Second Army (United Kingdom) of the country. Its captures included the capital Brussels and the port city of Antwerp. Second Army's highest profile operation in 1944, apart from Operation Overlord, was providing the main force for Operation Market Garden. During the operation, American (82nd and 101st), British (1st) and Polish (1st Polish Parachute Brigade) airborne troops, outside the control of Second Army, were landed to capture vital bridges over several rivers in the east of the Netherlands, in order to allow Second Army's XXX Corps to cross the Rhine and advance into Germany, relieving the parachute troops en route. However, the single road XXX
XVIII Airborne Corps Western Allied invasion of Germany, the XVIII Airborne Corps, still under Ridgway, returned to the United States in June 1945 and was initially to take part in the invasion of Japan, codenamed Operation Downfall. However, the Japanese surrendered just weeks later and XVIII Airborne Corps was inactivated on 15 October 1945 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The CORPS was reactivated at Fort Bragg on 21 May 1951 under the command of Major General John W. Leonard. Since then, the corps has been the primary strategic response force, with subordinate units participating in over a dozen major operations (listed below) in both