In the Fall of 1944, the Allied Command believed the Germans were in shattered disarray, vulnerable to a single bold incursion aimed at opening a route right to the very edge of Germany. The plan was to simultaneously airdrop 20,000 elite troops to take river crossings throughout the Netherlands. The operation began well but by nightfall had taken a turn for the worse. German resistance was far stronger and better coordinated than expected, and airdrops lost accuracy (and survivability) in the darkness.

Documentary.