WWII Allied Forces Looked to Win the War with Operation Market Garden

With German forces on the run following the Allied success at Normandy and the breakout and pursuit across France, Allied forces were staged to enter Germany in late summer 1944. Both Field Marshal Montgomery and General Bradley clamored to be given the priority of effort. General Eisenhower chose Montgomery’s Operation MARKET GARDEN as the plan for action. It called for airborne forces to open the route for a ground force to move more than sixty miles up a single road, ending up north of the Rhine River near Arnhem, Netherlands. By accomplishing this task, the German Ruhr industrial heartland would be within easy grasp. But the operation failed. The ground force

The invasion of D-Day is the largest joint sea born invasion in the history of the world. Although very well planned, the amphibious landings were a gamble made by the Allied forces to gain foothold in Europe. Every American has heard about the Allied invasion of German-occupied Western Europe on D-Day. However, how many Americans stop and think about how much planning, preparation and luck that went into making it the success that it is remembered for? I will attempt to depict what it took to conquer the Normandy beaches using historical and military facts that make it such an iconic event in the world’s history still today.

The codename given to the operation was ‘Jubilee’ and its aim was to capture Dieppe to provide the

The American and British lines stretched from the fierce attack of the Germans and on December 23 the skies cleared allowing the American air planes to drop supplies to the ground forces and enabling them to attack German ground forces as well. ( William 27-30

Many historical Battles shaped, contributed, and evolved U.S. Military Operations within the Field Artillery Branch, The Battle of the Bulge held one of the most significant roles. During World War II (December 16, 1944-January 25, 1945), The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign on the 80 mile Western Front stretching along Luxembourg, Eastern Belgium and the Ardennes. Germany and Adolf Hitler’s goal was to cut the Allied forces in half and utilize a divide and conquer method because he felt like this was their most optimal chance to win the war. There were many key factors and issues for Allied Forces during the Battle that were unaccounted for which consisted of; torturous weather, terrain, intelligence, communications, resources and a desperate German forces.

It was not until the Teheran Conference in November 1943 that the British, encouraged by the Russians, reluctantly agreed to launch a cross-channel attack, code-named Operation Overlord, in May of 1944, and to allow President Franklin D. Roosevelt to name a commander for the operation. Although both Marshall and Brooke were contenders for the appointment, both even promised it, they were passed over. Instead, all favored in the selection of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was then commanding United States forces in Europe. On January 14 1944, Eisenhower, who was now Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, arrived in London to begin work on the final invasion plan.

The development of the allied military strategy in World War II (WWII) presented challenges for the U.S. and Great Britain as they worked together to defeat the Axis powers. First, this paper will review the environment at the time of WWII when Admiral Stark penned the “Plan Dog” memorandum and MAJ Wedemeyer’s War Defense Team put together the “Victory Plan”. Next, it will look at the advantages and disadvantages of coalition operations with supporting examples. Then, a review of two major meetings between U.S. and Great Britain will identify what strategic decisions were made and the effects they have on the war. Finally, this paper will explore the foundations of strategy (Clausewitz and Sun Tzu) by which the allied forces used and

Define the battle to be analyzed 1. The battle that one picked is, the Battle of the Bulge 2. The Battle of the Bulge began on December 16th 1944 and ended on January 25th 1945. The battle took place in the Ardennes, a heavily forested region in Belgium, France. The Bulge was a major German offensive that was launched near the end of World War II.

During World War II, the allied forces planned an invasion against the German army at the beaches of Normandy, France. With this assault still hours away, the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division Paratroopers were already executing night drops behind enemy lines. An article published at www.warhistoryonline.com states, “the paratroopers were to disrupt the German defense lines and use the element of surprise while the main force landed the beaches” (Budanovic). Foggy weather made drop-zone accuracy difficult for the 82nd, but they adapted and did their best to complete their mission. This same determination resonates in the life of a more recent veteran of the 82nd Airborne, 1st LT. Mark Menis-Kyler. In a recent interview, he shared his story with

