Arnhem

Arnhem [/ˈɑːnəm/ or /ˈɑːnhɛm/, Dutch: [ˈɑrnɛm] or [ˈɑrnɦɛm]] (German: Arnheim, Frisian: Arnhim, South Guelderish: Èrnem) is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located on both banks of the river Nederrijn as well as on the Sint-Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem had a population of 151,356 in 2014 and is one of the larger cities of the Netherlands. The municipality is part of the city region Arnhem-Nijmegen, which has a combined 736,500 inhabitants. Arnhem is home to the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen and ArtEZ Institute of the Arts.

History

The earliest history of Arnhem

Arnhem was first mentioned as such in 893 as Arneym or Arentheym. Traces of human residence date back much further, however.

The oldest archeological findings of human activity around Arnhem are two firestones of about 70,000 years ago. These come from the stone age, when the Neanderthals lived in this part of Europe. In Schuytgraaf, remnants of a hunters camp from around 5000 BC have been discovered. In Schaarsbergen, 12 grave mounds were found from 2400 BC, which brought the so-called Neolithic revolution to the area of Arnhem, i.e., the rise of the farmers.

Market Garden

Market Garden can refer to:

Airborne forces

Airborne

Military parachuting or gliding form of inserting personnel or supplies.

Purpose

Delivering personnel, equipment, or supplies.

Origins

Attributed to Italian troops on November 1927.

Airborne forces are military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft and "dropped" into battle, typically by parachute. Thus, they can be placed behind enemy lines, and have the capability to deploy almost anywhere with little warning. The formations are limited only by the number and size of their aircraft, so given enough capacity a huge force can appear "out of nowhere" in minutes, an action referred to as vertical envelopment.

Conversely, airborne forces typically lack the supplies and equipment for prolonged combat operations, and are therefore more suited for airhead operations than for long-term occupation; furthermore, parachute operations are particularly sensitive to adverse weather conditions. Advances in helicopter technology since World War II have brought increased flexibility to the scope of airborne operations, and air assaults have largely replaced large-scale parachute operations, and (almost) completely replaced combat glider operations.

Operation Market Garden

Operation Market Garden (17–25 September 1944) was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. The operation was split into two sub-operations:

Market Garden contained the largest airborne operation up to that point.

Field Marshal Montgomery's strategic goal was to encircle the heart of German industry, the Ruhr, in a pincer movement. The northern end of the pincer would circumvent the northern end of the Siegfried Line giving easier access into Germany. The aim of Operation Market Garden was to establish the northern end of a pincer ready to project deeper into Germany. Allied forces would project north from Belgium, 60 miles (97 km) through Holland, across the Rhine and consolidate north of Arnhem on the Dutch/German border ready to close the pincer.

The operation made massed use of airborne forces, whose tactical objectives were to secure the bridges and allow a rapid advance by armored ground units to consolidate north of Arnhem. The operation required the seizure of the bridges across the Maas (Meuse River), two arms of the Rhine (the Waal and the Lower Rhine) together with crossings over several smaller canals and tributaries.