Operation Market Garden was played from September 17-26, 1944 in today's Netherlands. About 85.00 people were involved in the operation on the Allied side, including the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, under the command of General Stanis³aw Sosabowski. It is worth adding, however, that the number of soldiers involved in the operation is sometimes estimated and given in various ways. German forces directly and indirectly involved in the operation are also only estimated at between 70,000 and 100,000 people. The main initiator of this operation was the British Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, who sought to seize the bridges in the Netherlands leading to the industrial heart of Germany - the Ruhr Area - and enter the Third Reich from the north, thus ending World War II as soon as possible. The key to the success of the operation, in particular, was the rapid capture of the undamaged Rhine bridges. The operation was burdened with considerable risk from the very beginning and assumed a small margin of error. Opponents appeared even among British officers. However, Montgomery convinced the Supreme Allied Commander in the Western European theater of war - General DD Eisenhower - to do so, which marked the start of the operation. Despite initial successes, the operation ended in a complete defeat (contrary to what was later said) by Montgomery and high losses for the Allies. The symbol of the defeat of the entire operation was, first of all, the Battle of Arnhem (September 17-25), which ended with the retreat of the elite British 1st Parachute Division, which in the course of this battle was almost completely destroyed by the German army. Total Allied losses are estimated at about 15,000-17.00 killed, wounded and captured. The Germans lost - according to various estimates - from approx. 3,500 to approx. 1:00 pm people.
Panzergrenadier is a German term for a formation of panzer grenadiers, i.e. infantry units trained to fight in close cooperation with their own tanks. This term was officially used in 1942, when infantry divisions were renamed grenadier divisions and motorized infantry divisions into panzer grenadier divisions. It is worth adding that in the years 1937-1942, the Schützen Regiment was used to describe the infantry regiments serving in armored units. Theoretically, the basic equipment of armored grenadier divisions was to be armored half-tracked transporters, especially Sd.Kfz.251, but due to insufficient production, these infantry were often transported by trucks. As a standard, an armored grenadier division consisted of three infantry regiments, two battalions in each regiment and numerous support units, including anti-tank, anti-aircraft, sapper and communication units. Self-propelled guns, such as the StuG III, were often used in these formations. It is worth adding that the armored grenadier divisions were formed not only in the Wehrmacht, but also in the Waffen SS - for example the Totenkopf Division or the Hohenstaufen Division.