The remark is associated with Lieutenant-General Frederick “Boy” Browning, deputy commander of the First Allied Airborne Army, during the planning of Operation Market Garden in September 1944.
Browning is widely reported to have expressed his reservations to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery with the words:
“But, sir, I think we might be going a bridge too far.”the remark traditionally attributed to Browning.
The comment was a warning about the ambitious plan to seize a series of bridges in the Netherlands, culminating at Arnhem, the final and most distant objective. Montgomery nevertheless proceeded with the operation.
There is, however, an important historical caveat: the exact wording and circumstances of the quotation are disputed. The phrase became famous because it so neatly encapsulated the central problem of Market Garden—the Allied plan depended on capturing and holding a bridge at Arnhem that was considerably farther ahead than the other airborne objectives.
The operation began on 17 September 1944. American, British and Polish airborne forces were dropped along a corridor from Eindhoven through Nijmegen to Arnhem, while British XXX Corps advanced north from Belgium. The plan largely succeeded at Eindhoven and Nijmegen, but the British 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem encountered unexpectedly strong German resistance. Only a small force reached the Arnhem bridge, and the main objective could not be held.
By 25 September, the surviving British and Polish airborne troops were evacuated across the Rhine. Operation Market Garden had failed to establish the intended bridgehead over the Lower Rhine.
The irony is that “a bridge too far” became one of the most enduring phrases of the Second World War, and ultimately the title of Cornelius Ryan’s 1974 book A Bridge Too Far and the 1977 film adaptation.
An interesting side note: Browning was married to Daphne du Maurier, the celebrated author of The Birds, which was later adapted by Alfred Hitchcock into one of his most iconic films.
Sources:
History of Sorts 
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