#1: 1. Market Garden Modified - an alternative history Author: CSO_Talorgan, Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 9:25 pm — Santa brought me a number of good books, including "Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Alternate Scenarios" edited by Peter Tsouras. Chapter 4 by Andrew Uffindell is an alternative history of Operation Market-Garden, which is obviously relevant to this mod.
As far as I can make out the only additional *resource* Uffindell afords the Allies is the training of eight sets of glider pilots to land close to the bridges over the Lower Rhine. For all I know, they may be the same pilots who historically landed at Pegasus but this time they are carrying companies of the Border Regiment rather than the Ox & Bucks. Orbat and lift capacity for Market Garden as a whole seem unchanged. However, the drop zones for the British paras are shifted to south of the river and the 82nd sets a higher priority to the capture of the Nijmegen bridges. (These last two variations were the subject of CC II mods by BruceR.)
Needless to say the yarn begins well with all three (road, rail and pontoon) bridges at Arnhem being seized in the opening minutes of this very different Operation Market Garden. Uffindell even has the commander of the Glider Pilot Regiment fly one of the Horsas around St Walburgis church to land on the north ramp of Arnhem Road Bridge. Its wingtips are snapped off by the lamp posts before it comes to a halt, disgorging an assault group, who seize the bridge.
[I will digress here to point out that this fictitious action can be replicated through the use of two boardgames. (Isn't it a shame that nowadays you have to be a computer programmer to "tinker" with games?) Advanced Squad Leader and Yacquinto's WW II tactical trilogy use the same ground scale. So you can play "Armour" on the ASL map of Arnhem, and "Armour" contained rules for glider assault! I was glad when the commander of the Glider Pilot Regiment managed to fly *round* the St Walburgis church for it brought back sad memories of the day many years ago when one of my Horsas ended up *inside* St Walburgis church. The occupants would undoubtedly have been splattered all over the floor of said church had they not been made of cardboard!]
The bridge assault companies are reinforced within minutes by the 1st Parachute Brigade, which lands so close to the bridge that one bloke is left dangling from the metalwork of the arch. 1st Airlanding Brigade arrives, as it did historically, out on the heath, and has to guard its own landing zones for the second wave of gliders. However, most of the fighting takes place in the City of Arnhem, which is wrecked in the process, especially when Monty "arc-lights" the northern suburbs at the end of the battle. I'm sure he would have used a different term, but the overall impression is similar to the historical Caen after D-Day.
The Germans do at one stage reach the river near St Elizabeth's Hospital, but the only way across is via the ferry at Pannerden, so fewer of Harmel's men reach Nijmegen, allowing the Americans to capture both bridges there. There is no need to cross the Waal in open boats in broad daylight, but the road bridge is blown from under the tanks of the Guards Armoured. Lord Carrington's name is not mentioned, but didn't he (historically) lead the tanks across the bridge?
XXX Corps reaches Oosterbeek via both rail bridges, consolidates its position, and then tries to hook around the north of Arnhem. However, the attack stalls. Hence the aforementioned heavy bombers.
Deelen is taken, together with the "high" ground north of Arnhem but by this time it is October and the rains arrive. Progress grinds to a halt.
This is where things became rather interesting. Monty's "Christmas in Berlin" idea was obviously nonsense, but surely Market Garden could reach Apeldoorn and the Ijesselmeer? Surely jumping off from the Ijssel was going to be better than slogging through the Reichwald?
Furthermore, I had always taken it as read that had Horrocks dipped his toe in the Ijesselmeer, that the German position in western Holland would have become untenable and that a collapse would have ensued. I fondly believed that the garrisons of Rotterdam and The Hague would have routed northwards to Den Helder, only to find the guns of the Home Fleet or the rockets of Coastal Command.
... But Uffindell says "no". He has the key coastal areas, including the Scheldt held by scratch forces, while the remainder calmly escapes across the Ijsselmeer at night, or drives home along the Afsluitdijk.
I found this astonishing, because it means that Operation Market Garden in its entirety was utterly pointless. Even if it was completely successful, it would not have altered the course of the war.
The (my) inevitable conclusion from all this is that the correct course for Montgomery in the autumn of 1944 would be to seize Bergen-op-Zoom, clear the Scheldt estuary, open Antwerp and call it a day (or rather a year). Dig in for winter and let others take the casualties!
Am I right in saying this?
Not a bad book. This one chapter alone makes it worth having.