The D-Day invasion started with an unsafe assault by American paratroopers. Dropped behind four lines to mellow up the German troops and to secure focuses on, the paratroopers realized that if the strike via ocean fizzled, there would be no salvage. Leaving from Portland Bill on the English draft, the 101st, and 82nd U.S. Airborne Divisions were dropped on the Cherbourg promontory. Starting there, the 101st was to secure the western end behind UTAH and head off an eastern German advance. The 82nd, landing more remote inland, was to grab the extensions and prevent advance from the west. Substantial haze and German firearms brought about numerous difficulties. The pilots were not able to drop the paratroopers precisely as arranged. The 101st Division endured awesome misfortunes. One and only 6th of the men came to their destination focuses. The main regiment of the 82nd Division was better, however, the second endured substantial supply misfortunes. Still, both divisions figured out how to frame litter squads, and sorted out themselves to battle. By 4:30 am, the 82nd had caught the town of Ste-Mere- Eglise. By first light, Allied powers arrived on five shorelines vanquishing Germany 's strengths. The fourth Infantry Division was to take Utah Beach.

Although there is more to it, the success of the initial of invasion was excellent news, however General Omar Bradley was not please with the slow progress allied troop were making inland. Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery of the British Army was the commander of all ground troops involved in the Normandy invasion, attributed the slow progress of the allied push inland to the significant loss of the Mulberry Harbor, weather, and a fierce German resistance force further inland. After several long weeks of minimal advances inland General Bradley devised Operation Cobra, this was an offensive operation aimed at breaking through German lines in order to advance allied forces towards Paris. The intention was to split the allied forces in two groups, the British, Polish and Canadians were to launch Operation Goodwood while the Americans pushed west in Operation Cobra. The simoutannious movement of allied forces demanded that the Germans choose which front to focus

“Watch on the Rhine” or “The Battle of the Bulge” as the American called it, was the Germans last major counter-offensive in World War II to push the allied force out of northern France and into northwestern Belgium. The fighting force in the battle was 250,000 Germans which included 14 German infantry divisions guarded by four Panzer tank divisions against a mere 80,000 Americans. The first assault happened on December 16, 1944, on a thinly guarded 85 mile stretch from Echternach in the south to Monschau in the north in the Ardennes Mountains, called the Ghost Front. For Adolf Hitler and the Reich, this was their last big push against the Allied Forces. For SS Lieutenant Colonel Joachim Peiper and his panzer division, it was their chance to

The Ardennes Offensive was a German attack on the Allied western front on December 16th, 1944. This battle is widely known as the “Battle of the Bulge” because the German’s initial attack pushed the Allied front in the Ardennes region to the west, creating a bulge in the generally north to south running Allied western front. The Allied western front ran north to south, stretching from the northern part of Belgium down into the southern parts of France. The German’s main focus was an area called the Ardennes region in the middle of the Allied front. The German’s end state was to attack the middle of the Allied front in order to split Allied forces. The Ardennes region was a heavily forested area and German commanders knew the Axis forces had to seize the city of Bastogne in order to control the main supply routes (MSR’s). The city of Bastogne was a piece of key terrain in the Ardennes region due to the highly trafficable MSR’s. The MSR’s would allow the Axis forces to easily maneuver their fifteen panzer divisions and supply trains westerly through the Allied front. 1

The first troops deployed into battle were paratroopers. Over thirteen thousand U.S. paratroopers were dropped by an armada of C-47s behind German lines before dawn. Their mission was to seize bridges, disrupt communications, and prevent German soldiers from reinforcing the Normandy beaches as the Allied assault hit the coastline (Alberecht). Heavy cloud coverage made for difficult navigation and forced many of the paratroopers to jump “blind”. This resulted in them being scattered over a 100-square mile radius. Thirty-five percent of these soldiers landed at their designated drop point, while many others died when they landed in fields flooded by the Germans. Despite all of this, the remaining troops were able to secure their intended positions (Dry).

Operational Market Garden was a conducted in two phases, the airborne operation codename Market, and the ground force operation, codename Garden. The scheme of maneuver was to insert airborne troops to secure five major water obstacles in Holland. The 101st Airborne Division was to secure two bridges in the vicinity of Eindhoven and Veghel. The 82nd Airborne Division was to secure two bridges in vicinity of Grave and Nijmegan. The British 1st Airborne Division along with the 1st Parachute Brigade was to secure a bridge in vicinity of Arnhem. (Coble, 2009) Once the objectives were secure, the troops were to await linkup from ground forces, Operation Garden.