Operation Market Garden: September 1944

The battle of Normandy ended as the Allied armies crossed the Seine at the end of August 1944, a month after Operation Cobra had broken the stalemate. The Allies harried the retreating Germans, who left their tanks and heavy weapons south of the Seine, and by mid—September the Allies were coming up against the defenses of Germany itself, the impressive Westwall.

As far as the Allies were concerned, the Germans were beaten. The scent of immediate victory was in the air, the only question was ...