Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery the number of people interred in the cemetery continues to grow. In September 1944 the Allies launched Operation Market Garden, an attempt by the British 2nd Army to bypass the Siegfried Line and advance into the Ruhr, Germany's industrial heartland. The operation required the 1st Airborne Corps to seize several bridges over rivers and canals in the Netherlands, allowing ground forces to advance rapidly through the Netherlands and cross the River Rhine. The British 1st Airborne Division was tasked with securing the most distant objectives; bridges over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem. The division dropped onto the area on 17
6th Airborne Division advance to the River Seine heavy anti-aircraft artillery regiment used in a field artillery role. In the operation the 6th Airborne Division together with the 7th Armoured Division, the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division and the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division, formed the I Corps, attached to the First Canadian Army. When issuing his orders, Lieutenant General John Crocker, the Corps commander, aware that the 6th Airborne had almost no artillery, vehicles or engineer equipment, did not expect them to advance quickly. To reach the River Seine the division would have to cross three main rivers, along only two main lines of advance. One route was