On September 26, 1944, Operation Market Garden came to an end, failing to take all the objectives and suffering greater losses than the Germans, a fairly unusual occurrence at that point in the war. Normally maddeningly conservative, Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery placed his faith in a rapid advance to and across the Rhine by seizing a series of bridges including parachute drops on a large scale.
Digging Deeper
Particularly unsuccessful was the assault on the bridge at Arnhem over the Rhine, the most important of all the bridges targeted. British paratroopers briefly held one end of the bridge, but could not maintain possession when reinforcements did not arrive. The end result of the costly operation was no real advantage gained. Allied losses included as many as 17,200 casualties, the loss of 88 tanks, and the loss of 144 transport aircraft. German losses were somewhere between 3000 and 13,000 casualties (around 6000 to 8000 most likely), 30 armored vehicles, and 159 aircraft. Montgomery's boast of finishing the war by Christmas rang hollow at this point and months of combat remained.
