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→The Battle
Operation Market Garden began on the 17th of September 1944. It was a coordinated action by American, British a Polish Airborne and mainly British forces. The operation began with heavy air raids, in order to weaken any resistance. The paratroopers began landing at 13.00hrs around targets in the Netherlands, chiefly Eindhoven, Arnhem and Nijmegen<ref> Devlin, Gerard M.. ''Paratrooper: The Saga Of Parachute And Glider Combat Troops During World War II''. Robson Books, NY, 1979), p. 117</ref>. The paratroopers had the advantage of surprise and they achieved their objectives. The Germans had been taken completely by surprise. The initial phase of the operation was a total success. It had been feared that the Germans would blow up the bridges and this would mean that the plan would have to be aborted. The rapid capture of the bridges meant that the ground forces would be able to reach the landing zones, and support the paratroopers.<ref>Devlin, p. 119</ref>
The British ground forces fought their way to Nijmegen and captured the city, after some fierce fighting. One after another the bridges were captured by the British Ground forces. The operation appeared to be going to plan despite heavier than anticipated German resistance. The most important bridge was Arnhem, this was the most strategically significant bridge and it had to be seized by the ground forces if Market Garden was to succeed in its objectives. The British paratroopers had captured the bridge but they soon came under fierce attack from units of the crack 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions<ref> Hastings, Max, ''Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944–45 '' (London: Pan Books, 2004), p.123</ref>. The SS had armor and tanks and they pounded the British paratroopers mercilessly.
The British paratroopers soon found themselves surrounded as the SS had encircled them. The lightly armed British soldiers fought bravely, but they could not hold out for long. An elite British unit, the Irish Guards, was fighting its way forward to help the airborne troops. However, because of the terrain they had to fight their way up to Arnhem on a single road and they were constantly attacked. This road came to be known as the Highway to Hell. The tanks of the Guards could not leave the narrow road as the ground was very marshy and much of it was bog land. As the Irish Guards made their way to Arnhem they were easily picked off by the Germans, who attacked them from the cover of woodland. Eventually, such was the ferocity of the German resistance that the British came to a halt. The paratroopers at Arnhem were isolated and cut-off and were forced to surrender. Operation Market Garden had achieved all of its objectives, except the most important one, the capture of the Bridge at Arnhem.<ref>Hastings, p. 135</ref>
