In essence, the plans for Operation Market Garden boiled down to the idea of dropping more than 10,000 soldiers 70 miles behind the front line and race towards them as quick as possible with tanks in two days. As it turned out, Market Garden was far too ambitious. The resistance of the German troops turned…
“Thank God Operation Comet was called off. It would have been a disaster.” British General Shan Hackett’s assessment of Operation Comet is clear. Hackett and Polish General Stanislav Sosabowski strongly opposed the plan underlying Operation Market Garden. ‘Operation Comet’ is the name of a plan that British General Bernard Montgomery came up with on September…
While plans for Market Garden were being drawn up in England, the German army leadership had its own thoughts about how the Allies would like to advance in early September. Field Marshal Walter Model, the German commander-in-chief in the area, was firmly convinced that the Allies would attempt to break through the Siegfried Line east…