Arnhem

Home > Other > Arnhem > Page 135
Arnhem Page 135

by William F Buckingham


  Chapter 22

  1. See WO 171/393 1st Airborne Division HQ War Diary, Appendix ‘Report on Operation Market’, Part I: General Outline of Operations, Section 10 ‘The Withdrawal to Nijmegen’, Para. 195; WO 171/1608 260 Field Company RE War Diary, entry for 25/09/1944; and testimony from Private John Ranger, 20 Platoon, D Company, 1st Battalion The Border Regiment; cited in Sliz, The Storm Boat Kings, p.97

  2. Quoted from Henniker, An Image of War, p.19

  3. See Kershaw, It Never Snows in September, p.299; for clashes see for example WO 171/1236 1 Parachute Battalion War Diary, entry for 23:00, 25/09/1944; and WO 171/1248 21st Independent Parachute Company War Diary, entry for 22:00, 25/09/1944

  4. Quoted from Kershaw, p.299

  5. See ibid., pp.299-301

  6. Testimony from Hauptsturmführer Hans Möller, commander SS Panzer Pionier Abteilung 9; cited in ibid., p.301

  7. Quoted from ibid., p.301

  8. See Urquhart, Arnhem, pp.180-181

  9. See Middlebrook, Arnhem 1944, p.432

  10. See Ryan, A Bridge Too Far, p.534

  11. See Green, 1st Battalion The Border Regiment, p.85

  12. See Middlebrook, pp.433-434

  13. For 170 figure see Kershaw, p.299; Krafft quote from AIR 20/2333 ‘Battle of Arnheim: German account, Sept. to Oct. 1944; cited in Middlebrook, p.435

  14. See Cholewczynski, Poles Apart, pp.261, 264, 267-268

  15. See Green, pp.84-85

  16. For details see for example Waddy, A Tour of the Arnhem Battlefields, p.181; and The Pegasus Archive, Battle of Arnhem Archive, Biographies Section ‘Brigadier Gerald William Lathbury’ at www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/gerald_lathbury.htm, accessed 27/07/2018; and ibid., ‘Brigadier John Winthrop Hackett’ at www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/john_hackett.htm, accessed 27/07/2018 .

  17. For details and Lieutenant-Colonel Herford’s DSO citation see The Pegasus Archive, Battle of Arnhem Archive, Biographies Section ‘Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Edward Meakin Herford MBE, DSO, MC & Bar’ at www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/martin_herford.htm, accessed 27/07/2018

  18. For details and Colonel Warrack’s Distinguished Service Order Citation see The Pegasus Archive, Battle of Arnhem Archive, Biographies Section ‘Colonel Graeme Matthew Warrack’ at www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/graeme_warrack.htm, accessed 27/07/2018

  19. See Middlebrook, p.437; and The Pegasus Archive, Battle of Arnhem Archive, Biographies Section ‘Major J. Anthony Cotterell’ at www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/anthony_cotterell.htm, accessed 28/07/2018. Major John Anthony Cotterell is interred in Enschede Eastern General Cemetery, Overijssel, Netherlands in Joint Grave 200-201

  20. See Middlebrook, pp.436-437. Captain John Howard Keesey is interred in Becklingen War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Germany in Plot 8, Row C, Grave 1

  21. See Middlebrook, p.437; and The Pegasus Archive, Battle of Arnhem Archive, Biographies Section ‘Lieutenant H. Michael A. Cambier’ at www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/michael_cambier.htm, accessed 28/07/2018. Lieutenant Raymond Meyrick Bussell and Lieutenant Harry Michael Ashbrooke Cambier are interred in Vorden General Cemetery, Gelderland, Netherlands in Graves 16 & 17 respectively

  22. See WO 171/1234, 1 Wing Glider Pilot Regiment War Diary, entries for 10:00, 14:25, 15:05, 16:10 & 19:11, 27/09/1944

  23. See WO 171/1248 21st Independent Parachute Company War Diary, entry for 15:00, 28/09/1944

  24. See AIR 27/1433 No. 233 Squadron Operations Record Book, entries for 29/09/1944; and AIR 27/1876 No. 437 Squadron RCAF Operations Record Book, entries for 29/09/1944.

