Originally Posted by
falcon900
I read Max Hastings book "Armageddon", about the last year of the War recently, and it opened my eyes to several aspects of the relationship between the allies which had hitherto passed me by.
The politics and squabbling amongst allied commanders did few of them any credit, with Montgomery a serial offender, and none emerging with entirely clean hands. Market garden was one of a series of what might be called unforced errors which cost lives, and in some cases prolonged the war.
An interesting thought experiment for 'armchair warriors' is to put Patton in charge of Market Garden instead of Monty, although the effect would be strongly dependent on your opinion of Monty and Patton.
Part of what makes Market Garden so perplexing is that it was so out of character for Monty but would have been the sort of thing you'd expect from Patton.