated for the 10,300 that landed at Oosterbeek (1st Airborne LZ) only 2,500 escaped back to Allied lines.
Operation Market Garden September 17 - 27 1944
There's a good site for you.
I would like to point out that the reasons BEHIND the Japanese nation attacking the good old U.S. of A is shrouded in mystery, some believe that the Japanese simply attacked to get jet tech, others believe they just did it to get on the Hitler's good side, yet there is evidence that the Japanese were actually FORCED to attack, under threat of conquest from the third rich. personaly, while I think it WAS a BAD idea, I think the two worst were when The third rich declared war on U.S.A, and the incident at pearl harbor. (Truthfully, I think the WORST blunder was Hitlers Beginning the war IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!)The worst blunder of the war was when Japan attacked the US at Pearl Harbor. They were absolutely unrealistic to believe that they had any chance to win a war against the US. The second worse was when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union.
I would like to point out that the reasons BEHIND the Japanese nation attacking the good old U.S. of A is shrouded in mystery)
Right on Tim! If the Japanese had not had a desire to dominate their part of the world they would not have gotten themselves in the fix they got in. Their problem was that their leaders were extremely myopic and really had no idea what they were getting themselves into. They had a view of the world that was absolutely unrealistic!
Market Garden was not impossible, but like any bold plan has some chance of failure.
Further, it should be pointed out that between 1931 and June of 1942, the Japanese empire attacked or invaded every country surrounding them with the exception of Canada (which was a little on the distant side).
Wikipedia said:On June 20, 1942, the Japanese submarine Japanese submarine ''I-26'', under the command of Yokota Minoru, fired 25-30 rounds of 5.5" shells at the Estevan Point lighthouse on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada but failed to hit its target. This marked the first enemy shelling of Canadian soil since the War of 1812.
Market garden would have succeeded if the British would have listened to intel provided by the dutch resistance. The presence of the SS panzer division in Arnhem was told to them, but they paid no attention. Furthermore, landing sites were chosen very badly, again not listening to the dutch.
"Your men (British Aust.) fight like lions, too bad they are led by asses" (donkeys).
It wasn't just the Dutch resistance which informed the British command about the Panzer divisions - in fact the solid proof came from RAF PR aircraft.
Market Garden would have been a complete success in August, but Montgomery wanted to make sure that the supply was ready for any future operations. Even if the British planners had listened to the Dutch, the plan would have failed - the SS panzer divisions were present; the operation should have never happened with their presence.