British 1st Airborne Division
Before the actual airborne landings took place the Allies bombarded German positions so that the paratroops could be dropped with less risk. Around 0900 in the morning the air-raid warning sounded in Arnhem. The 2nd Tactical Air Force bombed German barracks and anti-aircraft positions. One of the targets in Arnhem was the Willems Barracks, full of Germans. It was destroyed in a pinpoint attack by low-flying Mosquito's. Secret German ammunition depots exploded In the woods around Wolfheze, A psychiatric institution was hit several times. Many patients were killed and others wandered through the woods. All this was a prelude to the airborne landings.

Around 1230 Major Wilson’s 21st Independent Parachute Company was dropped just before the main force. They were responsible for marking the landing and drop zones situated near Wolfheze. The 1st Parachute Brigade, 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron, Urquhart and his staff and the 1st Airlanding Brigade (Brigadier 'Pip' Hicks) were in the first airlift.

The main force of more than 350 gliders arrived twenty minutes after the pathfinders. The 1st Airlanding Brigade landed at Zone 'S'. They had to defend the landing and drop zones for the airlifts scheduled for the next day. The divisional staff, artillery units, engineers, signal troops, medical and others landed on landing zone 'Z'. Thanks to the actions carried out by the bombers just before the airlift, the troops hardly encountered any resistance. The landings were successful. Some accidents happened. Two Hamilcar glider nosed over on the landing zone, which meant the loss of two 17-pounder anti-tank guns. Furthermore some Horsa's collided with each other. While the gliders were being unloaded, more than 140 C-47 troop-carriers of the U.S. 9th Troop Carrier Command arrived with the 1st Parachute Brigade (Brigadier Gerald Lathbury) at Zone 'X'. They quickly regrouped and advanced with their platoon 6-pounder anti-tank guns.

The Germans were completely surprised by the airborne landings. But they were far from defeated. Generalfeld-marschall Walter Model, commander of the Heeresgruppe B, evacuated his headquarters immediately and ordered General Kussin, Feldkommandant of Arnhem, to inform Hitler's headquarters about the situation. Then Model rushed to Doetinchem to give orders to Obergruppenfuhrer Bittrich, commander of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps. Bittrich had given some wise orders to his troops before Model’s arrival. After he heard of the landings, he ordered Harzer to close off the roads to Arnhem. He also ordered a squadron of the 9th SS Panzer Division sent to the Waalbridge at Nijmegen. This group, under the command of Hauptsturmführer Victor Gräbner, left Arnhem via the traffic bridge at 1830h just an hour before British troops reached the bridge. Luckily for the British he didn't leave any troops behind. The 10th SS Panzer Division also was ordered to move to Nijmegen. Later the Germans found a detailed map of Market Garden. After looking it over, Model assumed it was a decoy, so the information the Germans held in their hands was barely used.

Major Gough’s Reconnaissance Squadron was ordered to occupy the Arnhem bridge by following a path along the railway, but ran into Sturmbahnführer Kraft’s training battalion near the railroad and the Wolfhezerweg. Meanwhile the 1st Parachute Brigade's three battalions continued their advance towards Arnhem, each battalion by a different route.

Lt. Col. John Fitch’s 3rd battalion followed the Utrechtseweg ('Tiger' route), where they fired on an approaching German staff car. General Kussin, his chauffeur, guard and interpreter were all killed. Later, near Hotel de Bilderberg, they came upon Battalion Kraft. Due to this hold-up they didn’t reach Hotel Hartenstein until after sunset.

Lt. Col. John Frost’s 2nd battalion followed the river towards Arnhem ('Lion' route). They were delayed in Oosterbeek by a welcome from the Dutch people. They arrived at the railroad bridge too late. The Germans had blown it up. Then they were attacked by German machine-guns and armoured cars positioned along the Den Brink hill. B-Company started to fight back, while A-Company continued their advance. The second target, the pontoon bridge, was partly down so they couldn't reach the southern bank of the river. Finally, they were able to reach the last target, Arnhem’s traffic bridge. But they could only take the northern access road with the surrounding houses. They failed to cross the bridge because of counter attacks by SS groups defending the bridge’s southern access road. Around 2200 anti-tank guns and some flame-throwers were brought into play. The battle for the bridge continued. The 10th SS Panzer Division sent to Nijmegen couldn't cross the bridge because of Frost's presence. Now 2nd battalion’s approximately 600 men were surrounded and cut off.

Lt. Col. David Dobie’s 1st Battalion followed the Amsterdamseweg ('Leopard' route). There they had to fight Harzer's 9th SS Panzer Division and suffered many losses. In the short time they had radio communications they heard that the 2nd battalion had reached the bridge. So they deviated from their planned route and went southwards but failed to join up with them. Like the 3rd Battalion they only reached the outskirts of Arnhem.

Although the airborne landing went well, rest of the 1st British Airborne Division’s day didn't go very smoothly. Radio communications failure disrupted co-operation between different groups. But the presence of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps was the big surprise. In the end, it was the German Panzer units who caused the lightly armed British Airborne units to fail at Arnhem.

