Operation Garden

In the British offensive zone, the 30th Army (1 armored division, 2 infantry divisions) carried out the main assault, the task of which was to break through the enemy's defenses on a narrow frontal position, and to use the ferries captured by the airborne troops in the offensive zone of the army to cross the river barriers, and advance to the line of Eindhoven, Hlaveau, Nijmegen, and Arnhem. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

For the implementation of artillery fire preparation and artillery support, 880 artillery pieces were concentrated in the offensive zone of the 30th Infantry Army. The 8th and 12th infantry armies were to operate on both flanks of the assault group in order to expand the frontal breakthrough front.

More than 650 aircraft were used to provide aviation support for the actions of the army. The contrast of forces in the British strip was in favor of the German army: infantry and artillery, aircraft and tanks had absolute superiority.

On September 17, 1941, the U.S. and British air forces used almost all their belongings, including more than 5,500 transport planes, 2,596 gliders, and more than 8,000 combat and bomber planes, and at the same time successfully parachuted more than 35,000 people, 568 artillery pieces, 1,927 military vehicles, and 5,230 tons of materials in the three places, launching the largest airborne combat operation in the history of human warfare.

Operation Market Garden was mainly commanded by the British, and operations on the ground were also mainly carried out by the British.

Half an hour after the first batch was airborne, at 2:15 p.m. on the 17th, the commander of the 30th Army, General Holox, ordered the "Garden" troops to attack, and the Irish Praetorian Panzer Division began to attack five battalions of the German defense in front, and the 43rd and 50th regiments followed after the Praetorian Division, rapidly advancing several miles.

The detachment of the German Walz Division, which had entered the positional defense in front of the 30th Army, was in a hurry unable to exert its combat effectiveness, and the vanguard of the Irish Praetorian Panzer Division attacked from the road, dividing the Walz detachment into two parts, and the German defense line began to crumble and was driven back to the left and right sides of the road.

However, the scales of fate seemed to have tipped in favor of the Germans at the outset, and due to intelligence errors, Montgomery had no idea that the Germans had already deployed two panzer divisions of the 2nd SS Panzer Army and part of the airborne 1st Army in the area where the Allies were scheduled to land.

The Allied airborne troops lacking heavy equipment were airborne on the heads of the German armored troops, and the US army carried out altitude parachuting, with an average parachute height of 366~457 meters, much higher than the standard parachute jump height of 244 meters in World War II.

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Worse still, just two hours after the Allied air assault, the commander of the German Airborne 1st Army, Stutt Dent, obtained an Allied battle plan from a downed glider.

He immediately took this order to the headquarters of Army Group D to meet with the commander-in-chief Paulus and plan a German counteroffensive. (Army Group A was in the Ardennes Forest, Army Group B was on the Maginot Line, Army Group C was in the mountains of northern Italy, etc., Army Group D was in Paulus and the Netherlands.) ）

Among the German generals, Stuart was more familiar with the Netherlands than anyone else, and was aware of the major shortcomings of the Airborne Forces, such as lack of maneuverability on the ground and lack of heavy weapons.

In the end, Paulus chose Anheng as the training area of the SS Panzer Division, and they tried to prevent the Allied airborne troops and chariot units from joining forces.

The British Field Marshal Montgomery planned to use airborne troops, with the goal of seizing a series of German-controlled bridges over the main rivers of the Netherlands from Belgium via Arnhem to the Ruhr area.

The strategic goal was to gain control of these bridges and allow the Allies to cross the Rhine, the last natural barrier on the German border, while the Germans were still on their feet, in order to bring the German military industry to a standstill and prepare for the subsequent advance into the capital, Berlin.

The defending Germans consisted mainly of Army Group B under the command of General Paulus, with the 15th Army and the 1st Parachute Corps under its command.

Between the British 30th Army's garrison and the northern bank of the Rhine, the destination of the assault, eight obstacles had to be crossed, including several major rivers and three canals.

The goal of Operation Market Gardens was to capture the bridges across these waters at the same time. If some bridges across smaller rivers could not be captured, the engineering units of the British 30th Army could build temporary bridges to pass.

But major rivers, such as the Vaal near Nijmegen or the Rhine near Arnhem, cannot be passed in this way.

Route 69 (later known as the "Hell Highway"), which was intended to be used as a marching route, had two lanes, usually higher than the low-lying areas of the Netherlands, and the ground on either side of the road was too soft for military vehicles to pass.

After aviation fire preparation, the British 1st Parachute Division, the 101st and 82nd American Parachute Divisions landed at Olsterbeck, Soon and Grossbeck, respectively.

Their goal was to quickly seize bridges across canals and rivers and pave the way for British ground forces advancing from the south.

This "corridor" runs from Rio Potdaburg in Belgium to Arnhem via Vulkensward, Eindhoven, Fehel, Hlavo and Nijmegen.

The U.S. 101st Division made good progress, and in the process of seizing the planned five bridges, it encountered strong resistance from the Germans relying on 88-mm anti-aircraft guns and machine guns on only one bridge.

But the 101st Division still completed its mission. The 1st Division of the 82nd Division seized a bridge over the Meuse-Val Canal, while the main force was stationed on the Grossbeck Road to block German reinforcements.

The British 1st Parachute Division was unlucky, a large number of jeeps and other heavy equipment were lost due to the crash of gliders, most of the communication equipment could not be used, and even more unfortunately, Arnhem happened to have nearly 10,000 German troops resting here.

After the offensive began, the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 1st Brigade were blocked by small German forces, and only the 2nd Battalion reached the north of the Arnhem Bridge to defend the bridge, but both attempts to seize the bridge were repulsed by the Germans. By nightfall, the British army was largely encircled.

Due to poor coordination, it was not until 2:35 p.m. that the 30th Army switched to the offensive after a short preparation of aviation fire and artillery fire. Panzer divisions in the first echelon of the corps broke through enemy defenses.

Two infantry divisions followed, and by the end of the first day, the Allies had advanced 6-8 kilometers in depth, but were unable to enter Eindhoven to join the 101st Division as scheduled.

At Arnhem, the German 9th Panzer Division launched a surprise attack on the British troops holding north of the bridge, but was repulsed by the British and the German battalion commander was killed.

The second group of the British 4th Brigade was paralyzed by dense fog and met with intense German anti-aircraft fire, and although three battalions remained, they suffered heavy losses.

By night, the remnants of the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 1st Brigade of less than 200 men arrived in Arnhem, most of the officers and enlisted men had already been captured.

…… (To be continued.) )