Historic Replicas

Things were looking good for the Allie Powers when Market Garden began. In Southern Holland, the 101st Airborne Division had captured four of five bridges (the German army blew up the fifth one at Son), and on the ground, the 30th Corps was on its way.  Within hours, however, the tide began to turn. While Nazi forces in Holland were fractured and disorganized, they were unexpectedly reinforced by over 65,000 troops from the retreating 15th Army, and by the arrival of the 2nd Panzer Corps, an elite tank force that proved to be the deciding factor of the battle.  Allied aerial reconnaissance had shown evidence of the tanks, but was dismissed by the high command.  Wilhelm Bittrich, the shrewd leader of the Panzer Corps, had ordered his troops to maintain strong defensive positions on the roads leading to Arnhem, and the lightly armed British 1st Airborne Division was completely unprepared to fight against tanks.