Summary

Operation Market Garden, launched in September 1944, was the largest Allied airborne operation of the Second World War to date - one the Allies hoped would liberate the Netherlands, hasten the final advance towards Berlin and end the war in Europe by Christmas 1944. The plan centred on dropping three airborne divisions  into German-occupied Netherlands to seize bridges at Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem. Ground troops advancing from Belgium to Arnhem, close to the border with Germany were to support them. If captured, Arnhem would provide a gateway to advance into the industrial heartland of Germany (the Ruhr) and be the key to crippling the Nazi war machine.

Background

German forces invaded and occupied the Netherlands in May 1940. The country remained occupied for most of the Second World War with the Dutch government in exile in Great Britain, until being liberated by the Allies in spring 1945.

OPERATION OVERLOAD: THE NORMANDY LANDINGS

IWM Negative Number: A 23938

Second-wave troops of 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade, disembarking with bicycles onto 'Nan White' Beach, JUNO Area at Bernieres-sur-Mer, shortly before midday on 6 June.

The successes of the Allied push through northwest Europe after D-Day on 6 June 1944 forced the German troops back as far as Antwerp in Belgium. Many believed that the end of the war and defeat of the Nazis was only a matter of time. However, delays in capturing key locations such as Cherbourg and Antwerp meant that supplying troops became increasingly difficult. The Allies took the port of Antwerp in early September 1944, but the failure to secure the vital waterways around the port gave the Germans time to retaliate, delaying its opening by two months. The Allied advance was halted, but on 10 September Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery proposed a daring new plan.