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History Seminar
Josh Almeida
Operation Overlord
Initial focus
Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of north-west Europe in June 1944, was a
remarkable achievement. It provided the springboard from which forces from Britain, the United
States, Canada, Poland and France could liberate Western Europe from German occupation
before advancing on Berlin to defeat Hitler. The planning for Overlord began in the spring of
1943, and at the outset focused on where best to penetrate the system of German coastal
defences. Stretching from northern Norway to the Franco-Spanish frontier, these defences were
known as the 'Atlantic Wall'.
After an assessment of the alternatives it was decided that an initial assault force of
150,000 men would land on the beaches of Normandy, in northern France. Although here the
English Channel was wider than at the Pas de Calais, Normandy was chosen because its beaches
were close to English ports, were within range of Allied aircraft stationed in England, and had
the useful French port of Cherbourg nearby. With Normandy chosen, the supreme commander of
the Allied Expeditionary Force, American General Dwight D Eisenhower then tasked his staff
with the more detailed military planning for the invasion. British General Sir Bernard
Montgomery was put in charge of land operations, while lieutenant generals Omar N Bradley
(commanding US First Army) and Sir Miles Dempsey (commanding British Second Army), took
charge of the actual assault troops. The final plan demanded that three airborne divisions be
delivered to Normandy, to protect the flanks of the main invasion force of five divisions
assaulting the beaches.
First landings
Located between Utah and Omaha beaches, the capture of Carentan was crucial. The
details of this plan were worked on during the winter of 1943, and on 1 April 1944 heavy
bombers began to soften up the German defences all along the Channel coast. The defences in
Normandy had recently been improved by the German general Erwin Rommel, but he had placed
more emphasis on the Pas de Calais area. This led to a distinct lack of German armoured support
further west and, unhelpfully for Rommel, a fundamental divergence in opinion within the
German high command as to how best to deploy what few assets they had. As the arguments
raged and the Germans endeavoured to deal with their pressing defensive issues, the Allies
massed over one million troops in southern England, as well as an invasion fleet of nearly 5,000
vessels, in preparation for the great offensive. In the early hours of 6 June 1944, two American
and one British airborne division began landing in Normandy and, in spite of their scattered
drops, managed to achieve their critical objectives. Meanwhile, the beach assault troops, packed
into their landing craft and supported by a huge number and variety of naval vessels and aircraft,
approached the Normandy coast.
Main attack
In the battle for Caen, Allied bomber raids reduced the city to rubble. The beaches were
attacked at different times due to the tide, beginning at 0455 hours with an assault in the
American sector at what had been code-named 'Utah' beach. The second landing took place on
the American 'Omaha' beach, followed by the Anglo-Canadian assaults on 'Gold' and then 'Juno'
beaches, before the British hit 'Sword' beach at 0725 hours. The landings were, in general terms,
a great success, although there were heavy casualties on Omaha and the British failed to take
Caen as planned. Nevertheless, by the end of the day, 150,000 men had managed to get ashore
and a firm foothold had been established for the cost of 2,500 dead.
In spite of the considerable success achieved on D-Day, the Allies had to create a
beachhead swiftly and then conduct breakout operations if they were to take full advantage of
their position. The build-up of adequate supplies was therefore crucial to Allied aspirations.
Recognising this, two purpose-built 'Mulberry' harbours were floated across the English Channel
and anchored just off Omaha and Gold beaches.
Operation Market Garden
In May 1945 it was the Russians who hoisted their flag over the ruins of the Reichstag
building in Berlin. In this way World War Two, in Europe, was signalled as being effectively
over. However, the troops who captured Berlin could easily have been British or American, if
events around a small town in Holland had turned out differently. If Operation Market Garden,
planned to take place in the area near Arnhem, in Holland, had succeeded, the western Allies
could have punched their way across one of the last great natural barriers between them and the
German fatherland.
Their tanks and troops might have reached Berlin weeks before the Russians, ending the
war by Christmas 1944. The fate of post-war Europe might have been very different. Market
Garden was one of the boldest plans of World War Two. Thirty thousand British and American
airborne troops were to be flown behind enemy lines to capture the eight bridges that spanned the
network of canals and rivers on the Dutch/German border. At the same time, British tanks and
infantry were to push up a narrow road leading from the Allied front line to these key bridges.
They would relieve the airborne troops, and then cross the intact bridges. The plan was
conceived by General Bernard Montgomery, commander of the British forces in Europe. The
glittering triumph of the D-Day landings in France had become bogged down in the slow and
costly progress through the Normandy fields and hedgerows, which the Germans defended with
skill and tenacity. Despite this, after weeks of heavy fighting, the Allies had finally broken
through. For the next three weeks they rolled through France and Belgium, liberating Paris and
Brussels. Victory for the Allies seemed close.
