Operation MARKET GARDEN

Operation MARKET GARDEN was the largest airborne operation in World War 2. It was the British General Montgomery who planned the operation MARKET GARDEN. They had to bomb the Holland first. Then the paratroopers dropped on Arnhem and the area around it. While the paratroopers held bridges across Holland, a British army would drive deep into Holland to relieve the German siege of the paratroopers at the bridges. The paratroopers were supplied by airplanes. Everything went well at first but the British army that was sent to relieve the siege stopped about a dozen miles from Arnhem. After 9 days of holding out against the Germans in Arnhem, the general of the 1st British airborne division decided that they were losing (and they were!) so they evacuated by crossing the river next to them. The American 82nd Airborne division captured a town and a bridge near Arnhem, but the 1st Polish brigade sent in to reinforce the 1st British airborne division that was trapped in Arnhem failed to get to Arnhem, but they met the retreating 1st British airborne division. Operation MARKET GARDEN was a failure because they did not take Arnhem.