It was a daring Allied plan to drive deep behind enemy lines into German-held Holland. In the largest airborne operation in history, more than 30,000 British, American and Polish troops are landed miles behind enemy lines. The idea was to end the Second World War by Christmas. But far from being a decisive masterstroke devised by the British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Market Garden was a disaster, one of the Allies worst defeats in World War Two.

Originally broadcast on the History Channel.