U.S. 82nd Airborne Division
The drop zones chosen for the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division were rather faraway from the selected targets because German anti-aircraft guns were near the bridges. A part of the 505th regiment landed on Klein-Amerika, an area in Breedeweg, a part of Groesbeek (Klein-Amerika, literally “Little America” had nothing to do with the Allied landings. It was called Klein-Amerika long before the war). This drop zone was called 'N'. They encountered some attacks by the Germans out of the Reichswald, the German forest near the border, but they were quickly eliminated. The rest of the regiment was dropped with the 508th Regiment at Drop Zone 'T’ on the other side of Groesbeek. Later Wacogliders towed by C-47 Dakotas, and Horsa gliders towed by British Stirlings, arrived at Landing Zone 'N'. This lift brought reinforcements, such as the 376th Para Artillery Battalion, to support the 505th regiment. General Frederick Browning’s Airborne Corps Headquarters - 38 Waco and Horsa gliders - also landed In Groesbeek. Browning’s job during Market Garden was to co-ordinate operations of the Allied forces but he was hindered by communication problems especially with Arnhem.

Troops of the 505th Regiment entered Groesbeek, probably the first village liberated during Market Garden. They continued towards the Maas-Waal canal bridges. Men of the 505th Regiment also to defend Mook from German attacks. They also scouted the Reichswald just over the border. Gavin thought some Panzer units might be hiding in the woods there. Luckily, none were there.

The 504th Regiment landed at Drop Zone 'O' near Overasselt. Only the 2nd battalion landed elsewhere. They came down to the south at Grave in Drop Zone 'E', 700 meters from one of the bridges that had to be taken. They surprised German troops of Army Corps Feldt and took the bridge with hardly any resistance. Later in the evening of this first the day they entered Grave, abandoned by the Germans. The rest of the 504th Regiment, which landed near Overasselt, had to take the bridges over the Maas-Waal canal. They succeeded in securing the Heumen bridge and made contact with the 505th Regiment from Groesbeek. The two other bridges were blown up by the Germans just before the arrival of the American troops. Gavin hoped that all bridges over the canal could be secured, but one bridge was enough to ensure the advance of the XXX Corps.

Now only one target remained, the bridge at Nijmegen. The 508th regiment was entrusted with this target. The regiment also had to defend the landing zones and secure the Groesbeek heights in the north. Immediately after the landing, Gavin ordered Colonel Lindquist’s 508th regiment to head for the bridge along the east side of the city, avoiding the built-up area. But due to a misunderstanding, Lindquist thought he was to advance only after he secured his other objectives. As a result, he moved towards Nijmegen late in the afternoon through the built-up area which Gavin had wanted him to avoid. The surprise effect of his attack was lost. German troops (some from Gräbner's squadron) prevented the Americans from taking the bridge. However, the Americans succeeded in blocking Nijmegen’s access roads. The 82nd Airborne Division’s first day was successful. All of its objectives, except one, had been achieved.

U.S. 101st Airborne Division
Colonel Howard Johnson’s 501st Regiment of the 'Screaming Eagles' jumped at Drop Zone 'A' near Veghel. Only the 1st Battalion of this regiment jumped elsewhere. Their drop zone was 'A1' near Veghel, but they jumped at the wrong place and ended up near Heeswijk Castle, 10 kilometers away from the target. Nevertheless, they quickly marched towards Veghel where they arrived at 1700. By that time, the rest of the 501st Regiment had captured both bridges intact and set up a strong roadblock south of Veghel near the village of Eerde. Their operation was accomplished successfully.

53 gliders landed in the triangle Son-Best-St. Oedenrode (Landing Zone 'W'). The original number of gliders was larger but German anti-aircraft guns shot down several gliders. In The 502nd and 506th Regiment’s drop zones were also in this area. The 502nd Regiment, landed at Drop Zone 'B'. They encountered some light resistance at St. Oedenrode, but the bridge across the Dommel was taken intact. Another target of the 502nd Regiment was the bridge near Best. If this bridge could be taken General Taylor would hold two bridges across the Wilhelmina Canal; this one and another at Son. Taylor was told that only a few German units were settled at Best. Since the bridge was only a secondary target only one company was sent to Best. They ran into strong resistance. The German forces belonged to Major General Walter Poppe’s 59th Infantry Division of the 15th Army. Reinforcements were sent, but the battle ceased when the night fell.

The 506th Regiment was dropped on Zone 'C' and was to take the most important bridge in the Eindhoven-area, the swing bridge at Son. Immediately after landing, the three battalions approached the town in two ways. The first battalion was in front and went southwards through the cropland. The rest of the 506th Regiment followed the main road through Son. Both advances were stopped when the Germans opened fire on them with their 88-mm guns. It took about an hour to eliminate the German resistance before they could resume their advance. It was an hour too long. The Germans had had the time to blow up the Son bridge. Two other bridges which the 506th Regiment also had to secure had been were blown up by the Germans several days earlier. A footbridge was constructed and a defence line was set up south of the Wilhelmina canal. Eindhoven, which according to the plan had to be taken this day, was not reached.

British XXX Corps
After Lieutenant General Horrocks' order, the Guards Armoured Division began their advance. There was only one road leading to Valkenswaard and Eindhoven which made the whole operation very difficult. The Guards Armoured Division was covered by a slowly moving artillery barrage. All went well, but just over the Belgian-Dutch border the advance got bogged down because of German anti-tank guns. In no time several Sherman tanks were knocked out of action. Only after help from RAF Typhoon fighter-bombers did the British succeed in crushing the German resistance. The advance continued slowly, but on Operation Market Garden’ first day, the XXX Corps only reached Valkenswaard, not their intended target, Eindhoven. Operation Garden was already behind schedule.

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