The command of Operation Market Garden: Montgomery’s greatest failure in the history of command

During World War II, the Allied forces launched an offensive campaign from Eindhoven to Arnhem in the Netherlands in September 1944. Also known as the Battle of Arnhem Airborne. The intention was to occupy Arnhem and open the way for the Allied 21st Army Group to bypass the Siegfried Line and advance into northern Germany. The plan stipulates that the Allied 1st Airborne Group (comprising the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, the British 1st Airborne Division, and the Polish 1st Parachute Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant General L.H. Brereton) 30 minutes before the ground forces launch an attack , airborne along the highway from Eindhoven to Nijmegen and Arnhem, and captured the bridges on the Wilhelmina Canal, South Williams Canal, Maas River, Maas River-Waal Canal, Waal River and Lower Rhine River (codenamed "Market"), ensuring ground troops advance to the right bank of the Lower Rhine (codenamed "Garden"). The airborne troops took off from the UK and landed in three batches using two routes. From 12:30 to 14:05 on September 17, approximately 1,550 transport aircraft and nearly 500 gliders carried the assault echelons of various airborne divisions for air landing, and the supporting force was 1,113 bombers and 1,240 fighter jets. On the 18th, 1,360 transport aircraft and 1,203 gliders airlifted the follow-up echelons of each division. The U.S. 101st Airborne Division airborne in the Feher area. On the same day, it captured the nearby South Williams Canal Bridge and captured Zongzhen. On the 18th, it joined the ground vanguard troops and captured Eindhoven before the end of the day. The U.S. 82nd Airborne Division airborne in the Heraf area and captured the Maas River and the Maas-Waal Canal Bridge on the same day. It joined the vanguard on the ground on the 19th and captured the Waal River Bridge near Nijmegen before the end of the 20th. The British 1st Airborne Division airborne in the Arnhem area. It encountered a fierce counterattack by German armor and infantry. It failed to capture the Lower Rhine Bridge and was forced to go on the defensive. The subsequent echelons of the division and the 1st Polish Paratrooper Brigade, which airborne on the south bank of the Lower Rhine on the 21st, suffered heavy casualties from the Germans. On the night of the 25th, the division retreated to the south bank of the Rhine River; at dawn the next day, more than 6,000 people who had not crossed the river were captured. This battle was the largest airborne battle in World War II. The Allies dispatched more than 5,500 transport aircraft and more than 2,400 glider sorties, airborne more than 35,000 troops, 568 artillery pieces, 1,927 vehicles, and 5,230 tons of supplies behind enemy lines. The loss was about 14,700 people, and the German army lost 3,300 people. Due to miscalculation of the German troop strength in the Arnhem region, the airborne area being too far from the target, and the slow progress of the ground troops, the Allies did not achieve the expected goal, but they created conditions for the advance to the Lower Rhine.

The glory of the Normandy landings that began in the summer reached its climax in August, but it ended in the freezing rain, mud and chaos of the Netherlands. It was a nightmare for the Allied soldiers, they couldn't go home for Christmas, the Germans were not defeated at all, not even close! Not only could they successfully defend Peel's front, they could also launch a surprisingly powerful counterattack. In fact, the future German offensive in the Ardennes region had been previewed in the Netherlands. The fact that the Allies must face is: Operation Market Garden Total failure. The German Fifteenth Army successfully withdrew from Belgium to the Netherlands and then all the way to the east. The German army also successfully delayed the Allied attack. The Allies had to spend three months to drive the German army out of the southern Netherlands in order to use it smoothly. In the port of Antwerp, advancing to the Meas seemed an impossible task, and ultimately it was the Germans, not the Allies themselves, who decided when and where to allow the Allies to advance to the Meas.

Bastogne is a famous battlefield, but the battlefield with the fiercest fighting, the heaviest Allied losses, and the strongest German resistance was in Peel, especially in the Overloon area, where the fierce and brutal fighting can be Comparable to the resistance of the German paratroopers at Monte Cassino, the core force of the defense at Overloon was the German paratroopers. Sy

Most Allied veterans would like to forget that nightmare battle, where there was no glorious victory, just wet, cold, dirty and bloody. There was no glory like Bastogne in the battle in the Peel region. The Germans fought much better than the Allies, and the Allies could only advance successfully when the Germans decided to retreat. That is why the Battle of Peel is rarely mentioned in British and American history. One of the reasons mentioned. ||`,c

What is the ending of the 107th Brigade? The brigade was eventually disbanded, and the remaining personnel and equipment were used to reorganize the new 25th Panzergrenadier Division. Interestingly, the 107th Brigade was originally formed based on the remnants of the 25th Panzergrenadier Division, and now everything is reversed.

Before the battle began, Montgomery's suggestion was as follows: Use 3 airborne divisions and 1 airborne brigade to airborne in a narrow 103-kilometer strip from Eindhoven to Arnhem in the Netherlands to seize Arnhem. All bridges south of Nahm's Lower Rhine Bridge opened a narrow corridor (codenamed "Market") across the northern German plains. At the same time, British General Horrocks' 30th Army would launch a ground attack, leaping to the north bank of the Rhine through the bridge captured by paratroopers, and seizing the bridgehead (codenamed "Garden") for the march into Germany.

