Over 80 years on, Operation Market Garden is a topic that remains controversial – highlighted by a range of opinions found in the comments of our latest video.
Among these was a good deal of criticism for our take on events.
And whilst we love a debate, we felt there were too many based on a misunderstanding of what our video was about and a misinterpretation of what our video set out to do.
So, if you are in any way interested in our thoughts, pull up a sandbag as we set the record straight!
Our video was not intended to be an exhaustive list of the reasons Market Garden failed.
As we said at the very start of the video, our approach was to look at the reasons Market Garden failed from the perspective of XXX Corps.
We wanted to highlight the challenges those tank units – and give an adequate account of their part in the operation whilst listing the factors that prevented them achieving their objectives.
So, the scope of the video never sought to include the full range of factors at play.
We did not endorse any Hollywood production as a factual representation of history.
A Bridge Too far is one of the most iconic war movies ever made.
We chose to use clips from this film as a storytelling device to help make the subject matter accessible for a broad audience.
But the film was not the basis of our analysis. We list the sources used to inform our narrative in our video descriptions – and Cornelius Ryan’s work is not among them.
We introduced the sequence in which Major Cook accuses the men of Guards Armoured of a lack of urgency as a “dramatisation” of the moment XXX Corps halted.
The impact that this movie sequence has had on perceptions of XXX Corps meant it was important to include as part of our analysis.
That said, this dramatisation was representative of the genuine frustration that existed – although it doesn’t illustrate that fact that darkness was falling, the XXX Corps infantry was still engaged in clearing Nijmegen and that the tanks were at significant risk from the heavy anti-tank opposition that awaited them.
It is unlikely that the late capture of Nijmegen bridge had much impact on XXX Corps progress.
Our video was critiqued for not highlighting the failure of 82nd Airborne in securing their objective on time.
Such arguments suggest that the Guards Armoured Division could have crossed the bridge and continued to Arnhem on schedule if they had.
This seems like a hypothetical argument, given that by this point XXX Corps were already behind schedule, reaching Nijmegen on the afternoon of D+3, because of the difficulties they had faced – and would continue to face along the route.
It also assumes that 82nd Airborne could have taken and held the bridge – and effectively the town – in the face of enemy reinforcement.
The resistance encountered clearing Nijmegen, along with the need to divert forces to deal with enemy attempts to cut the road, were all arguably a symptom of the pre-operation intelligence failures that underestimated enemy strength.
So, it remains highly questionable that the timetable could have been adhered to even if the 82nd had managed to secure Nijmegen bridge earlier.
The argument was also made that Guards Armoured had covered greater distances in less time during The Great Swan.
But this ignores the fact that at that time German opposition was crumbling, and multiple routes were available. This was not the situation during Market Garden.
Monty was Responsible
In recent years it has become popular to challenge some of the more lazy and negative perceptions of Montgomery’s performance.
It’s even more interesting that the fault lines of such arguments are often split over national boundaries.
Regardless of who did the detailed planning of the operation – Brereton, Browning et al – Montgomery, as GOC 21st Army Group, had ultimate ownership of the plan. This is a simple reality of military accountability and responsibility.
Indeed, it is documented that he flew to Brussels to harangue Eisenhower into allowing Market Garden to go ahead, prompting Ike to respond, “You can’t talk to me like that Monty, I’m your boss!”.
Watch the Video
If you haven’t already, watch our video on the Tanks of Operation Market Garden below….
