- We're very excited to
announce that today's video is sponsored by Audible,
more on that later. Hi, I'm Griffin Johnson,
the armchair historian. Today's video, Operation Market Garden, a World War II tutorial on
how not to use paratroopers. (dramatic music) On September 17th, 1944 several
thousand allied airborne dropped from the skies into
the Nazi occupied Netherlands. More landed the next
day and the day after, comprising British, American,
and even Polish troops. This force constituted the single, largest airborne operation in history. It's objective was to open up a route to the German Industrial
Heartland, The Ruhr Valley, in an attempt to end the war early. Instead Market Garden ended up being on of the greatest allied
setbacks of the 2nd World War, in this video we're going to
be going through the operation day by day and location by location to explore why Market
Garden was a bridge too far. Market Garden was the brain
child of Bernard Montgomery. Famous for commanding British forces during the late north African campaign. It was designed to test
Bernard's favored strategy for the final phase of the war in Europe by concentrating allied forces for a small yet powerful thrust into Germany. Supreme Allied commander Dwight
Eisenhower whom Montgomery often clashed with had been championing a so called broad strategy of keeping Allied forces distributed
along a wide front keeping pressure on German positions along the entire border. When offensive progress
began to slow following the liberation of Brussels
in early September, Eisenhower gave the go ahead to implement a smaller scale version
of Montgomery's plans for a narrow front. His approval was designed to test both the strategic viability of such a thrust and the effectiveness of
the Allied Airborne Army. Still relatively new
to the field of battle. So what was Montgomery's proposal? The plan called for a
massive flanking maneuver around the heavily fortified
German Siegfried line through the low countries. If that sounds familiar,
it's because that's exactly what the Germans did to the
French in both World Wars with varying degrees of success. Hey, if it's not broken,
don't fix it right? Market Garden was actually the combination of two component operations
named, you guessed it, Market and Garden. Operation Market was
the airborne component in which paratroopers would
land at several points between the Dutch cities
of Arnhem and Eindhoven, so secure the bridges over the Meuse, Waal and lower Rhine Rivers as
well as a number of canals. If you've ever been to the
Netherlands you'll know it's about 70% river, so
these points had to be taken before operation Garden, the
large scale deployment of armor over the Dutch-German
border could commence. This joint force, which
consisted of 50,000 troops, of the 30th core under
Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks was to begin in the
southwest and end at Arnhem. Allied commanders hoped
that if Market Garden was successful, they could end the war by Christmas of 1944. Before we delve into the details about what exactly transpired
there's a few things we should go over. First off, those who don't know already, paratroopers are light infantry units, who can't carry very heavy weapons, so historically they've
had to rely on surprise and speed to gain the advantage. Throughout this video you'll
notice how the Allies failed to play at those strengths. Moreover, operation Market
Garden was predicated on an overly optimistic timetable that assumed that the
paratroopers could hold out long enough for the
30th core to reach them. On top of that, the soft
Dutch soil was judged to be impassable for
mechanized and heavy armor, so the 30th core had to
follow a single paved highway that narrow channel of movement
left them badly exposed to German anti-tank fire from
all sides while traveling. Furthermore Allied planners
did not heed a report from the Dutch resistance
that a veteran panzer core was stationed nearby
undergoing maintenance but still capable of defensive deployment. Now I don't know about you but
that sounds like a great way to lose rock, paper, scissors. Or you know, infantry tank, anti-tank. Now let's get onto the operation. (dramatic music) Tomorrow we go into action,
if by sacrificing all this, I leave a world slightly
better than I found it, I am perfectly willing
to make that sacrifice. Private Ivor Rowbery, South
Staffordshire Regiment, killed in action, September 17th, 1944. An air armada of nearly
1500 allied aircraft and more than 400 gliders
take to the skies, the paratroopers aboard these planes will be dropped far into enemy territory completely surrounded
and nearly 60 miles away from friendly territory. In the early afternoon,
the first paratroopers hit the ground, the initial insertions are actually quite successful with soldiers at all major sites accurately hitting their landing zones. However Lloyd Clark a military historian at the University of
Buckingham, notes that, the Allied operation
began with airborne troops accurately hitting their drop zones yet their very success actually
assisted the German response from the start. Because the troops weren't scattered, the Germans could easily pinpoint
where they hit the ground and make a quick deduction
of the likely objectives of the allied operation. Furthest to the North is Arnhem, where the first British airborne division under Major General Roy Urquhart, are to take a road
bridge and a rail bridge that both cross the lower Rhine. Urquhart's force lands a
dozen miles to the west of their targets due to a concentration of German anti-aircraft batteries near the town of Oosterbeek. They are forced to fight through
scattered German opposition to push through objectives. This resistance does not
