Was it 'A Bridge too Far'

[Matzos]

At a time when everyone was saying 'After this battle the war will be over by Christmas', does anyone think that the top military brass at the time know that the Para's jumping in at Arnhem were jumping into a trap.
Look at the facts:
They know that the 9th & 10th SS Panzer Units were resting at Arnhem, these were part of the 2nd SS Div. Photo recce imagery had shown them there.
The road for XXX Corp to travel on could only fit one tank at a time and they had 48 hours to get to the 1st British Airborne!
More airborne troops lost their lives during this battle that on the first day of D-Day.
Yes they held the SS at the bridge, for a time, they all were hero’s in my eyes. But the question is did they have to go in the first place?
It seems that the Polish Command were the only ones that could see the real danger of the mission. If it had not been for them, we would have lost even more troops.

What are your views?

 

[Bombardier]

Yes it seems to me that the plan was overstraetched to say the least. I think (from what I have read) that it is believed the top brass would not acknowledge the prescence of the SS armor so as not to upset the even higher brass. I dont think that anybody, however reckless they may be, would send airborne troops into an area that they knew was saturated with heavy armour, and ultimateley to be slaughtered. Or would they ?

 

[Matzos]

During this period of the war, I think everyone wanted the 'big push' the last battle to finish the Germans once and for good. With Montgomery and Patton fighting to get supplies, both wanting to finish the war first. As we know, Montgomery won and got the supplies for Market Garden.
Airborne troops are only lightly armed and their survival depends upon taking the enemy by total surprise and reaching their objectives before the enemy has time to react. However, so confident were the Allies that the Germans were already beaten, numerous grave errors were made which doomed Market Garden to failure.
From the Normandy landings through to Market Garden, no less than 17 missions had been planned for the British 1st Airborne and all were cancelled at the last minute. Most of the cancellations occurred because ground forces had been advancing so quickly that by time that the launch date of the operation came around, Allied troops had already captured the intended objective.
The cancellations were having a severe effect on the morale of all the airborne troops. These highly trained and high calibre soldiers, soon loose their edge if left hanging around, and there was a belief that the 1st Airborne were being held in reserve for the final victory parade. This resulted in a desire within the ranks to be sent anywhere, to do no matter what.
I just seem to me that Montgomery had a plan, the British Airborne needed a mission and that mission would be Market Garden.
Please do not get be wrong, what if the bridges had all been taken, what if XXX Corp had crossed the Rhine at Arnhem, the war might well have finished by Christmas. The other big question must be, what would of happened if Patton had received the supplies and not Montgomery?

 

[Zofo]

I think that even if the troops had taken the bridges or Patton had received the supplies, inter-allied rivalry would have prevailed. The Soviet Union under Stalin wanted the lion's share of the East, Patton in any event went off chasing elusive (and spurious) Grey Wolves and the supply lines for the Brits would have been dangerously overstretched.
IMHO of course, this not being my area of expertise and all.

 

[tosh66]

I went to Nijmegen last week as i was in the area, a bit disappointing really as there doesn't seem to be any commemeration.
Going back in a fortnight so i will travel further afield to Arnhem as apparently there is a big museum there.

 

[Bombardier]

Take yer camera Tosh

 

[Matzos]

The museum is excellent, a good day out

 

[tosh66]

Take yer camera Tosh

Got pics of Nijmegen, but not very good cos it was a misty day