Operation Market Garden also referred to “A Bridge too far” was an unsuccessful attempt to starve Hitler War Machine of supplies reducing the German’s will to fight ending the War before Christmas 1944. UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill, supported a “broad front” strategy for moving across Western Europe into Germany. British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery with Churchill’s backing began to press for change a “single thrust” strategy. The new idea was for one augmented Army Group to Drive into German and on to Berlin with the other Army Groups defending with localized Advances. General Dwight Eisenhower the US Commander in Europe of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) believed it was time for a bold operation and approved the proposal: “Market- Garden” September 10, 1944. 1(COBLE 1984)
(COBLE 1984)
For the reason that the US contributed the greater part of machinery, manpower and finances to the Allied war effort, General Eisenhower's appointment ahead of Montgomery as the ultimate Allied Commander was logical. He was always sensitive to political and higher-ranking military bosses, above all Roosevelt, Churchill, and Marshall. His focus was completely on the Allies’ goal of "total surrender." A skilled professional, Eisenhower never allowed the egoistical and individual aspirations of any of his generals sidetrack him from trying to realize that goal. He took note and considered Montgomery's views and thoughts but remained the designer of the multi-pronged assault tactic. The approved plan consisted of two phases: The MARKET phase was to “lay a ‘carpet’ of airborne forces across the five major bridges or choke point which existed on the general axis of the main road through Eindhoven to Uden,...
... middle of paper ...
...ge.com/Military (accessed 02 2014).
2. BBC. The Battle of Arnhem. 2014. BBC - History - World Wars: Animated Map: Thwww.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/launch_ani_arnhem.shtml.
3. COBLE, ELIZABETH ANN LIEUTENANT COLONEL. "OPERATION MARKET GARDEN: CASE STUDY FOR ANALYZING SENIOR LEADER RESPONSIBILITIES." 1984.
4. Director, Sue Gardner is the Executive. Wikipedia, Operation Market Garden. 02 14, 2014. Operation Market Garden From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelink (accessed 02 2014).
5. Garden, Operational Anaylsis of Market. UKessay.com. 02 14, 2014. http://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/operation-market-garden-the-allied-operational-level-analysis-history-essay.php (accessed 2014).
6. Staff Writer. Operation Market Garden Timeline. n.d. http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/operation-market-garden.asp (accessed 02 2014).
Unfortunately for the entire army group, Operation Market Garden was to be planned in 7 days. Major General Urquhart’s report on Operation Market states that there was adequate time for the planning of the mission but that due to the necessary risk of multiple airlifts over three days led to the divisions fighting strength to be that of a brigade. In his planning of this Operation, Major General Urquhart had requested more Allied gliders and planes, but seemed content enough to go ahead with the
The prelude to the Battle of the Bulge began on a winter day in mid-December of 1944. Three powerful German divisions, were the last German offensives in the west at that time during World War II. They began after the Normandy invasion in June 1944. Allied had forces swept rapidly through France but became stalled along the German border earlier that year in September. On December 16, 1944 taking advantage of the weather, which kept the Allied aircraft on the ground, the Germans launched a counteroffensive through the semi-mountainous and heavily-forested Ardennes region in Germany, and advanced 31 miles into Belgium and northern Luxembourg near the Meuse River. Their goal was to trap four allied armies, divide the Americans and the British to force negotiated peace along the western front, and retake the vital seaport of Antwerp in Belgium. Thinking the Ardennes was the least likely spot for a German offensive, American staff commander chose to keep the thin line, so that manpower might concentrate on offensives north and south of the Ardennes known as the "bulge" in the Allied lines. These American lines were thinly held by three divisions in the Allied Army and part of a forth division, while fifth division was making a local attack and the sixth division was in reserve. Division sectors were more than double the width of normal defensive fronts, therefore there were more men scattered along a larger area. The German advance was halted near the Meuse River in late December. Even though the German Offensive achieved total surprise, nowhere did the American troops give ground without a fight. Within three days, the determined American stand and the arrival of powerful reinforcements insured that the ambitious German goal was far beyond reach. In snow and sub-freezing temperatures the Germans fell short of their interim objective- to reach the rambling Meuse River on the edge of the Ardennes. But they managed to avoid being cut off by an Allied Pincer movement.
The award-winning novel by Stephen Ambrose, Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, discusses one of the greatest examples of mission command in the form of 1st Lieutenant Richard Winters and his role in the Brecourt Manor Assault. This battle is a textbook example of how to fight against a superior enemy force that outnumbered the unit by four times as much. Facing overwhelming odds with just 16 paratroopers against over 60 German Soldiers, 1LT Winters nevertheless prevails and succeeds in achieving his objective while minimizing casualties to just three Soldiers lost. Looking back further into the American Revolution, the Battle of Bunker Hill on the American side is one of the earliest examples of Mission Command under the command of COL William Prescott.
“BritishBattles.Com Analysing and Documenting British Battles from the Previous Centuries.” BritishBattlescom. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.
In order to receive a victory in the Battle of the Bulge, General Patton used Mission Command Analysis in order to understand how he can be successful for this mission. The first thing of understanding t...
