Was radio silence all that big a deal? These aircraft were not flying
at 40,000 ft and could easily been spotted from the ground. Surely reports
of this activity would be reported by enemy soldiers and sympathizers.

They jerries also had Ringrichter mumble, mumble ah, hell, sound detectors
all over the place - big gramophone style sound collectors manned by a small
crew - that could detect (but not localize) even a single inbound e/a. Still,
nothing beats a sky entirely filled with gliders and tugs, as well as thousands
of other Allied aircraft over Northern Europe that day. Market Garden was a
disaster due to disregarded intelligence of German troops movements and an
overly ambitious plan that depended on undependable occurrances (i.e., the
successful capture of the bridges en route as well as an armored thrust down a
single road that was quickly dubbed the shooting gallery by those driving upon
it).

The final destination may have been ambiguous but
they must have known something was taking place.
Ed

True, but the Germans were caught by surprise at Arnem - they couldn't believe
the Allies were dumping thousands of lightly armed and unsupported elite troops
so far behind the lines that they could not hope to fight effectively.

v/r
Gordon
====(A+C====
USN SAR

Donate your memories - write a note on the back and send your old photos to a
reputable museum, don't take them with you when you're gone.