Berlin, it was the Russians who hoisted their flag over the ruins of the Reichstag building in May 1945. It signaled that World War Two in Europe was effectively over. If the events around a small town in Holland had turned out differently, the troops who captured Berlin could easily have been British or American. If Operation Market Garden, in Holland, had succeeded, the western allies could have penetrated their way across one of the last great natural barriers between them and Germany. Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne operation of its time, was a joint military operation intended to end the war by Christmas 1944. The allies failed to achieve their objectives because the strategy was full of flaws, poor planning and coordination of required …show more content…
To the west was Von Zangen’s 15th Army, to the east was Student’s 1st Parachute Army, and in the south at the Siegfried line was Brandenberger’s 7th Army. Model requested for reinforcements, but Germany have no available soldiers, so they conscripted young and old men. Model also ordered the 2nd SS Panzer Corps to retreat towards Arnhem to rest and refit. (Appendix D) This decision to transfer the SS Panzer by Model is one of the reasons why Operation Market Garden failed. Hitler believed that Model wasn’t capable of restoring the German defense, so he replaced Model with Von Rundstedt as OB West. Hitler ordered Von Rundstedt to keep the Siegfried line in readiness. Siegfried line was a defense system stretching more than 630 km, with 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps. Von Rundstedt ordered the 15th Army to retreat to the west, with the exception of some units who had to defend the Canal ports. (Appendix E) The failure of the British to stop this retreat was a big mistake because Von Rundstedt had 60,000 more men at his