(Ebook) Operation Market-Garden 1944 (2): The British Airborne Missions by Ken Ford

(Ebook) Operation Market-Garden 1944 (2): The British Airborne Missions by Ken Ford

Beskriver den britiske og polske luftbårne operation, som var en del af Operation Market Garden 1944Operation Market-Garden an enlarged version of an earlier plan, Comet, was both vast in its scope and breathtaking in its audacity. Arnhem would still be its main objective – it was imperative to capture the road, rail and pontoon bridges over the Lower Rhine and establish a lodgement north of the river – this time, however, the airborne troops at Arnhem would have more chance of holding the bridgehead until the ground forces of XXX Corps joined up with them. Operation Market-Garden was in fact two separate, mutually supporting, operations; Market was the plan to drop British (and American) airborne troops and Garden was the armoured drive by XXX Corps, the lead formation of British Second Army to meet up with these troops and relieve the lodgement at Arnhem.Second synopsis:With Germany being pushed back across Europe the Allied forces looked to press their advantage with Operation Market-Garden, a massive airborne assault that, if successful, could have shortened the war in the west considerably. The ground advance consisted of an armoured thrust by the British XXX Corps, while the US 82nd and 101st US Airborne Divisions secured the bridges at Eindhoven and Nijmegen and the British 1st Airborne Division and Polish 1st Airborne Brigade were tasked with seizing the final bridge at Arnhem to secure the route. What they did not realise was that the 9. SS and 10. SS-Panzer Divisions were nearby, ready to reinforce the local garrison and fend off the Allied assault.Focusing on the role played by these British and Polish troops, Ken Ford examines Operation Market-Garden in its entirety, from the early planning through to the early setbacks and eventual catastrophic conclusion.