Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne operation in military history, was full of heroics, ineptitude, and bad luck. Envisioned and planned by the Allies to accelerate the defeat of Nazi Germany, Operation Market Garden fell short of its goal at the cost of thousands of casualties.
The eight-day (September 17 to September 25) mission offers a great example of how an ambitious and well-intended plan can go wrong and the importance of intelligence in military operations.
Let’s End the War by Christmas
On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces landed on Normandy, in Northern France. Catching the Germans unawares, the Allies secured a beachhead after a bloody struggle. But despite overwhelming superiority in every category, the American, British, Canadian, and French forces couldn’t break out from Normandy and recapture France. Despite lacking in everything, the Germans put up fierce resistance that only broke in August, after almost two months of serious fighting in the treacherous cottages and plains of Northern France.
