<h2>The account of the fateful bridge too far¿</h2><p><i>¿It was a bridge too far and perhaps the whole plan was doomed to failure from the start, but we had to try, didn¿t we?¿</i></p><p>17 September 1944: 30,000 airborne soldiers prepare to drop 64 miles behind enemy lines into Nazi-occupied Holland; tens of thousands of ground troops race down Hell¿s Highway in tanks and armoured cars, trucks and half-tracks to link up with them. The goal ¿ to secure eight bridges across the Rhine and end the war by Christmas. Ten days later, over 15,000 of these soldiers have died, 6,000 have been taken prisoner.</p><p>Operation Market Garden was the daring plan to stage a coup de main in occupied territory, gain control of those bridges, and obtain a direct route into Hitler¿s Germany. But the operation failed and the allied forces suffered a brutal military defeat.</p><p>In the 75 years since, tactics have been analysed and blame has been placed, but the heart of Arnhem¿s story lies in the selfle