Teleworking Synthesis

Paige Ritter

HIST 465

Professor Briscoe

2 March 2017

World War II Final Exam

4. Battle Analysis.  Analyze Operation Market Garden. Set the battle within its strategic context, identify units involved, objectives, course of the battle, and give an analysis of its outcome and strategic importance.

        Operation Market Garden is considered to be the largest airborne battle in history. This battle occurred from  17-25 September, 1944 in the Netherlands and Germany during World War II. This operation was a result of the Allie success in Operation Overlord (the D-day Landings) and the Battle of Normandy. The Allies were advancing quickly towards Germany however, they were beginning to loose supplies as a result of the bombings of the French railroads.

        Field Marshall Montgomery developed the plan for Operation Market Garden. The concept for the plan originated from Operation Comet. Operation Market Garden was a two stage operation the required troops from Lieutenant General Brereton's First Allied Airborne Army to land and capture the key bridges (Hickman). While these troops guarded the bridges, Lieutenant General Horrock's XXX Corps would then advance up the highway in order to relieve Brereton's men. If this had gone successful, the Allies would have been over the Rhine in a position to attack the Ruhr while at the same time, avoiding the West wall by working around the northern end (Hickman). The second component to Operation Market Garden was the airborne component led by Major General Taylor. Major General Taylor's 101st Airborne were to “be dropped near Eindhoven with the orders to take the bridges at Son and Veghel” (Hickman). Then to the northeast, Brigadier General Gavin's 82nd Airborne would land at Nijmegen to take the bridges there as well as at Grave. The airborne component of Operation Market Garden continues as the British 1st Airborne and the Polish 1st independent Parachute Brigade team together to land at Oosterbeek and capture the bridge at Arnhem (Hickman). To follow, the ground element of Operation Market Garden were then to attack up Highway 69 in order to relieve the 101st on the first day and 82nd on the second day. Lastly, to be even more prepared, if in any of the cases any of the bridges were blown by the Germans, “XXX Corps were accompanied by engineering Units and bridging equipment” (Hickman). In essence, this was Field Marshall Montgomery’s plan for Operation Market Garden.

         The main objective of Operation Market Garden was to seize crossings. The Allies goals were to “open a corridor from the British bridgehead at Neerpelt across the major Dutch rivers and canals culminating in the seizure of the Rhine bridge at Arnhem” (Briscoe). Once the corridor was open and all the bridges had been seized, the British Army would be across the Rhine and across the northern flank of the German defense.

        There were many errors that occurred during Operation Market Garden on the Allies side. For example, the British 1st Airborne Division's radio sets were not working, the weather was uncooperative, there was an unexpected heavy German resistance, poor communication, and the Son bridge was blown down. To go into further detail, only half of the British airborne division arrived on September 17 due to aircraft issues. As a result, “only the 1st Parachute Brigade was able to advance on Arnhem” (Hickman). The situation was worsened by the widespread radio issues throughout the division. Another problem that arose was that at the beginning of Operation Market Garden, the Germans were a bit confused as they saw airborne troops landing; however, Model “quickly grasped the nexus of the enemy's plan and began shifting troops to defend Arnhem and attack the Allied advance” (Hickman). Model's quick thinking led the Germans to success as they were ready to defend and fight against the Allies.

        When looking at Operation Market Garden in plain view, many historians believe it to be a complete failure for the Allies. After the Germans stopped the Allied offensive at Arnhem, the Allies retreated back to Nijmegen in order to establish a defensive position (Hickman). The failure of Operation Market Garden has been attributed to “intelligence failures, overly optimistic planning, poor weather, and the lack of tactical initiative on the part of commanders” (Hickman). Had the Allies perfected their drop zones, especially for the 1st Airborne, and only had one drops in the first day, some believe that they may had been successful. All the Allied units involved were top notch and all of them had seen many battles. Also, the Allied Divisional and Corp Commanders all had considerable experience. That being said, had the plan not been as flawed the Allies could have been successful.

Bibliography

Briscoe, James. “Market Garden: A Bridge Too Far.”History 465. UMUC, Maryland. 18 Feb.         2017. 

Hickman, Kennedy. "A Bridge Too Far: Operation Market-Garden." Operation Market Garden.          About Education , 06 Jan. 2017. Web. 05 Mar. 2017. .

5. Air power in the Second World War proved a decisive weapon in every sphere except strategic bombing. Do you agree? Why or why not?

        The Strategic Bombing Offensive against Germany was and remains controversial as to whether it proved as a decisive weapon. In my opinion, I do agree with the statement that air power in the Second World War proved a decisive weapon in every sphere except strategic bombing. It is no secret that air opposition played a key role in aiding the Allies against Germany by destroying supplies, fuel, and delaying Axis opposition in some cases; however, the lack of training and constant inaccuracy only proved its inefficiency.