page_title: Airborne forces
section_title: Operation Market Garden: "A Bridge Too Far"
hierarchical_section_title: Airborne forces / World War II / Allied operations / Western Europe / Operation Market Garden: "A Bridge Too Far"
caption_attribution_description: English: 'Parachutes open overhead as waves of paratroops land in Holland during operations by the 1st Allied Airborne Army. September 1944
context_page_description: Airborne forces are military units moved by aircraft and "dropped" into battle, typically by parachute, almost anywhere with little warning. Formations are limited only by the number and size of their aircraft; a huge force can appear "out of nowhere" behind enemy lines in minutes, an action known as vertical envelopment.
  On the other hand, airborne forces typically lack supplies for prolonged combat; they are much better equipped for an airhead than for long-term occupation. Airborne operations are particularly sensitive to weather. Advances in helicopter technology since World War II have brought increased flexibility, and air assaults have largely replaced parachutists.
context_section_description: Operation Market Garden of September 1944, involved 35,000 airborne troops dropped up to 100 miles (160 km) behind German lines in an attempt to capture a series of bridges over the Maas, Waal and Rhine Rivers, in an attempt to outflank German fortifications and penetrate into Germany. The operation was hastily planned and many key planning tasks were inadequately completed. Three complete airborne divisions executed Operation Market, the airborne phase. These were the British 1st Airborne Division, the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division and U.S. 101st Airborne Division, as well as the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade. All units were landed or dropped at various points along Highway 69 ("Hell's Highway") in order to create a "carpet" over which the British XXX Corps could rapidly advance in Operation Garden, the land phase. It was a daylight assault, with little initial opposition, and most units achieved high accuracy on drop and landing zones. In the end, after strong German counterattacks, the overall plan failed: the British 1st Airborne Division was all but destroyed at Arnhem, and the final Rhine bridge remained in German hands.
caption: Waves of paratroops land in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.
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