The largest airborne and glider operation of World War II, led by British field marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, who, along with U.S. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, favored a single, direct strike to end the war, while Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower preferred a broad-front attack. On September 17, 1944, U.S. and British Airborne Divisions dropped near Arnheim, a Dutch town near the German border, in an attempt to gain a bridgehead on the Lower Rhine. Without the help of supporting British armored divisions slowed by enemy fire and bad weather, the paratroopers suffered almost 10, 000 casualties at the hands of two Panzer divisions. Montgomery's plans thus failed and the operation's diversion of troops also delayed Allied triumph in other battles in Holland.
See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.
