Arnhem Battle

Introduction

A famous Second World War military engagement in towns of Arnhem, Oosterbeek, Wolfheze, and Driel in Dutch was known as the Battle of Arnhem. The battle took place in these towns and the surrounding areas between 17th and the 26th September, 1944. By this time, the Second World War was almost over. The disorganized Germans were pushed out of France and Belgium by the allied armies. All the armies put their best efforts in this battle, but, they were not well equipped to keep up with the present pace of the war. The German army was the most powerful army at this time, but it had almost collapsed. A single army was to be given priority to supply the resources to try and win this final battle before the end of the year. The second British army and field marshal Montgomery was given this honor (Badsey, 1997).

Field marshal Montgomery had a highly ambitious plan to fly three divisions of the glider and parachute armies of about thirty five thousand men. They were to land in Holland and capture more that five key bridges. Tanks belonging to the British army were able to penetrate the front line and connect with the airborne divisions to help in securing the bridges. This plan would ensure there were no river obstacles between the two armies which would ensure a conclusion of this war. The airborne assault in the warfare, which is its history, was named Operation Market Garden. The war was set to start on the 17th September, a Sunday.

The airborne divisions selected to help in capturing the bridges were of American origin. They were to capture two bridges around Eindhoven and another two around Nijmegen. The principal goal was to capture the final bridge at Arnhem. This duty was given to General Roy Urquhart of the British army. His army of ten thousand soldiers was to parachute 60 miles inside the enemy zone and reinforcement by tanks would not arrive until the third day. The airborne division was not heavily armed and taking the enemy by surprise was...