Market Garden

The Battle of Arnhem was a part of Operation Market Garden, which was aimed to bring the Allies in a rapid thrust across the Rhine at Arnhem. If the operation succeeded the war would be over before Christmas. The Allies would have reached Berlin more rapidly than the Russian Army. It was an easy to understand plan.


Airborne-troops had to capture the bridges at Eindhoven, Grave, Nijmegen and Arnhem and hold them until the British Second Army would arrive. The plan was separated in two parts:

Operation Market: the Airborne-operation
Operation Garden: the operations of the 2nd Army on the ground. The American

101st Airborne Division would be dropped at Eindhoven in order to capture the bridges over de Brabant Canals. The American 82nd Airborne Division would land at Groesbeek, near Nijmegen to capture the bridges over the Maas and the Waal. 

British Veterans in Oosterbeek 1999.


The most important task was given to the British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish Independent Brigade Group. They had to capture the Rhine bridge at Arnhem but they could not land near the bridge because there was FLAK and the Gliders could not land there. But not much resistance was expected, because the Germans retreated in the past. That's why the restistance would be ‘Elderly men and Children'.

One of the British Landing zones near the Telefoonweg in Heelsum. But two German SS-Panzerdivisions went to Arnhem to get some rest and to recover after the fights in France. These two divisions had large tanks.


There was also another German Division which consisted of Luftwaffe-personnel and other soldiers who had lost their units. The Gliders could not land near Arnhem Bridge so they had to land somewhere else. They had to land at Wolfheze and Ede. 8 miles from the bridge. The Airborne-troops had to land in daylight, because in Sicily and France it was not a great success to land by night. Due to a shortage of planes the division had to land in three times. So the division
on the first day was not as strong as it should be and the landing zones were to be defended for the 2nd lift.

Author: Peter Krans, September 1997

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  © 2000
P.F. Krans