HOLLAND
“Where is the Prince who can afford so to cover his country with troops for its defense, as that 10,000 men descending from the clouds, might not, in many places, do an infinite deal of mischief before a force could be brought together to repel them?”
- Benjamin Franklin
Operation Code Name - MARKET - GARDEN
September 11,1944 through November 16,1944
"Market" was the airborne segment of the Holland campaign. It included American and British forces inserting themselves by parachutes' and gliders', preventing the Germans' from destroying bridges that would allow the British 30th Corps to reach Arnem on D+1.
"Garden", a British operation, had Commander Brian Horrock's 30 Corps., spearheaded a drive up the Antwerp - Arnhem Road. During this drive his left flank would be protected by the British 12th Corps. and on his right, the 8th Corps.
General Omar Bradley was not officially notified of the MARKET-GARDEN plan. When he learned of the size and scope of the operation he felt the resources going into MARKET-GARDEN would reduce supplies available to him. General Bradley placed a called General Eisenhower asking him to cancel the operation and order Field Marshall Montgomery to concentrate on clearing the Scheldt estuary of German soldiers so the port of Antwerp could be opened thereby shortening Allied supply lines.
September 17, 1944 was a beautiful sunny day with blue skies and low winds.
Within a few hours of the Allied paratroopers landing in Holland, the Germans found a complete set of battle plans for operation Market-Garden in a glider that crash landed within their lines.**
Either because of German proficiency or the fact these plans were truly discovered, higher ups in the German
Army organized and mobilized every German combat unit in southern Holland.
**This statement has not been confirmed, page 333 "Ridgway's Paratroopers"
Photo was taken near Groesbeek, Holland at a British minefield.
Lt. Richard S. Aiken, 456 PFAB is in the photo.
[TO BE CONTINUED…]
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