Comments by "Bullet-Tooth Tony" (@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-) on "Who to Blame? John Frost on Operation Market Garden's Failure WW2" video.

@flyoptimum In the final analysis, the only real failure in the operation is that resistance was stronger than expected, both around Arnhem and Son. I don't think anyone can be faulted for that, even the intelligence services. Reports of Panzer divisions in the drop zones were just that, reports, among hundreds, thousands, of other intelligence reports, which had to be analyzed, assessed, given their due, passed off to officers commanding, who then passed them off to planning. Then throw in a little dodgy weather to limit allied air superiority and hinder resupply. But in the end, XXX did reach the final bridge. Late, yes, but they got there. If Market-Garden had months or years of planning as Overlord did instead of what, two weeks? it would have come off better and Montgomery may well have been hailed as the greatest Allied commander of the war.
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@davemac1197 Yeah I have no time for biased anti british crap from the likes of Beevor, Hastings, Weidner and Ambrose. For 80 years it's been going on and enough is enough. You know it's bad when even a Canadian historian is calling it out.
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@flyoptimum "He was ineffective during the Normandy campaign, taking far to long to take Caen." Monty's performance in Normandy was good and he gave Rommel another spanking. I don't really care whether he took too long to capture Caen, the point is he took the city and succeeded in the operation instead of risking his forces and taking lewd casualties. Montgomery was correct that neutralising Caen would effectively cut off all the Germans towards the beach heads, rendering Cherbourg practically useless. Even an attack on Caen would force the Germans to redeploy and rethink their strategy. Most people forget that Monty was the most experienced of the Allied generals and played the key role in Normandy, which was needed to kick start the reconquest of France. " He was slow to counterattack however and astonishingly left most of those glories to Patton. " What Montgomery did, and it should not be under appreciated was lay the foundations for the US Army to redeem itself, catch their collective breath, organise better defence and then hand out a beating to a German Army which was really on a fool’s errand. He, almost instantly, recognised what the German aim had to be and ensured, by placing his units in a position to thwart any breakthrough guaranteed no German force could possibly break into a position to threaten the port. This shored up one flank. He then took control over a crumbling command and enabled the US commanders to stabilise the north. "The breakout is largely credited to Omar Bradley leading the push south and east from the western sector." The breakout took place while Monty was still in command of all the Allied land forces in France, so Bradleys breakout was his breakout as well. "Market Garden was his idea, was pushed for by him" It might have been his idea but he had ZERO control over what happened in the Operation, which gets conveniently forgotten. These are the facts, Monty had no control over the command of 1st Allied Airborne, no ability to appoint or dismiss subordinates, nor any control of objective targets or the timing, location & sequence of drops. 21st Army Group was to assume control of the Airborne Corps only AFTER they linked up, at which point it was far too late to rectify any of the appallingly bad planning decisions that Brereton and Browning had made. Here are two direct references. First, Zaloga Quote In spite of this, the new organization made its debut on August 16, 1944*, *as the First Allied Airborne Army (FAAA)*, directly *subordinate to SHAEF rather than to Montgomery's 21st Army Group or Bradley's 12th Army Group*" Zaloga - "US airborne divisions in the ETO, page. 57" US Airborne Divisions in the ETO 1944–45 Second, from the US Army history website: Quote*" On the Allied side, the planning and command for the airborne phase of MARKET-GARDEN became the responsibility of the First Allied Airborne Army*. The army commander, Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton*" The Siegfried Line Campaign: Chapter 6
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@flyoptimum This is his actual order for the assault group tasked with taking Caen: I Corps Operation Order No.1 "20. 3 British Division a) The task of 3 British Division is to capture CAEN and secure a bridgehead over the R ORNE at that place. b ) The enemy may develop his counter-attack-- i) Through CAEN ii) Across R ORNE at RANVILLE - BENOUVILLE having established himself in the area East of R ORNE from which he can dominate the beaches West of OUISTREHAM and the Northern approaches to CAEN. iii) West of Caen, between R MUE and the CAEN Canal iv) Any combination of the above In cases (ii) and (iii) using CAEN as a pivot, if he suceeds in forestalling us there. c) To counter these enemy measure 3 British Division should, before dark on D-Day, have captured or effectively masked CAEN and be disposed in depth with brigade localities firmly established. i) North-West of BENOUVILLE, in support of 6 Airborne Division operating East of R ORNE (having relieved the airborne troops West of the canal and taken over the defence of the BENOUVILLE-RANVILLE crossings. ii) North-West of CAEN, tied up with the LEFT forward brigade locality of 3 Canadian Division. Should the enemy forestall us at CAEN and the defences prove to be strongly organised thus causing us the fail to capture it on D-Day, further direct frontal assaults which may prove costly will not be undertaken without reference to I Corps. In such an event 3 British Division will contain the enemy in CAEN and retain the bulk of its forces disposed for mobile operations inside the covering position. CAEN will be subjected to heavy air bombardment to limit its usefulness and to make its retention a costly business." Monty never 'planned' to take Caen on D-Day. He had it as an objective but he knew that it might not be captured and his pre invasion order had made allowance for this fact and had specific instructions not to make it a 'Caen at all costs' objective. As always the truth demolishes the myth.
