This paper illustrates the use of airborne forces as part of combined arms operations. We will explore as examples the German attack on the Netherlands in 1940, and the Operation Market-Garden, conducted by the Allies in 1944. In both battles airborne forces were integral to an overall combined arms operational plan.

Source material on airborne operations in general is relatively plentiful. One does not have to look hard to find books dealing with specific details of the 1944 operation. Cornelius Ryan popularized Market-Garden with A Bridge Too Far and a great deal has been written about that battle since his book was published in 1974. The 1940 operation is less popular, and though sources are not hard to find, they are more general in nature and of an older vintage.

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