Pinging u/coinsinmyrocket and u/pantstime for an assist with this one, as I posted a similar question a few weeks ago, but didn't get a response. I'm curious how the Allies got their armor into Holland for Operation Market Garden. Obviously, dropping them by air couldn't have been a practical option, so how did they get the tanks and heavy trucks in-country? How did the Allies keep this movement from tipping the Germans off to their intentions (if at all)? As I understand it, the Allies had a full armored brigade attached to the operation, so how did it get from (presumably?) France to Holland?
The armoured forces for Market Garden came from Belgium, having advanced there from Normandy.
Market Garden had two components: the airborne forces (101st US, 82nd US and the British 1st Airborne Divisions, with the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade) were to be dropped to seize bridges at Eindhoven, Grave, Nijmegen and Arnhem. The land forces were from the Second British Army, primarily XXX Corps, with VIII and XII Corps on the flanks. XXX Corps, spearheaded by the Guards Armoured Division, were to advance across this "airborne carpet" through the positions taken by the paratroops.
Second British Army, with First Canadian and First US Armies on its flanks, had broken out of Normandy and made rapid gains in late August/early September, reaching Brussels on 3rd September and Antwerp on the 4th. The jumping off point for XXX Corps for Market Garden was roughly the line of the Meuse-Escaut Canal around Lommel and Neerpelt; a two lane road led from there to Eindhoven, but the ground either side was marshy and unsuitable for vehicles so XXX Corps had to push down a very narrow front. The road became known as "Hell's Highway", and the advance was far slower than planned, resulting in the failure of the operation.