Rocco D’Ambrosca: 04/16/2005
World War II was a horrific time of tragedy and death, but also brought about many technological advances. Operation Market Garden was the single largest battle of WWII. Cornelius Ryan wrote A Bridge Too Far to chronicle this monumental battle of WWII. Operation Market Garden required great planning, versatile vehicles, and excellent equipment for the paratroopers.
With the success of Operation Overlord on D-Day, the allies made their advance into Europe. The allies quickly moved through Normandy and France, but soon the advance slowed down as the Germans regrouped and increased defenses. A plan was needed to punch through German lines and into the heart of Germany to Berlin.
This plan would be called Operation Market Garden. Operation Market Garden was devised by General Bernard Montgomery, commander of the British forces in Europe. “Montgomery believed that a powerful, narrow thrust deep into German lines would be more effective than an advance on a broad front, which had become difficult to supply from the few ports controlled by the Allies, and this was why he devised Operation Market Garden” (Fielder 1).
Operation Market Garden consisted of two parts that had to work together for the mission’s success. The first part, Market, would be the air element and the second, Garden, would be the ground forces. “Dropping by parachute and in gliders these divisions would land near the Dutch towns of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, to take the eight key bridges” (Fielder 2). Once these bridges were captured and secured, the airborne divisions would wait for the arrival of the advancing ally armor for reinforcement.
Montgomery had devised an excellent plan that could possibly end the war by Christmas of 1944. However, many things would challenge the success of Market Garden. Before the battle even began a dark shadow was cast. An intelligence report came in reporting that two SS Panzer divisions were spotted around Arnhem. The intelligence reports were not the only worries. There were too many paratroops to drop and not enough planes, so it was decided to drop them over the course of three days. Also the gliders would have to land seven miles away because of heavy anti-aircraft defenses in Arnhem. To complicate matters further, there was only one week to prepare for the operation. Despite all of these obstacles and the warning of German Panzer divisions in the area, General Browning, commander in charge of Market Garden, gave the go ahead with the operation.
The American 82nd, 101st, and the British 1st Airborne Divisions landed at their designated landing zones on September 17, 1944 to begin Operation Market Garden. These troops got there in one of two ways. The first way was by parachuting out of Douglas DC-3/C-47 troop carrier aircraft or out of Short Stirling heavy bomber. The DC-3/C-47 was also known as the Dakota or Skytrain. The Dakota was built in 1936 with 2 1,200 hp Pratt & Whitney air cooled 9-cylinder engines and carried a crew of two with fourteen to thirty-two passengers. The Short Stirling was a British heavy bomber that was also used to carry paratroopers during Market Garden.
The second way troops got to their landing zones was by glider. The British Horsa and the American WACO gliders carried jeeps, and guns to the landing zones. The British Horsa glider carried a crew of two with twenty-five passengers and was used by both the Americans and the British during Market Garden. The American WACO glider carried a crew of two with thirteen passengers and was also used by both allies. These gliders were towed by the American Dakota and the British Short Stirling.
Now that the troops had landed they would need some ground transport. This ground transport would come in the form of the tried and true jeep. “The jeep was a quarter-ton vehicle that could carry five passengers or 800 pounds of payload and tow an antitank gun at the same time. Most jeeps had a pedestal-mounted .50-caliber machine gun. With four-wheel drive they could go almost anywhere. Wherever Americans fought, the jeep was there, and dearly loved” (Ambrose 226).
The standard jeep was modified to be air-dropped and landed in gliders. Air-dropped jeeps were carried and dropped out of specially modified Halifax bombers. “The vehicle was first tied on a metal pallet hooked to four parachutes and then lifted into the aircraft’s bomb bay” (Bouchery 29). Glider-borne jeeps were carried in the Horsa and WACO gliders. “The standard jeep was modified: removal of the hood, rear bumpers and spare-wheel mount” (Bouchery 129). Although many jeeps were to land in gliders, many of the gliders carrying the jeeps crashed and the jeeps were lost. However, several jeeps that were air-dropped were able to be used.
Once the British XXX Corps, the ground forces (garden) of Operation Market Garden, reached Nijmegen they met up with the American paratroopers who were still trying to reach the bridge across the River Waal. General Horrocks, XXX corps commander, made the order for the American troops to cross the river and capture the German end of the Nijmegen Bridge. To cross the river they used assault boats that had landed in Horsa gliders. “The Assault Boat was a collapsible boat made of wood and canvas holding one section and two sappers, with oars, drawn by ropes or powered by outboard motor” (Bouchery 87). This river crossing was enormously costly, but the troops who did make it across the river were able to successfully capture the Nijmegen Bridge.
