I don't know why they would want to reenact such a debacle.
I studied a little about that. It was another Montgomery disaster - Monty twisting Eisenhower's arm, wanting to get some glory that was going to Patton and the Americans at the time.
Operation Market Garden, the Charge of the Light Brigade - those and others are examples IMO of the history of flawed and aloof British command.
If it weren't for down-to-earth American command and resources, the world as we know it would not exist.
I’m sure they’re not doing it for Monty. : ) They’re commemorating the heroism of those who sacrificed for their freedom.
As we say: Eff that poofter Brit poseur Monty. ;-)
I’ll comment more about Monty when I get back to a proper keyboard, but if your logic were to apply to all such events, we would need to tear down all Vietnam memorials and try to forget that ever happened. Do you think that a good idea too?
They are honoring the sacrifice of those who fought (and often enough died) trying to liberate them. The bad plan and planner has no bearing on their valor or courage. There were plenty enough examples in Market Garden when the plan was falling apart and Allied troops decided to surrender or self-sacrifice rather than let Dutch civilians be incidentally slaughtered by German troops. Worth remembering and holding up to future generations as how one should act.
Also pretty sure Monty isn’t going to be even mentioned much there. He was at one point a very good general but then started believing his press.
I don't know why they would want to reenact such a debacle.I studied a little about that. It was another Montgomery disaster - Monty twisting Eisenhower's arm, wanting to get some glory that was going to Patton and the Americans at the time.
Operation Market Garden, the Charge of the Light Brigade - those and others are examples IMO of the history of flawed and aloof British command.
If it weren't for down-to-earth American command and resources, the world as we know it would not exist.
Airplanes, paratroops, commandos, "stiff upper lip," sacrifice for a noble cause, etc... all very stirring. The Brits commemorate differently than we do.
On September 14, 1944 - three days before Operation Market Garden began - my uncle's Co. E, 47th Inf, 9th ID moved out from Eupen, Belgium crossing the Westwall towards their objective of Düren, Germany. As the crow flies, that is around 29 miles, and can be driven today in less than an hour. "Down-to-earth American command and resources" were such that not only didn't the 47th get to take Düren, it wasn't until February 25, 1945 when another outfit did get it to surrender. The Brits had no monopoly of flawed and aloof command, and Montgomery was certainly not alone in producing disasters.
If there has been a commemoration marking the 75th anniversary of what the Germans referred to as the Battles of Aachen, and Americans called the Huertgen Forest, I seem to have missed it. Here in the US, we have remembered Pearl Harbor, D-Day and even the Battle of the Bulge, but the Huertgen Forest is something that was a little too bloody, a little too dirty, took too long and had just an ugly local name rather than some stirring nom de guerre.