Black smoke billowed from bombed-out buildings, explosions shook rubble-strewn ruins, and squadrons of planes filled the sky dropping legions of British paratroopers as German tanks rolled through streets littered with bodies. It was a military operation like no other, costing millions. Yet nobody died.

These dramatic scenes were highlights of the 1977 movie classic A Bridge Too Far, which told the story of Britain’s biggest military defeat in the wake of D-Day during the Second World War 80…