I was interested in this because my girlfriend comes from Kleve on the border with Holland, nearer to Nijmegen. Operation Market Garden took four of its five objectives, but stalled at Arnhem, where the crucial Rhine crossing was not achieved. We all know this because we have seen the film "A Bridge Too Far" or read the Cornelius Ryan book.
What most of us overlook, is that effectively the battle had to be fought again the following spring. (Arnhem was in September 1944). The allies spent the winter in Nijmegen and eventually broke through and took Kleve, Wesel and eventually Duisberg. Once that objective was achieved, they were in the Rhürgebiet and German industry was effectively strangled. The end followed quickly on all fronts. Where my personal interest comes in, is that my girlfriend took me up to see the Allied was graves in the Reichswald (woods) near Kleve. You can read the gravestones and see the reward which some six thousand young men got for their victory.
That was sad enough, but I delved into the history a bit and found out a few more interesting facts. The saddest part was probably that as many mistakes were made in the campaign which the allies won as there were in the defeat at Arnhem - inevitably at the cost of more casusalties - Allied, German military and German civilian.
Those who rightly mourn for the loss of military personnel in war can also spare a thought for the civilians. If you walk around the German cemetary, you can see the graves of grandmothers killed alongside their toddler grandchildren in bombing raids or artillery bombardment. There are small, grey oblong stones which record the remains of "Ein Ostarbeiter" - effectively hapless slaves from somewhere in East Europe - whose names nobody knew or perhaps even cared about.
I can only admire the magnificent courage of the men of Arnhem. The more I find out about the war, the more I become aware that it was a tragedy on a scale which neither the politicians, nor the participants - and certainly not me - will ever be able to grasp.