Operation MARKET GARDEN - September 1944 - Essay Example

With a lot of American, Commonwealth and British troops stationed in London, the unified Anglo-American command sought to find a way of entering Germany. Some of the Allied leaders believed that the entry into Germany could be done if it was launched from the south of the Europe through Italy into Germany. However, pressures from the bombing of London by periodic German airforce raids over Britain created a case for an urgent action to stop the Germans from bombing London. General Montgomery came under intense pressure by the British government to seek a military intervention across the English channel to mainland Europe.

The Americans who overwhelmingly outnumbered the British and Commonwealth troops had command over the joint Allied command. They did not favour the direct invasion of Germany through the northern frontier. They supported an incursion through a weaker point in the German defence lines. With his influence and respect, Montgomery planned an operation meant to lead the Allies to enter German territory. This led to what became know as Operation Market Garden. In the operation, the Allied forces were to seize a series of strategic positions like bridges and cause a number of Allied troops to parachute behind enemy lines to lead to penetration.

The plan of the operation was to break the Nazi frontier and liberate the rest of Europe by December 1944. However, due to large scale operational failures and the strong and efficient control of the frontier by the Nazis, the operation failed to live to expectation and it the Allies were forced to use a different approach several months later1. However, the operation came with so many important lessons that are relevant to modern military warfare. It can be applied to numerous situations and can be used to plot several hypothetical cases.

The fact that there are numerous approaches and systems to the Operation Market Garden means that it could be evaluated and