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A Bridge Too Far - September 17, 1944 Operation Market-Garden Sir Bernard Law Montgomery's Fiasco. In the movie A Bridge Too Far, we see a rather detailed version of operation Market-Garden where English General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery planned for a lightning strike into the Rhineland by using airborne troops to capture key bridges combined with an allied thrust to cross the Rhine and hasten Germany's defeat in 1944. The plan was ambitious and bold, but as happens with military operations, much does not go to plan. The plan was simple, allied paratroopers, some 16,000 would capture bridges across the Rhine River, behind enemy lines. They would hold these bridges until relieved by British and American armies to the west, some 25 miles away. Intelligence was thin and ultimately turned out to be very wrong. Intelligence predicted that the enemy was weak in the area and this would be a double blow to the defending German army in the area: a full assault from the west and troops in the rear areas. Just as on June 6, 1944, when a full German division was on hand to make things rough for the allies, so were two German divisions on hand in the area of the paratroop landings. The German defense was much more spirited and the while the American paratroopers were successful, the British troops landed further from their intended targets and could not be relieved. After a week of fighting, General Montgomery ordered the troops to withdraw, but many were captured and the loss of life was high. Operation Market-Garden, Sir. Bernard Law Montgomery's plan to take Germany early was an abject failure.
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