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Old 04-21-2020, 10:05 AM
dragoon500ly dragoon500ly is offline
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Location: East Tennessee, USA
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Hate to say this, but I've read most of the histories on Market Garden, watched the youtube videos you've suggested and had the advantage of having actually walked many parts of the Highway of Death. Speaking as a tanker, no worse route could have been selected.

At the time, the 'highway' was a narrow two-lane road elevated over the surrounding countryside. Recent geological surveys have confirmed the extreme difficulty of moving armored vehicles over sodden fields (please remember that much of this part of Holland was recovered from the sea). Toss in the recent heavy rains prior to the battle, and the British were forced onto that road. The Germans then enjoyed firing practice at silhouetted targets.

To add insult to injury, the pre-war Dutch army never bothered with an advance to the Arnhem bridge, better to jog left and take the often over-looked ferry at Oosterbeek to cross the Rhine and attack Arnhem bridge from both ends.

Monty's plan was strategically brilliant, allow him the use of the only real Allied reserves, priority on supplies and he would make a narrow thrust, size a single bridge over the Rhine, make a right turn and funnel more troops into a drive into the Ruhr valley and defeat the Germans and end the war by Christmas.

In the end, the Allies suffered heavy losses and were the proud owners of a saliant that led nowhere.
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