Matthew Ridgway the airborne commander for Operation Market Garden

What if Matthew Ridgway was appointed the commander of the airborne forces for Operation Market Garden instead of Fredrick Browning? OTL Ridgway arrived in Holland after the operation began but only observed.

According to Wikipedia the British hinted that they wanted a British commander for MARKET. What if Eisenhower decides that if Monty wants the operation to go he has to go with Ridgway whose XVIII Airborne Corps was providing two American divisions: the 82nd and 101st. He was also more experienced. (Holland would be his 4th airborne operation).

Ridgway had just turned over command of the 82nd to Jim Gavin so they could work together. Maxwell Taylor of the 101st had come out of the 82nd also and the two divisions had just come through Normandy together. Later on in Korea Ridgway wasn't scared of MacArthur so I think he could have stood up to Monty.

So if Ridgway was in command would he have changed anything with the plan? More important is if Ridgway was on the ground from day one on September 17 could he have taken better control of the situation? I am not saying that he could have made Market Garden succeed by himself but could he have done more to save the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem? Also would Ridgway be relieved of his command like Browning or would it help his post war career more?

BONUS: No offense to Dirk Bogarde but maybe Ben Gazzara gets a role in A Bridge Too Far as General Ridgway.
 
What if Matthew Ridgway was appointed the commander of the airborne forces for Operation Market Garden instead of Fredrick Browning? OTL Ridgway arrived in Holland after the operation began but only observed.

According to Wikipedia the British hinted that they wanted a British commander for MARKET. What if Eisenhower decides that if Monty wants the operation to go he has to go with Ridgway whose XVIII Airborne Corps was providing two American divisions: the 82nd and 101st. He was also more experienced. (Holland would be his 4th airborne operation).

Ridgway had just turned over command of the 82nd to Jim Gavin so they could work together. Maxwell Taylor of the 101st had come out of the 82nd also and the two divisions had just come through Normandy together. Later on in Korea Ridgway wasn't scared of MacArthur so I think he could have stood up to Monty.

So if Ridgway was in command would he have changed anything with the plan? More important is if Ridgway was on the ground from day one on September 17 could he have taken better control of the situation? I am not saying that he could have made Market Garden succeed by himself but could he have done more to save the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem? Also would Ridgway be relieved of his command like Browning or would it help his post war career more?

BONUS: No offense to Dirk Bogarde but maybe Ben Gazzara gets a role in A Bridge Too Far as General Ridgway.

He orders the Brits to land closer to Arnhem Bridge
 
So if Ridgway was in command would he have changed anything with the plan?

Almost certainly no. The US airborne divisions protested about their original drop zones and got their own way. It is unlikely that they would have changed the airlift plans or the British landing zones, as these were organised by Brereton's air staff.

More important is if Ridgway was on the ground from day one on September 17 could he have taken better control of the situation?
Again probably no. once the airborne troops were on the ground and opposition alerted then not much will change.

Views of Market Garden are skewed by the end result and in particular by the failure of the Germans to destroy the Nijmegen bridges. If these had been blown before tanks had crossed then it might be Gavin who was seen as responsible for the failure of the operation.
 

Ian_W

Banned
So if Ridgway was in command would he have changed anything with the plan? .

I dont think he could have changed anything important.

The key swere that you need all the bridges, and that paratroops dont do well against SS Panzers, and Ridgway doesnt change either of them.
 
Also there is the viability of supporting a force down one road - the logistics of the operation while possible weren't great, and this will hinder any general trying the same plan.
 
I agree with the other posters that, on balance, this might not change much, but I wonder if an interesting followup question is if the British and American objectives had been switched by Ridgeway?

If the Americans (either 101 or 81 or both) are selected for Arnhem, and the British and Poles given Nijmegen and Eindhoven perhaps their commanders would have fought for better landzones around the Arnhem bridge area.

Obviously this doesn't solve the overwhelming logistical problems of Market, but it does pose an interesting question as to whether a more concentrated force in Arnhem would have done much better. Oosterbeck and Driel (although to be fair on the Poles this was partly to do with the weather) were draining for 1st Airborne.
 
There seems to be a doctrinal difference between British and US airborne operations. The British emphasised coup de main type operations landing close to, or on the objective, often using gliders. The US emphasised landing as a division, and adjusted the drop zones to reflect this.

If the British approach is used for the 101st objectives then the Son bridge might be captured intact and Eindhoven cleared earlier, speeding up the advance. Alternatively at Nijmegen there might have been landings to the north of the Waal bridges.
 
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