 To ensure that the operation was a success , Montgomery insisted that an airborne component be inserted into the plans for the operation , to support the amphibious assaults that would take place ; this was code @-@ named Operation Varsity . Three airborne divisions were initially chosen to participate in the operation , these being the British 6th Airborne Division , the U.S. 13th Airborne Division and the U.S. 17th Airborne Division , all of which were assigned to U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps , commanded by Major General Matthew B. Ridgway . One of these airborne formations , the British 6th Airborne Division , commanded by Major @-@ General Eric Bols , was a veteran division ; it had taken part in Operation Overlord , the assault on Normandy in June the previous year . However , the U.S. 17th Airborne Division , under Major General William Miley , had been activated only in April 1943 and had arrived in Britain in August 1944 , too late to participate in Operation Overlord . The division did not participate in Operation Market Garden . It did , however , participate in the Ardennes campaign but had yet to take part in a combat drop . The U.S. 13th Airborne Division , under Major General Eldridge Chapman , had been activated in August 1943 and was transferred to France in 1945 ; the formation itself had never seen action , although one of its regiments , the 517th Parachute Infantry , had fought briefly in Italy , and later in Southern France and the Ardennes campaign . 