At the heart of Operation Market Garden were the paratroopers. The American and British paratroopers had a very difficult mission ahead of them when they landed far behind enemy lines. It was up to them to capture the bridges and then hold them as they waited for reinforcements. They landed with limited gear, broken radios, and very few jeeps. These paratroopers would have to use every shred of courage, determination, and equipment to achieve their goal of capturing the bridges.
When the paratroopers jumped out of their planes their parachutes were instantly opened. The Americans used Type T-5 parachutes while the British used Type X parachutes. The main difference between the two types of parachutes was the way in which they opened as the paratrooper exited the plane. The American Type T-5 parachute used a static line that was attached to the plane and then to the apex of the canopy of the chute. When American paratroopers jumped out with their Type T-5 parachute the static line yanked open their chute with a jerk as it pulled on the apex of the chute. The British Type X parachutes opened very differently than the American Type T-5 parachute. When British paratroops jumped from their planes, they also had a static line attached to the plane, but the other end of that line was connected to a canopy bag which contained their chute. When they jumped, the static line ripped open the canopy bag allowing the canopy to open freely without the jerk experience with the American Type T-5 parachute (Bouchery 72).
The paratroopers needed a way to carry their gear down to the ground with them without it interfering with the jump. The Kit Bag was the solution to this problem and allowed the paratroopers to carry their gear down to the ground with relative ease. “The bag was held in place on the leg by a system of quick release straps which were let loose just before reaching the ground. The bag would then drop free, but remained tied to the parachute harness by a rope which the paratrooper controlled” (Bouchery 70). Once on the ground the paratrooper would open his Kit Bag, retrieve his riffle, and then meet up with his squad.
Paratroopers were for the most part lightly armed to make their jumps easier. American paratroopers were issued grenades and a rifle with very limited ammo compared to standard infantry. They were given Mark II Fragmentation Grenades which had a killing range of 5-10yds and a 4 to 4.8 sec fuse. The standard rifle issued was the M1 Garand. “The Garand was easy to disassemble and clean, and its combination of caliber, muzzle velocity, and semiautomatic operation provided superior fire power over bolt-action rifles” (Kerkhoff). In addition to the M1 Garand some paratroopers were issued the M1 carbine or the Browning Automatic Rifle, but the vast majority of American paratroopers were issued the M1 Garand.
British paratroopers were also issued grenades and a rifle with limited ammo. They were issued M36 Grenades. These grenades were made of cast-iron and were filled with high explosives. The standard rifle issued to the British paratroopers was the Sten gun. “The Sten was simple in design, inexpensive, and easy to manufacture and, although not widely popular with British soldiers, it proved to be an effective weapon” (Kerkhoff). The Bren Light Machine Gun was also issued to select British paratrooper squads called Bren Groups.
While the paratroopers of Market Garden were behind enemy lines they needed a way to be resupplied. They were resupplied via airdropped containers. They came in two forms, metallic and wicker. The metallic containers were Mark I, Type E, and Type F. The Mark I containers were used for many different types of supplies, while Type E and F containers held radio sets. The wicker containers were used to drop clothes, rations, and medical supplies. The containers that were dropped had colored chutes to designate what they contained. The colors used were khaki for personnel, blue for food supplies, yellow for medical supplies, red for weapons and ammo, and white for miscellaneous equipment (Bouchery 83).
In conclusion, Operation Market Garden required great planning, versatile vehicles, and excellent equipment for the paratroopers. Thousands of lives were lost to Operation Market Garden and many more injured or captured. Ignorance to intelligence reports, broken radios, and many costly delays throughout Market Garden led to failure. Operation Market Garden was a very daring and risky operation that could have ended the war by Christmas with the Americans taking Berlin rather than the Russians. Taking a look back at this monumental operation the only thing to say is what Ryan said, they went a bridge too far (Ryan).
Works Cited:
Ryan, Cornelius. A Bridge Too Far. New York: Touchstone, 1995.
Fielder, Mark. “The Battle of Arnhem (Operation Market Garden).” BBC . 9 Jan. 2001. BBC. 25 Mar. 2005 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwtwo/battle_arnhem_01.shtml>.
Ambrose, Stephen E. American Heritage New History of World War II. New York: Viking, 1997.
Kerkhoff, Roel. Remember September 44. 4 Feb. 2005. 2 Apr. 2005 <http://www.rememberseptember44.com/rs44.htm>. Bouchery, Jean. D-Day Paratroopers. Paris: Histoire & Collections, 2004.
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