Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II allowed them to be withdrawn from the line and redeployed to Greece where they were urgently needed to help quell the civil war. Montgomery and Eisenhower had long been debating the merits of a broad front attack strategy versus concentrating power in one area and punching through German lines. Eisenhower favoured the former, and Montgomery the latter. However, in late 1944, logistic problems meant that the former was temporarily out of the question. Montgomery conceived Operation Market Garden to implement a narrow front strategy. The idea was to land airborne forces in the Netherlands to take vital bridges over the
Operation Market Garden in the 82nd Airborne Division's zone, Groesbeek ridge. Seizure and defence of these hills was considered to be vital to holding the highway bridges. The plan of action consisted of two operations: Market would employ four of the six divisions of the First Allied Airborne Army. The U.S. 101st Airborne Division, under Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, would drop in two locations just north of XXX Corps to take the bridges northwest of Eindhoven at Son and Veghel. The 82nd Airborne Division, under Brigadier General James M. Gavin, would drop northeast of them to take the bridges at Grave and