Why did Market Garden fail? What could have been changed to

>>2907311
>Let's drop troops with no armour or heavy artillery into an area where some of the most experienced and best equipped German units are refitting
It was a pretty shit idea really, but after Sicily they all were convinced Monty shit gold (Monty most of all)

>>2907311
Mass paratroppers is not a good idea. See battle of crete.

>>2907311

>ignored critical intelligence on German combat strength and reserves
>overestimated their ability to supply and coordinate a drop of that scale
>unable to push up through occupied territory to relieve the paratroopers with infantry and armor.
>misc. fuckups, like the faulty radar crystals
>Monty

When in doubt, blame the Polish.

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>>2907311

>Why did Market Garden fail?

I'll just run through each fuck up based on location

>Arnhem

1st Airborne had shit radios for starters, this prevented them from coordinating with each other or the Allied air forces in any meaningful manner.

1st Airborne was dropped too far out from the bridge and as a result, only John Frost's reconnaissance battalion got to the actual bridge while the rest of the division was still regrouping. Had even a third of 1st Airborne's available troops gotten to the bridge, they could've held it for much longer.

1st Airborne was also of all of the 1st Allied Airborne Army's available units, the most ill-suited. They had never taken part in a division sized drop before and hadn't seen combat in over a year. Now they fought very bravely, but still, capturing the actual bridgehead over the Rhine should've been given to a more experienced unit.

Once XXX Corps reached the outskirts of Arnhem, they simply stopped short of the bridge rather than just charging it as they had done at Nijmegen.

>Nijmegen

Priority was given to the capture of Groesbeek Heights rather than seizing the actual bridge on the first day. It's a miracle the 82nd Airborne was able to capture it intact at all considering the delay.

Once the bridge was capture, XXX Corps waited nearly a day before pushing on to Arnhem. Even though American paratroopers who had been fighting for days on end without rest or resupply were literally jumping on the tanks, expecting to push on to Arnhem immediately. This delay ultimately proved fatal as the Arnhem bridge was lost during this delay.

>Eindhoven/Veghel/Son

The failure of the 101st Airborne to take the Son Bridge intact.

>General

Time from planning to execution was less than a week.

Allied planners also failed to set up backup crossings that could be taken if the primary ones were lost. Arnhem for instance had a ferry crossing a few miles down river that could've been taken instead.

File: battle of antietam rpbert e lee and jon b gordon don troiani.jpg (241KB, 1280x941px) Image search: [Google]

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>>2907831

cont.

The intelligence failure of course.

Operational security was also compromised early on. The Germans actually suspected the Allies were about to begin a push for the Rhine, they just weren't expecting an airborne assault.

Decision to carry out the drops during broad daylight rather than at night.

Failure to use the Dutch Resistance to their fullest potential. Prior to D-Day, the French Resistance had made life a living Hell for German troops in Normandy, destroying key objectives and perpetually keeping them on edge.

TL;DR Market Garden was to the Aliies what Antietam (ironically occurred exactly 82 years prior to the 1st day of Market Garden) and Gettysburg were to the Confederacy. A bold plan to bring about a swift resolution to a war that had already killed far too many people that fell apart because everything that could conceivably go wrong did. Like at Arnhem, Armistead's brigade actually got to their objective on Cemetery Ridge and fought with legendary heroism, but alone and cut off, they were eventually slaughtered. Those men died with the mirage of victory in sight.

Fortunately for the Allies, unlike the Confederacy, they didn't have their backs to the wall and could recover from the failure of Market Garden. But I imagine the survivors of 1st Airborne were left haunted by their failure as the men of the Army of Northern Virginia were. That they came so close to strike the death blow, did more than could've ever been asked of them, and it still wasn't enough. And their failure would ultimately spell the deaths of countless more people. A heavy burden to bear.

>>2907311
paratroopersare such a meme they carry no advantage.

>>2907928
Agree, paratroopers need to be quickly supported by armor

>>2907928
They're great if you use them right.
Germany used them to perfection in Norway and Battle of France. It was just that you can't rely on them to do 100% of the work