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Operation Market Garden was a plan devised by Field Marshal Montgomery and executed on September 17, 1944. The plan was for the British second army to launch a Northeastern ground attack (Garden) against the German First parachute army in the Netherlands. At the same time, the U.S. 101st, 82nd, British 1st Airborne and the Polish Paratrooper brigade would seize key bridges and canal crossings (Market). Many of the objectives were achieved but the final objective, the bridge at Arnhem was not completely seized. There were several reason but the most decisive was the fact that the 9th SS and 10th SS Panzer divisions were refitting in the area unbeknownst to Allied intelligence. The result was that the British 1st Airborne and Polish Paratrooper brigade were forced to retreat and the total operation suffering 17,000 casualties including 596 pilots, 860 glider pilots, 144 transport planes and 88 tanks. |
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