Well, you learn something new every day (more, if you're lucky, and work at it).

Here's an interesting story for WW II buffs. There were several reasons that Operation Market Garden was a failure, but this is one that I'd never heard before. The troops didn't get properly reinforced because they couldn't communicate with radios, due to high concentrations of iron in the ground around Arnhem. It's the old story of "for want of a nail." If they'd had satellite phones, the war might have ended months earlier (and the Battle of the Bulge been prevented).

"The plan, like so many others, was designed to end the war by Christmas..."

The failute also had something to do with the high concentration of iron in the two SS divisions refitting in the area.

Now, given the transport difficulties (several trips necessary to deliver the paras due to a shortage of planes), dropping the divisions in series instead of in parallel would have saved some trouble. For one thing, the SS Panzer divisions were leaving the area when the drop happened. A day or two later, no SS.
Full drops of the Red Devils and Polish Brigade, instead of piecemeal. And of course, the delays in getting up the (two lane, non-by-passable) road wouldn't have taken place while the paras were running out of ammo in Arnhem.

delays in getting up the (two lane, non-by-passable) road

It should be menioned that the road was - for most of it's length - on a raised dike. You could not ask for a better setup for the defense.

Concur. Market-Garden had a number of problems in execution; buggy radios were a serious problem but good com alone would not have made that great a diff.

While lack of communication was certaily a problem during WWII, as well as during TT911, I doubt that the iron concentration near Arnheim had anything to do with it.

Former Battalion Commo Sgt., 425 Infantry Regiment, MichNG.

Sounds like apologetics for a failed Montgomery plan to me. In other writing Ike took the supplies from the 12th Army group (Bradley/Patton) and gave them to Montgomery for his attack. At the time when Ike slowed Patton down the Sigfried line was unoccupied by the Germans. Patton's gas was taken and he had no way to exploit the weakenesses that his dash across France had exposed.

The whole bridge too far campaign was ill thought out and a sop to the Brits so that Montgomery could gain some glory back from Patton.

Dennis

Market-Garden was, first and foremost, an intelligence failure, including deliberately ignoring information available from the Dutch underground and government in exile. From Cornelius Ryan's book: "one of the problems in the Dutch Staff College examination dealt solely with the correct way to attack Arnhem from Nijmegin. There were two choices: a) attack up the main road; or b) drive up it for 1-2 miles, turn left, effect a crossing of the Rhine and come around in a flanking movement. Those who chose to go straight up the road failed the examination. Those who turned left and then moved up the river passed". Members of the Dutch government in exile were amazed at the choices being made but were not listened to.

From the movie:

Gruppenfuhrer Ludwig (played by Hardy Krueger): "Market-Garden was a stupid plan."

Aide:
"Yes, but what if it had worked?"

Ludwig (looking at the mined Nijmegen Bridge):
"Even if it had worked, Market-Garden would still have been a stupid plan."

If US had satellite phones (and everything necessary to make them) in 1944, the war would have ended within a month.

I blogged on this in the past, and concluded thus:

"The communications SNAFU and the intelligence SNAFU - British command dismissed evidence of armored units present at Arnhem - were certainly key elements to the outcome. But the ultimate problem with Market-Garden, I believe, was that it required the Second Army to be present at five different battlefields - the five bridges - on a specific schedule. Such a plan requires far more cooperation from the enemy than one can reasonably expect."

(With Bl0gg3r blocked on this site, you'll have to Google for the source URL yerself.)