Britsoc battlefield tour 28/29 june: Op Market Garden and Battle of the Rhine
The Netherlands were occupied by NAZI Germany in May 1940. In September 1944, after over 4 years’ occupation, the allies reached the country and the process of liberation began. Significant fighting by the allies was necessary to clear the country and commence the advance into Germany and defeat of the Third Reich.
Operation Market Garden in September 1944 is well known, mainly due to Cornelius Ryan’s book and later Hollywood epic film “A Bridge Too Far” and of course, annual commemorations. However, much larger operations were carried out in 1945 by the allies to cross the Rhine and into Germany with the objective of entering Germany to isolate the Ruhr industrial area. The objective was to destroy the factories supplying the German military machine and then advance further into Germany towards Berlin.
Very significant operations collectively known as “The Battle of the Rhine”, have not received the same attention as Market Garden. A series of operations Veritable, Plunder, Grenade and Varsity took place from February to April 1945 and respectively involved upwards of 1 million allied soldiers, vast numbers of armoured vehicles, tanks, artillery and aircraft. Historians agree that the US, British and Canadian armies successes here in the west were a vital contribution to defeating NAZI Germany.