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@flyoptimum The senior chain of command in Normandy was like this, Dempsey and Bradley were the Army commanders who took their orders from Monty, who took his orders from SHAEF. Normandy was Monty's success, and the Allied armies attained the areas that Monty had made as objectives for the campaign 3 days sooner than had originally been intended. From what I understand Montgomery was reluctant to carry out the operation in the first place, given the changes to the Air Borne planning that he did not make. He only took interest in the ground offensive mainly. I don't agree with the notion that he's incompetent, because he was chosen specifically to be the man who would oversee the defence of the Kent coast in 1940 for the potential German invasion of Britain. As you know he was also given command of the Normandy ground forces and the Northern flank in the Bulge, you don't get those kind of roles unless you have a proven record, and the fact is he was the most experienced Allied commander, who understood both the strengths and weaknesses of the British army and also understood what it took to defeat the Wehrmacht. The truth is, after the war mainly due to war of generals memoirs , post war historical revisionism and nationalistic jingoism, several authors the likes of Ambrose, Carlo D'Este threw unjust accusations against Montgomery in an attempt to bring down his reputation as if he did not lead first an army then an army group sucessfully to victory from Africa to all the way to Northern Germany. Mainly for his record in Normandy and Northwest Europe Campaigns. He was even accused of degrading US soldiers in the Bulge, even though it has been proven that the Germans intercepted and messed around with his messages and edited what he said in order to make him look bad, when he infact actually PRAISED the US soldiers on the ground.
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@flyoptimum "The Delay at Caen is widely cited as a frustration" Indeed, he was his own worse enemy in that regard, but the only official phase line that Monty and Bradley would agree to before the invasion was to be on the Seine by D+90, they managed it with days to spare 😎 It's also worth pointing out that the reason Caen wasn't taken on the first day had a lot to do with the fact that a German panzer division (21st) attacked the troops from Sword beach heading towards the city, the Allied forces beat off the attack, but it gave the German's enough time to reinforce the defences around the city with the majority of their panzer divisions. Market Garden fell far short of expectations, but it wasn't a total failure as it advanced the front in that sector by around 90 miles and inflicted almost twice the number of casualties on the German's than what the Allies suffered. It was certainly a better operation and gained more ground than Bradleys Hurtgen Forest campaign.
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@idahorodgersusmc It was the Brits who planned Operation Overlord. - Frederick Morgan - Bernard Montgomery - Leigh Mallory - Admiral Ramsay. All British officers. By your logic, shall we say the same to Hodges in the Southern Hurtgen Forest offensive that was a waste of men and material?
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@davemac1197 Steven Zaloga too! He said Market was an air force operation planned by Brereton.
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@akgeronimo501 "The British Army has struggled, in the main, in the offense" Apart from Blenheim, Ramilles, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Salamanca, Vitoria, Assaye. All battles won on the front foot.
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