In this way, the Allies can not only divide the Netherlands in two and eliminate the V-2 missile base of Germany's latest weapon that bombards London from the west of the Netherlands, but they can also cross the Rhine River, bypass Germany's painstaking Siegfried Line of defense, and open up a march into Germany. gate, and can go south to take the Ruhr, Germany's main economic base, or east across the northern German plains, and then capture Berlin, the NC's home base.

However, as soon as the "Market-Garden" plan was proposed, it had major flaws: For a 103-kilometer advance to Arnhem, its breakthrough width was very narrow, and there was only one usable road. Highway, no room for maneuver. Until the airborne troops join forces on the ground, their supplies will have to be airlifted; and unless the airfield is captured, all supplies will have to be dropped by parachute. Since each division required at least 100 tons of supplies per day, the Allied air supply system at the time was unbearable for an airborne team as large as three divisions and one brigade. This is not only because of the long distance (in the three months of fighting on the European continent, the Allies have never been able to establish an air base in France, and all transport aircraft still have to fly from the British flag), but also the aircraft will be more affected by weather changes . The success of the operation will depend largely on the speed of the attack by ground forces and how much time each day the UK and continental Europe have conducive to flying.

The reason why the Germans won the "Market-Garden" battle and caused heavy losses to the Allies was, on the one hand, because of the rapid response and high combat quality of the Germans, and on the other hand, because of the Allies' pre-war intelligence collection and battlefield The command was poor and the logistics supply was messy. For example, when the British "Red Devils" troops were in urgent need of ammunition and heavy anti-tank weapons, the Air Force airdrop fleet braved anti-aircraft fire and dropped most of the weapons, ammunition and supplies in the airdrop area! They were all mistakenly airdropped into the German positions. Based on this alone, it is reasonable for the Germans to win!

It is also because of this battle that people have so much doubts about Mengg Mali's commanding ability! In such a large-scale airdrop operation, the Allied airdrop group actually got the airdrop location wrong! The actual airdrop area was far from the planned airdrop area! The same was true for intelligence collection. When the campaign was launched, the Allied High Command had no information on the deployment of German troops. After further verification, the attack was launched, so that many soldiers were killed by the firepower of the well-armed SS in the air. The soldiers who could land safely were unable to assemble due to the fierce German firepower, and could only defend individually. There was no discussion at all. If you don't counterattack or even complete the combat mission, even if you can assemble the company, you will rush towards the enemy's target area without enough men and weapons, and you will end up surrendering or dying in the end!

In addition, the poor combat support among the Allied forces also doomed this battle to failure. The tank units that the infantry were waiting for were delayed in arriving at the designated battle positions. As a result, the Allied soldiers fought against the mechanized German troops without armor cover. , in the end, the entire company and battalion could only be captured by the Germans!

To sum up, the reasons for the failure of the battle:

1. The Allies underestimated the German army. It was believed that after the defeat in the Battle of Normandy and a series of subsequent battles, the German army was completely defeated and had no fighting spirit. But the fact is that the German army quickly organized an effective defense and severely attacked the Allied forces in several hastily formed battles. The group proved to have strong combat effectiveness and was able to fight against Allied forces that were much stronger than them. Some German troops who were originally thought to have weak combat effectiveness performed surprisingly well. They often fought tenaciously to the last man. These were all in the hands of the Allies. The German army was unexpected. Some of the German troops were withdrawn from western Belgium by the 15th Army. They were retreating to Heimat in Germany and needed to cross this corridor on the way, but the Allies only focused their attention on this. The Eindhoven-Anhem line was completely ignored, and the 15th Army commanded by General von Zangen was completely ignored. From September 5 to September 22, a total of 82,000 German troops, 530 artillery pieces and 4,600 vehicles of various types crossed the The Schelde River was thrown into the battle of Hell Road. This was a big mistake made by the Allies! They took it for granted that they ignored the 15th Army, and they paid the price for it.

2. The weather was indeed bad, but This is a debatable and pitiful excuse, especially after the failure of the Allied "Market Garden" operation. Even if the weather is bad and it rains all the time, there will always be times when it doesn't rain.

3. The Allies did not heed the warning of the Dutch resistance organization: the tank troops of the Hohenstaufen Division had arrived near Anhem. Montgomery did not want to hear this intelligence, so it was ignored.

4. The British army advanced too slowly. They did not seize the opportunity at the critical moment. They actually rested for a night in Valkenswaard. When they approached Eidhoven, they only had some 88mm weapons. The artillery brought the entire 30th Army to a standstill, and they completely lost the opportunity. Precious time was lost. On the contrary, the German army clearly knew the importance of time.

5. There was a problem with the geographical selection of British and American paratroopers to land. The result was that the paratroopers took a long time to reach their destination. The paratroopers of the 1st Airborne Division had to walk for ten kilometers to reach the Rhine.

6. Using only a limited number of roads [Belgian border-Anhem] proved to be very risky. The "Market Garden" operation was a flawless plan on paper and worth a try, but in reality It's too ambitious to do it. The battle was not lost at Anheng. What did those heroic paratroopers use to fight against the SS troops equipped with assault guns, Panther tanks, half-tracks and "King Tiger" tanks? The Battle of Market Garden failed at Nijmegen on the Belgian-Dutch border, where something went wrong and Arnhem's 1st Parachute Division paid the price.