Here’s my question for Monty and Ike’s ghost. If in hindsight Market-Garden was still a great idea, why didn’t you finish the plan after regrouping and taking Antwerp? Why did you abandon the idea of crossing the Neder-Rijn and instead turn to the East to cross the Rhine in Germany?
Not to defend their mistakes, but remember that things are about to change dramatically. Antwerp didn’t receive the first shipment until the very end of November, and then Watch on the Rhine (Battle of the Bulge) kicks off on 12/16.
In hindsight, perhaps a Schedlt offensive coordinated with the taking of Antwerp proper (on or about 9/1) would have been the ideal solution.
Ike: "What he said."
Now THAT is a very good question. If you want a candid answer from Ike, I suggest you use different Ouija boards to ask them. You don’t want those ghosts in the same room.
My guess for Monty is that he already cannibalized one division for replacements. He doesn’t want to cannibalize any more. The Empire is exhausted and Market-Garden was their last throw. In fact, 21st Army Group will use the two American airborne divisions to hold the Nijmegen salient for a while. They will need an American infantry division, the 104th, to clear the Scheldt north of Antwerp. I think they will need to borrow 7th Armored for a while, too, after it transfers north from 3rd Army. So from Monty’s standpoint, it wasn’t a choice. He couldn’t afford to do it.
My guess for Ike is that his candid answer would be that he isn’t going to let Monty have his way on an operation like this again. Not for quite a while, anyway. And other than clearing the Scheldt, Ike wasn’t going to let Monty use American soldiers to serve as 21st AGs assault troops. The Brits showed a pattern of that with the Canadians ans Aussies in the previous war.