There are 11 Army Publications used as references (ADP 3-0, ADP 6-0, ADP 6-22, ADRP 5-0, ADRP 6-0, AR 350-1, AR 600-100, FM 3-13, FM 27-10, TC 1-05). ADRP 6-22 is composed of 11 chapters, divided into four parts. 3. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? Background and Discussion a. ADRP 6-22 discusses necessary topics in order to become a multi-skilled, competent, and responsive Army leader.
...attle was to take advantage of General Patton’s Army and stop the initiative. Adolph Hitler had no time to plan his counterattack on the 3rd U.S. Army, and his men had no training. The unity of command principle of war from the 3rd U.S. Army side was perfect.
. F.A. Osmanski, The Logistical Planning of Operation OVERLORD.” Military Review Vol. XXIX No. 8, (November 1949) accessed at http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p124201coll1/id903 (accessed 23 Oct 2013) p.41
Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces during World War II, was close to not achieving commander status. If this had happened, a different person would have taken control over Operations Torch, Avalanche, and Overlord. Eisenhower, in fact, was the key component in the victory for the Allies. Had he not been assigned by George Marshall to a planning officer in Washington D.C., President Harry Truman might not have saw Eisenhower’s potential. Eisenhower’s past 30 years of military experience, his strong mental and social stature, and his ideas and tactics were all key factors for his triumphant victory in World War II.
Early in the operations Alexander’s vague commander’s intent encouraged Patton to develop an independent understanding, different from Alexander’s, to the point that he assumed he would push north, beyond phase line blue, along with Montgomery to protect his flank all the way to Messina. (site) Mission Command crises culminated when General Alexander shifted the boundaries between the 7th and 8th Armies.(site) Alexander made his decision based on lack of trust in the 7th Army and his own clouded commander’s intent and incomplete understanding of the follow-on effects of a quick capture of Messina. His decision denied the Allies an opportunity to execute a quick breakout through the Axis defenses. But more importantly, it motivated General Patton to abandon his disciplined initiative and ignored Alexander’s directive to push north to protect Montgomery’s flank. Instead, he drove to Palermo seeking to reclaim this army’s prestige and later with a secure port of Palermo beat Montgomery to Messina. (site) The Allies’ poor foundation of Mission Command delayed a promising advance and replaced it with a rogue commander this allowed the German General Hube, a very competent combatant, time to concentrate and consolidate his forces to stiffen his defensive positions to delay the Allies until he was able to evacuate the bulk of his forces
Pierce, Jon L. and John W. Newstrom (2011) 6th edition. Leaders and the Leadership Process.
The Germans took an unrealistic approach in the decision making process for the battle. During the debate in the German High Command about what to do in the summer of 1943, two options were introduced. The realistic option, which was supported by the best German field commanders and many soldiers, was to compensate for the large Russian numerical advantage by fully utilizing the superiority of the German commander and soldiers in tactics, command and fighting, by a strategy of dynamic mobile defense that would cause great losses to the Russians in a series of local clashes. This would delay the Russians and was a realistic goal as it was easily achievable. However, Adolf Hitler wanted to follow the enthusiast-optimistic option of having a major decisive battle against a large portion of the Russian armour in order to destroy them. He thought that the best suited place for such a battle was the Kursk salient, where the Russians had already established battle grounds. In fact, aerial photos taken by German airplanes clearly revealed that the Russians had already built dense and deep fortifications at the Kursk salient in order to counter an attack. Also, it was evident that many Russian tanks were moved deeper behind the front line. Finally, the Blitzkrieg tactic that was often used by the Germans would have to be changed.
In the spring of 1940 Europe was enveloped in war. The German military machine had already conquered Poland, Denmark, and Norway. However, not content with northern and eastern expansion, Adolf Hitler wanted to control the western countries in Europe. Hitler had long been obsessed with attacking and controlling France. After their defeat in World War I, the German people, government, and military were humiliated by the enormous post war sanctions leveraged against them from the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler wanted to defeat and humiliate the French people in the same way that his country had to experience. For him, revenge was necessary. The German plan was to swing into France using a new tactic know as Blitzkrieg or “Lightning War”. Blitzkrieg used speed and surprise along with highly concentrated tank corps, supported by mechanized infantry and airplanes.
It began to emerge the differences in tactics. The question was whether to continue so far the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Forces Europe, General Eisenhower’s tactics attacking on a broad front, or due to problems of supply to take just one mighty blow. In that period Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery developed a new operation plan, which would include the use of 1st Airborne Army (Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton), actually 1st Airborne Corps (Lieutenant General Frederick Browning). The Corps comprised of 82nd US Airborne Division (Brigadier General James M. Gavin), 101st US Airborne Division (Major General Maxwell D. Taylor), and 1st British Airborne Division (Major General Robert “Roy” E. Urquhart) supported with, under his command, 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade (Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski). These units should be dropped along the roa...
Gardner, J. (1990). The Nature and Tasks of Leadership. In J. T. McMahon (Ed.), Leadership Classics (pp. 171-175). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.