initially stop Urquhart's men but it does seriously delay them. What's more the allies lack enough planes to transport all of the men
required for this attack. Thus a large contingent
of the first airborne must stay behind to
protect the landing sites and supply drops. In yet another stroke of bad luck, the radio sets the British are using experience technical failure
that actively eliminates General Urquhart's ability
to communicate with his men or with artillery and air support. While the German's are
getting more organized, the Allies are getting
progressively less organized. Only 750 men second battalion
commanded by John Frost reaches either of the
divisions objectives. Their secondary objective, a rail bridge, is destroyed just as they arrive, so they hastily move on
towards their primary target, the Arnhem Bridge and hold up in 18 houses just north of the bridge. Reinforcements are stopped by the German Kampfgruppe
Spindler, assembled primarily from elements of the
ninth SS Panzer division, leaving Frost on his
own for the time being. To the south the US 82nd
airborne infantry division under Brigadier General
Jim Gavin, or "Jumpin' Jim", as his men like to call
him, lands with 7500 troops near Nijmegen, they take the southernmost of their two objectives, the
bridge over the Maas River as well as the undefended
Groesbeek heights to the southeast where supplies and
reinforcements will be dropped in the coming days. From here they begin
shelling the nearby forest of Reichswald, from which they expect a German counter attack. Though they aren't certain. Later that same day a
small detachment of 400 men is sent to capture the second
bridge over the Waal River just north of Nijmegen. Unfortunately for the Americans
the 10th SS panzer division made up of approximately 3000 men rushes in to stop them from
reaching their objective. In Eindhoven the 101st
airborne under Maxwell D Taylor lands and captures three of
the five intended targets. Crucially however, the
men of the 101st fail to take the crossings at Best and Son which Nazi forces blow up behind them. Both of these bridges cross the same canal so at least one has to be reconstructed if troops are going to cross. The process greatly
slows down the advance. Worse still, an Allied glider
attached to the 101st crashes and plans for
the entire operation fall into German hands. Despite some success,
Operation Market Garden is not exactly off to an auspicious start. The landing was due at 10
o'clock but it came and went and no aircraft, gliders,
or anything appeared, Gordon "Jock" Walker,
Sergeant British Army Film and Photographic unit. The next morning poor weather in England, prevents the launch of
a second airborne wave that was initially
scheduled for 0600 hours. That deployment and many of
the subsequent supply drops, scheduled for today
failed to arrive on time if they arrive at all. As dawn breaks, John Frost is all alone, he and the Second battalion are in Arnhem, repelling contingents of
the Kampfgruppe Spindler that scrambled up from
Nijmegen from the South the night before. The second battalion is
doing an admirable job but is surrounded and
running low on supplies. The first and third slowly make their way into western Arnhem but are
stopped by German forces in the city and do not
successfully link up with the second. Meanwhile the fourth
battalion finally makes their landing but does not
join the rest of the division on this day. Urquhart himself is pinned
down during the advance of the first battalion and actually hides inside of a Dutch house for the day. Without a functioning radio to
keep in contact with his men, he is considered missing in action, thereby putting Brigadier
General Phillip Hicks in temporary command. In Nijmegen the Americans of
the 82nd have beaten back a small German attack and are reinforced with a second wave of paratroopers. However they have yet to take
the all important Waal Bridge and the Germans have begun
crossing the river by boat setting up defensive positions around the American subjectives. German commanders now I'm
possession of the Allied war plans conclude that victory
at Nijmengen is crucial to the overall defeat of Market Garden. Victory at Arnhem and
Eindhoven would be meaningless without a route between them. Speaking of which, the British 30th core arrives in Eindhoven late in the day and begins construction
of a makeshift bridge, while the 101st airborne holds off attacks from a handful of hastily
assembled German forces from the west. I think we're going a bridge too far, Lieutenant General Frederick Browning, apocryphally, during the planning of operation Market Garden. In Arnhem John Frost is
outnumbered, outgunned, and becoming increasingly desperate. His forces now occupy only 10 houses on the northern side of Rhine bridge. The second battalion is
unable to stop German tanks from crossing and comes
under heavy artillery fire. The remaining battalions
make one more push to move through western
Arnhem and are beaten back so severely that they
actually have to retreat past their original landing zones. Meaning that the German
would get their hands on all of the new supplies. In the confusion Urquhart does manage to rejoin the first airborne
at least what was left of it. Meanwhile the first Polish
independent paratrooper brigade meant to reinforce the British
division is still unable to deploy because of
poor weather in England and the Netherlands. Meanwhile the 30th core
finishes construction and proceeds to Nijmegen where it links up with the 82nd airborne. The newly combined force
attempts to take the Waal Bridge but advances only slowly. Lastly the 101st airborne is still holding it's position in the south
