Start to Finish of 'Market Garden' in Photos

Men of the Durham Light Infantry move forward during the breakout from Normandy, 9 August 1944. The collapse and mass retreat of German forces in August 1944 precipitated a headlong advance by Allied armies across the River Seine and into Belgium and eastern France. Paris was captured by the Free French and American forces with little effort. Allied divisions advanced after the fleeing Germans so quickly they eventually outran their own supplies, and in early September the pursuit was brought to a halt so that formations could be replenished and refuelled. The Allied armies stood at the borders of the German Reich, with the British and Canadians in the north and the Americans to the south. Allied commanders now argued over the best strategy to finish the war, and who was to be in the vanguard. The delay gave the Germans a much-needed breathing space to bolster their defences and re-build shattered formations.