Comments by "" (@lyndoncmp5751) on "AFTER ARNHEM 1944 | Q&A 9" video.

  1. Montgomery actually had an alternative plan to Market Garden on the 9th/10th September. This was for a paratroop drop at Walcheren Island to clear the Scheldt, but General Brereton of First Allied Airborne Army flat out rejected this alternative proposal and decided on Market Garden instead. Montgomery had zero jurisdiction to decide airborne operations. Brereton and Eisenhower had the say so.
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  2. Imagine trying to get across the southern Netherlands later on in worse weather and with tougher German defences. Market Garden got to Nijmegen (where the British and Canadian advance into Germany in 1945 kicked off from) in less than 3 days. I suspect it would have taken far longer and with considerable killed and wounded in, say, November.
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  3. But in his own memoirs Montgomery actually blamed the Germans, the weather and his own mistakes. He did also cite lack of resources, but he didn't blame Eisenhower specifically.
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  4. Montys single thrust plan did still include US 1st and 3rd armies sticking alongside his 21st Army group. So even though it was a, single thrust it would still have been hundreds of miles wide involving 4 armies. Montgomery just didn't want to waste men and resources in the Lorraine, Alsace and southern Germany. He, rightly, wanted a single very powerful thrust in northern Germany, firstly against the Ruhr area and then to Berlin. Southern Germany was a side issue to him. Germanys strength was in the north.
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  5. But the Scheldt suceeded. In fact it was the only allied compaign of autumn 1944 to actually achieve its objectives, whereas the Lorraine, Hurtgen, Operation Queen etc all failed and with higher casualties.
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  6. Montgomery was a master of logistics and supply. He was more savvy than any other commander in that aspect of war. He was simply told by SHAEF intel at the end of the second week in September 1944 that the Germans in front of him were down on their knees. That's why he immediately decided on a quick advance.
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  7. Actually Montgomery had an alternative plan for Market Garden, which was a paratroop drop at Walcheren Island to clear the Scheldt, but General Brereton of First Allied Airborne Army flat out rejected it and chose Market Garden instead. Eisenhowers broad front strategy was a disaster. It prolonged the war by months and caused the failures in the Lorraine, Hurtgen Forest, Operation Queen and the retreat in the Ardennes.
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  8. That wasn't Montgomery. Montgomery had no jurisdiction to command bombing operations. On fact beyond the initial idea for Market Garden, Montgomery didn't have much more input into the operation and he turned it over to the First Allied Airborne Army, the RAF the USAAF and the individual British 2nd Army commanders.
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