"Operation Aintree" (named after Aintree racecourse) had the goal of securing the narrow salient the Allies had established between Eindhoven and Nijmegen during "Operation Market Garden" and destroying the German bridgehead west of the Meuse, in preparation for the eventual Allied advance into the nearby German Rhineland.The battle of Overloon ensued as the Allies in "Operation Aintree" advanced from nearby positions south toward the village of Overloon.