Operation Market Garden

The Netherlands lɑnt] or [ˈneɪ̯dəlɑnt] ; West Frisian: Nederlân; Papiamento: Hulanda is a constituent country... of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with some islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is a parliamentary democracy organised as a unitary state. The country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces . The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 25% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, and 50% of its land lying less than one metre above sea level. This distinct feature contributes to the country's name: in Dutch , English, and in many other European languages (e.g.
more

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global war that was under way by 1939 and ended in 1945. It involved a vast majority of the... world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million people serving in military units. In a state of "total war", the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant events involving the mass death of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it resulted in 50 million to over 70 million fatalities. These deaths make the war the deadliest conflict in human history. Although Japan was already at war with China in 1937, the world war is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany, and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and most of the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth.
more

Operation Berlin was a night-time evacuation of paratroopers of the British 1st Airborne Division trapped in German occupied territory north of the... Lower Rhine in the Netherlands. The aim of the operation was to safely withdraw the remnants of the division who were surrounded on three sides by superior German forces and in danger of being encircled and destroyed. The operation successfully evacuated approximately 2,400 men and effectively ended Operation Market Garden, the Allied plan to cross the Rhine and end the Second World War by the end of the year. In September 1944 the Allies launched Operation Market Garden, an attempt by the British 2nd Army to bypass the Siegfried Line and advance into the Ruhr, Germany’s industrial heartland. The operation required the First Allied Airborne Army to seize several bridges over rivers and canals in the Netherlands. This would allow General Brian Horrocks' XXX Corps to advance up an 'airborne corridor' and cross the Lower Rhine at Arnhem. It was hoped that the British would be across the Rhine in 2–4 days.
more