History of the Netherlands of Normandy ended in August 1944. German resistance collapsed in Western Europe and the allied armies advanced quickly towards the Dutch border. The First Canadian Army and the Second British Army conducted operations on Dutch soil from September onwards. On 17 September, a daring operation, Operation Market Garden; was executed with the goal of capturing bridges across three major rivers in the southern Netherlands. Despite desperate fighting by American, British and Polish forces, the bridge at Arnhem, across the Neder Rijn, could not be captured. Areas south of the Rhine river were liberated in the period September–December 1944, including the
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