and repels a counterattack against a makeshift crossing by the 107th panzer division. Hand grenades flew in every direction. Each house had to be taken this way. Some of the British offered
resistance to their last breath, a German soldier at Arnhem. The rest of the first
airborne gives up hope of reaching these second battalion as it is pushed into an
increasingly compact area around eastern Oosterbeek. Frost himself is captured. The Polish reinforcements
are nowhere to be found however hope comes from
the south as Allied forces in Nijmegen finally make
some progress by sending a contingent of troops
across the river by boat and attacking the Germans from the rear. The 30th core and 82nd
airborne finally take control of the bridge at Nijmegen
by the end of the day. The retreating Germans attempt and fail to destroy the crossing on their way out, surprisingly the 30th corp
does not immediately move out as several of their elements
are still pinned down in the city. A rare bright spot for the
Allies in this operation. The capture of Nijmegen
means that the center of their corridor is secure for now. Out of ammunition. God save the King, final transmission from the second battalion,
First British Airborne division on September 24th, 1944. The second battalion at Arnhem Bridge is completely wiped out by
overwhelming German forces today ending their impressive hold out. Approximately 1984 men are
killed and 6,854 captured. Urquhart does not have time to grieve. The remaining members
of the first Airborne now only 3500 out of 10,000 try
to hold onto a strip of land north of the river where
potential new bridge could be constructed. Throughout the day, 750 Polish fighters, roughly at half strength
under Stanislaw Sosabowski finally touch down in Driel,
to the southeast under a reign of gunfire, the onslaught decimates them, as the 30th core relentlessly harassed by German artillery fire
finally gets in range of Oosterbeek and starts
to provide supporting fire. The soldier on the stretcher
at my feet lay upwards, his eyes heavily bandaged. I had no further use
now for my steel helmet so I took it off and covered his face, Godfrey Freedman, British
glider pilot captured at Arnhem. Today the tides really start
to turn against the Allies. In Arnhem 60 Poles
manage to cross the Rhine and join with the first airborne which itself is now
running out of supplies. Bad weather has deprived
them of crucial air support as well as the ability to resupply. When German Colonel Kurt Student launches a massive counterattack against both sides of the Eindhoven-Nijmegen corridor, the 30th core and 82nd airborne
have to take valuable time to reestablish a link to the south. Urquhart is still alone and
the walls are closing in. German snipers are beginning
to infiltrate his lines and he has fewer than 2000
utterly exhausted men left. Saturday morning a brief truce is declared and 1200 wounded British
and Polish soldiers are taken prisoner. We did not get our final bridgehead and that must be admitted,
General Bernard Montgomery. A small number of men from
the 30th core, manages to reach Driel and
establishes a connection with what's left of the first airborne while 300 more Poles
make it across the river and attack boats. All of this is too little, too late. Allied commanders are no longer
discussing the possibility of reinforcement, their
only hope is evacuation. Under the cover of darkness, and artillery fire, the
first airborne division and their polish allies make their way across the Rhine and back to safety. All told, 1741 of the 10,000 men dropped as part of the first airborne division make it back to Allied territory. So, what went wrong? Basically everything, even the weather. As we've already mentioned,
the airborne troops were ill equipped to
face armored divisions stationed in the area and
the Germans seemed to know exactly where to place their defenders. That problem was compounded by the fact that the British army lacked the aircraft to drop the first airborne all at once, you tend to lose the element
of surprise when you have to drop your men into the
same spot over multiple days. Members of the Dutch
underground provided warnings about the 99th panzers but
may have also compromised the operation from the start. The Germans as a whole
were also being commanded by a renowned defensive strategist Field Marshal Walter Model, who was able to oversea his forces from
his HQ in Arnheim itself. As for Allied command,
historians tend to focus on Lieutenant General Frederick Browning, who was in charge of the
first Allied airborne army but their focus was not
one born out of admiration but rather of sharp criticism. In fact many historians as
well as General John Frost point to him as bearing
at least some of the blame for why the operation went downhill. Rather than any one issue in particular, a number of factors had
to go wrong all at once for Market Garden to fail
as spectacularly as it did. Among these problems were the placement of the first airbornes drop
zone too far from Arnhem Bridge. It's communication black
out, the 24 hour delay of the 30th corp, the decision at Nijmegen to delay the capture of the Waal Bridge by several hours after
landing, ultimately delaying the 30th corp even further and relentlessly unfavorable weather. None the less, Market Garden
was not a complete failure at least according to the
memoirs of Bernard Montgomery published 14 years later. - I knew myself you see and that was a. - Did you ever lose a
battle Field Marshal? - No, (laughs) - [Interviewer] That's the
important thing isn't it? (Curb Your Enthusiasm theme music) - [Host] If you'd like to learn
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