Operation Market-Garden 1944 (3): The British XXX Corps Missions

by Ken Ford, Graham Turner (Illustrator)

Overview

Field Marshal Montgomery's plan to get Second British Army behind the fortifications of the German Siegfried Line in 1944 led to the hugely ambitious Operation Market-Garden. Part of this plan called for a rapid advance from Belgium through Holland up to and across the lower Rhine by the British XXX Corps along a single road already dominated by airborne troops.

Their objective along this road was the bridge at Arnhem, the target of British and Polish airborne troops. Once XXX Corps had reached this bridge it would then make for the German industrial area of the Ruhr. The operation was bold in outlook, but risky in concept.

Using specially commissioned artwork and detailed analysis, Ken Ford completes his trilogy on Operation Market-Garden by examining this attack which, if successful, could have shortened the war in the west considerably. Yet it turned out to be a bridge too far.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472820129
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	01/23/2018
Series:	Campaign , #317
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Ken Ford was born in Hampshire in 1943. He trained as an engineer and spent almost thirty years in the telecommunications industry. He now spends his time as an author and a bookseller specialising in military history. He has written a number of books on various Second World War subjects. Ken now lives in Southampton.

Graham Turner is a leading historical artist, specializing in the medieval period. He has illustrated numerous titles for Osprey, covering a wide variety of subjects from the dress of the 10th-century armies of the Caliphates, through the action of bloody medieval battles, to the daily life of the British Redcoat of the late 18th century. The son of the illustrator Michael Turner, Graham lives and works in Buckinghamshire, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction 5

Origins of the Battle 6

Chronology 9

Opposing Commanders 10

British commanders

German commanders

Opposing Forces 15

British forces

British order of battle

German forces

German order of battle

Opposing Plans 21

British plans

German plans

The Campaign 28

Prelude to the battle

Holding Joe's Bridge

Operation Garden: the attack, 17 September The second day, 18 September

The third day, 19 September

The fourth day, 20 September The fifth day, 21 September

The sixth day, 22 September

The seventh day, 23 September The eighth day, 24 September

The ninth day, 25 September

The Aftermath 91

The Battlefield Today 93

Select Bibliography 94

Index 95

Editorial Reviews

"...highly recommended due to the excellent organization of the book, the superior writing style of the author, the excellent quality of the illustrations and b&w images, and the thorough coverage of the activities of XXX Corps in Operation Market-Garden." - IPMS / USA

"The images chosen and commissioned for the book provide excellent context for the text describing the people and events that occurred. The narrowing of the book's focus to the ground assault alone allows sufficient detail of the actions to be provided that the result is very readable and informative for such a short book. It does not try to cram too much into too short a book, as some other volumes in the series have done." - AMPS

From the Publisher