However, Hitler's forces were regrouping, and as the Allies pushed nearer to Germany's
borders, German resistance stiffened. Montgomery believed that a powerful, narrow thrust deep
into German lines would be more effective than an advance on a broad front, which had become
difficult to supply from the few ports controlled by the Allies, and this was why he devised
Operation Market Garden.
Intelligence warning
The soldiers who would carry out the operation were those of the First Allied Airborne
Army, including one British and two American divisions. They had been kept in reserve in
England since D-Day. Operation after operation had been cancelled. Now their skills and
training could be used at last. Dropping by parachute and in gliders these divisions would land
near the Dutch towns of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, to take the eight key bridges. The
planners called this an 'airborne carpet', along which the advancing British armour of XXX corps
could push through to Germany. The airborne commander, General 'Boy' Browning, had just
seven days to prepare for the operation. The information he was given on the German troops in
the area, however, was alarming. It suggested that there were two SS Panzer divisions around
Arnhem, with many tanks and vehicles. However, the deadline for cancelling the operation was
now close. General Browning had to weigh up the intelligence reports, which might be wrong.
He decided that the operation would go ahead. The huge risks inherent in Operation Market
Garden were now undermined by a series of dangerous compromises.
There were too few aircraft to deliver all the airborne troops in one go. Therefore they
would be dropped over three days. Anti-aircraft defences near Arnhem itself were thought to be
too effective to land gliders near the town. The troops would be dropped at a site seven miles
away, losing any element of surprise.
The first day
Monty dreamed up Operation Market Garden to shorten the war by six months © On
Sunday 17 September, 500 gliders and 1,500 aircraft flew over the men of XXX corps, whose
job was to follow beneath them in their tanks and trucks. As the aircraft flew over, the Allied
guns began a huge barrage to hit the Germans guarding the road ahead. The weather that day was
beautiful, with a cloudless blue sky and a warming autumn sun. Moffat Burriss was a company
commander in the American 82nd airborne division, charged with taking one of the crucial
bridges at Grave. American and British gliders and parachutists drifted down on target, gathered
up their equipment and began to move towards the bridges they had to take. The road up which
XXX corps would have to travel to reach the bridges was narrow, just wide enough for two
vehicles to pass. It was defended by small groups of determined German infantry. As the XXX
corps tanks approached, they picked off the leading nine vehicles, bringing the whole column to
a standstill. It was 40 minutes before they moved again. The Germans were quick to organise
against the airborne troops. The British paratroopers began their advance towards Arnhem, and
were soon under attack. They quickly found that their radios didn't work properly. It was
impossible to co-ordinate the attack properly, because no one could communicate. However, one
British battalion did find a way through the German perimeter around Arnhem, and by 8pm on
the first day, they had captured the northern end of the road bridge across the Rhine. The
Americans had also reached their objectives. But most of the bridges had been blown up before
they could be captured.
At the end of the first day, XXX corps had advanced only seven miles from their start
line, and had not reached the first in the sequence of bridges. Meanwhile the Germans were
reinforcing, and their tanks were moving into Arnhem ready to take on the lightly armed British
paratroopers.
So near yet so far
On 18 September, the second day, XXX corps began to make the progress expected of
them. Their tanks covered 20 miles in a few hours, hooking up with the Americans at one of the
intact bridges near Grave. On the third day they reached Nijmegen, where the Americans were
still fighting in the streets in their efforts to reach the bridge across the might River Waal. Once
they had taken Nijmegen bridge, only Arnhem would be left, and the north end at least was still
in British hands. It seemed that Operation Market Garden might succeed. However, they could
not get across the bridge. General Horrocks, XXX corps commander, ordered American troops to
attack across the River Waal, so that they could capture the German end. The attack was
enormously costly. Half of Burriss's company was killed or wounded on the crossing. The
survivors reached the far bank, and from there successfully stormed the Nijmegen bridge. At last
the route to Arnhem was in Allied hands. However, it was too late for the British parachute
battalion at the north end of the bridge. The Germans had moved their tanks into the town, and
one by one they were demolishing the houses in which the British were fighting.
At this time, the paratroops had few anti-tank weapons, they had no food, and, crucially,
they had little ammunition left. The Allied troops were forced to abandon their positions near the
bridge, and to try and fight their way out. Three miles from Arnhem British paratroops were
holding a pocket of land at the village of Oosterberck. By now XXX corps, commanded by
General Horrocks, was on the other side of the river from the airborne troops. They could not,
however, cross the river as German artillery pinned down the river. Horrocks decided to evacuate
the British survivors; only some 2,500 eventually made the crossing. The Parachute division had
left behind nearly 1,500 dead, and more than 6,500 prisoners, many badly wounded.
Operation Market Garden had failed. It would be another four months before the Allies
crossed the Rhine again and captured the German industrial heartland. The war dragged on,
costing the lives of many thousands of civilians and servicemen.