Western Europe · 17 Sept 1944 – 25 Sept 1944
Operation Market Garden
Allied airborne troops and XXX Corps captured Eindhoven and Nijmegen, but failed to secure the Arnhem bridge or establish a Rhine crossing. The Arnhem perimeter was evacuated on 25 September.
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Operation Market Garden combined the airborne landings of Operation Market with the ground advance of Operation Garden. The Allies intended to seize bridges from Eindhoven north through Nijmegen to Arnhem, then use the route to cross the Lower Rhine and advance into Germany. The airborne forces landed from 17 September; XXX Corps advanced north from Belgium along a narrow corridor, dependent on a single main road and a series of bridges.
The U.S. 101st Airborne Division operated around Eindhoven and the crossings north of the city. The 82nd Airborne Division targeted crossings at Grave and Nijmegen, while the British 1st Airborne Division was sent to Arnhem. Its landing zones lay about seven miles from the Arnhem bridge. Only a small force reached the bridge and held its northern end; most of the division was stopped west of the city. German forces, including elements of the II SS Panzer Corps, mounted increasingly strong resistance.
XXX Corps made progress up the corridor, but delays at Son and Nijmegen gave the defenders time to disrupt the advance. The bridge at Son, a 101st Airborne Division objective, was blown by the Germans, and the Allies had to bridge the Wilhelmina Canal. At Nijmegen, the 82nd Airborne Division and XXX Corps captured the city and bridge after a costly assault, including a crossing of the Waal. The route north was opened, but the ground forces did not reach Arnhem in time to relieve the British force at the road bridge.
The Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade landed near Driel on 21 September, south of the Rhine, but could not substantially reinforce the isolated troops across the river. The main body of the British 1st Airborne Division fought on in a perimeter around Oosterbeek under artillery and infantry attack. Supply and communication problems, difficult terrain, and German counterattacks further hindered the operation. The Allies held the Nijmegen salient, but the Arnhem bridge remained in German hands.
On the night of 25–26 September, the surviving British airborne troops were withdrawn across the Rhine in Operation Berlin. The National Army Museum reported that about 2,100 returned across the river and that another 7,500 were dead or prisoners of war. Across the whole operation, reported Allied losses were 15,326–17,200 killed, wounded, or captured; German losses were estimated at 6,315–13,300 killed and wounded. Market Garden captured important Dutch cities and advanced the Allied line, but failed to secure a Rhine bridgehead or open the intended route into Germany.