Operation Pegasus 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 First Allied Airborne Army to seize several bridges over rivers and canals in the Netherlands, allowing ground forces to advance and cross the Lower Rhine at Arnhem. The 1st British Airborne Division dropped onto Arnhem on 17 September. They encountered far greater resistance than had been expected and only a small force were able to reach Arnhem road bridge. XXX Corps ground advance became delayed and without reinforcement this small force under
1st Airborne Task Force (Allied) 1st Airborne Task Force (Allied) The 1st Airborne Task Force was a short-lived Allied airborne unit that was active during World War II created for Operation "Dragoon"–the invasion of Southern France. Formed in July 1944, under the command of Major General Robert T. Frederick, it took part in the "Dragoon" landings on 15 August 1944, securing the area north-west of the landing beaches, before moving towards the French-Italian border as part of the United States Seventh Army. The unit was disbanded in November 1944. In the initial plans for the invasion of France it was proposed that two forces would