Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the German-occupied Netherlands from 17 to 25 September 1944. Its objective was to create a 64 mi (103 km) salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the Nederrijn, creating an Allied invasion route into northern Germany. This was to be achieved by two sub-operations: seizing nine bridges with combined US and British airborne forces ("Market") followed by British land forces swiftly following over the bridges ("Garden").
Paratroopers of the First Allied Airborne Army descending over the Netherlands
Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery
Infantry of 50th (Northumbrian) Division moving up past a knocked-out German 88mm gun near 'Joe's Bridge' over the Meuse-Escaut Canal in Belgium, 16 September 1944
German soldiers at Arnhem
Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as paratroopers.
United States Air Force paratroopers from the 720th Special Tactics Group jumping from a C-130J Hercules aircraft during water rescue training off the Florida Panhandle
Queen Elizabeth and Princess Elizabeth talking to paratroopers in preparation of D-Day, 19 May 1944
King George VI inspects men of the 7th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers, 1st Airborne Division, in the North Midlands, 1944.
Dwight D. Eisenhower speaks with American paratroopers of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division on the evening of June 5, 1944.
