Operation Market Garden – The Air Lift 17 September 1944

The success of Operation Market Garden relied on a well-coordinated Allied aerial transport operation to deliver the airborne components of the attack plan to their intended locations. The primary aircraft used during the airlift operation was the Douglas C47 Skytrain transport aircraft, which would carry paratroops and could also tow the gliders that would be used to deploy troops. The Airlift on 17 September was conducted in daylight due to low nightime light levels from the moon around the planned date of the attack. Although this would increase the likelihood of accurate ground fire from anti-aircraft emplacements, it made the likelihood of accurate troop drops much higher. Prior bombing runs had been conducted on the night of 16 September against anti-aircraft gun positions. Two routes were followed for the crossing towards the drop zones, which bypassed the main concentration of enemy anti-aircraft guns on the coast.