Max is a troubled boy in a government-run orphanage, his past is as hidden from him as his special abilities that with the onset of puberty will be making themselves known soon. His life gets turned upside down when he is finally adopted, but that's...
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Chapter twelve
Operation Market Garden
On the 17th of September 1944 thousands of paratroopers descended from the sky by parachute or glider up to 150 km behind enemy lines. Their goal: to secure the bridges across the rivers in Holland so that the combined allied forces could advance rapidly northwards and then right into the lowland, industrial center of Germany, thereby maneuvering around the Siegfried line, the German defense line. If the plan had worked out as planned it's ambitious goal was to end the war by Christmas of that year, 1944. Unfortunately, this daring and hasty plan, named Operation Market Garden, didn't have the expected outcome. The bridge at Arnhem proved to be 'a bridge too far', After Ten days of bitter fighting, the operation ended with the evacuation of the remainder of the 1st Airborne Division from the Arnhem area.
The above paragraph is an all too brief footnote of an important part of the last days of the war in Europe. Part of the problem of the operation was that the English leadership didn't understand the American way of leading the advance across Europe and vise-versa. Even though General Eisenhower was the commander of allied forces, he was hamstrung by political pressure to let the English have an expanded role in the war, especially General Montgomery. During the time in North Africa and in Europe 'Monty,' as they called him was in constant competition with an American General Patton, they butted heads constantly, and Patton took pride in making his English counterpart look inept. This is one reason why Montgomery's Plan was pushed through so quickly, Only seven days from inception to implementation. They were trying to capitalize on the successes of Operation Overlord, D-day, and it would have allowed the allies to do exactly what they expected, but it was a little ambitious. The Germans were on the retreat already, and the areas that were marked as insertion zones for Operation Market Garden were stockpiled with retreating German soldiers, and equipment. Even though the Germans were retreating, they were still fighting the allied advance that had stalled out due to supply problems. This is why Market Garden was so important, It would have cut off the German retreat and by destroying the German Industrial complex, it would have crippled their ability to replace airplanes, tanks, and ammunition needed to continue the war effort.
Operation Market Garden was indeed a failure, but it did have some unforeseen successes. A large portion of the German force was pulled away to quell the efforts of the allies in Holland leaving other areas dangerously low on support. The German's knew of the supply problem the allies were having and hoped to squash the advance in Holland before the allies could resupply. How Market Garden helped was that when the German unit's returned, tired, battle-weary, and low on supplies themselves they faced a refreshed, resupplied, and eager allied force. It wasn't an easy march to Berlin, but the allies did it, they rid the world of great evil. When I speak of the great evil I don't mean the German people, I am speaking of the Nazi's. Most German people were unwilling participants in the war effort and were the most active in Europe's reconstruction.
"Wow! Mr. Hystory this report is exceptionally good and you tell it so well, almost like you were there. I'll admit that I haven't heard much about Operation Market Garden before, I had to do some research to verify your information, and I am glad to say you've taught me something," Max's History teacher, Mr. Griffin says.
"Thank you, I worked hard on it," Max replies with a smile on his face.
"You can sit down now," Mr. Griffin tells him.
"Ugh... Can I go to the bathroom? My stomach is a little queasy."