  25. The USAAF units cited were based at Barkston Heath and Saltby; for reference to being lifted by US aircraft see WO 171/1248 21st Independent Parachute Company War Diary, entry for 15:00, 28/09/1944

  26. See WO 171/393 1st Airborne Division HQ War Diary, entries for 17:00 & 19:00, 29/09/1944; and WO 171/396 1 Airborne Division HQ Royal Artillery War Diary, entries for 11:00, 15:30 & 18:00, 29/09/1944

  27. See WO 171/406 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron War Diary, entry for 29/09/1944; WO 171/1016 1st Airlanding Light Regiment RA War Diary, entry for 13:00, 29/09/1944; and WO 171/1513 9th Airborne Field Company RE War Diary, entries for 14:30, ‘Approx’ 15:45 & ‘Approx’ 18:30

  28. See WO 171/1375 2nd South Staffordshire Regiment War Diary, entry for 29/09/1944; and AIR 27/1433 No. 233 Squadron Operations Record Book, entries for 29/09/1944

  29. See WO 171/1236 1st Parachute Battalion War Diary, entries for 10:00 & 12:15, 30/09/1944

  30. See WO 171/590 1st Airlanding Brigade HQ Seaborne Element War Diary, entry for 28 to 29/09/1944; and ibid., Appendix ‘2nd Seaborne Element’, entries for 22/09/1944, 23/09/1944 & 23 to 30/09/1944

  31. For a full breakdown of vehicle types & numbers by unit see WO 171/393 1st Airborne Division HQ War Diary, ‘Appendix “G” to Part II: Seaborne Transport’

  32. See WO 171/394 1 Airborne Division HQ Seaborne Element War Diary, entry for 29 and 30/09/1944

  33. See WO 171/394 1 Airborne Division HQ Seaborne Element War Diary, entries for 09:00, 03 /10/1944, 04/10/1944, 5,6 and 7/10/1944 and 08/10/1944

  34. Figure cited in HMSO, By Air to Battle, p.98 which matches Middlebrook; see Middlebrook, Table 1, p.439. For despatch of Division seaborne tail six weeks in advance of Operation MARKET see WO 171/393 1 Airborne Division HQ War Diary, Appendix: ‘Report on Operation “Market”: Part II – The Administrative Aspects of the Operation: Seaborne Tail’, Para. 218

  35. For 1,338 Glider Pilot figure see WO 171/1230 HQ Cmd. Glider Pilots War Diary, Appendix ‘OPERATION “MARKET” GROUND’, Section headed ‘CASUALTIES’; for Polish Brigade total of 1,625 see Sikorski Institute AV 20/31/27 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade War Diary, entry for 09:00, 26/09/1944 . The Glider Pilot HQ War Diary figure is higher than that cited in By Air to Battle (1,126) and Middlebrook (1,262), while the Polish War Diary figure is lower than that cited by Middlebrook (1,689); using the figures from the latter two sources the overall figures are 11,784 or 11,920. See HMSO, By Air to Battle, p.98; and Middlebrook, Table 1, p.439. As the precise source of the figures cited in the secondary works is unclear, the primary source figures are given preference.

  36. 1,485 figure cited in Middlebrook, Table 1, p.439; for 1,543 figure see John A. Hey, Roll of Honour Battle of Arnhem, September 1944; cited in Reynolds, Sons of the Reich, p.173. The 6,525 overall figure is cited in Hey and Middlebrook while the HMSO official account refers to a total of 7,605 killed, wounded and missing; the higher total may reflect early accounting before the number of prisoners and evaders became clear; see HMSO, By Air to Battle, p.130

  37. 219 and 229 figures cited in Middlebrook, Table 1, p.439 and Reynolds, p.173 respectively; 730 figure quoted from WO 171/1230 HQ Cmd. Glider Pilots War Diary, Appendix ‘OPERATION “MARKET” GROUND’, Section headed ‘CASUALTIES’. Polish killed figure of ninety-two cited in Middlebrook, Table 1, ninety-seven from Reynolds, p.173; overall Polish casualty figure of 342 quoted from Sikorski Institute AV 20/31/27 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade War Diary, entry for 09:00, 26/09/1944

  38. Figure cited in Reynolds, p.173

  39. Figures cited in Cooper, The Air Battle for Arnhem, Table ‘RAF Losses at Arnhem’, pp.158-159

  40. Figures quoted from Middlebrook, Appendix 4: Order of Battle, US Air Units Carrying British and Polish Parachute Troops on Operation ‘Market’, p.464

  41. See Kershaw, pp.339-340; and Ryan, p.539

  42. See Powell, The Devil’s Birthday, p.229

  43. Cited in Ryan, p.537

  44. Figures quoted from MacDonald, The Siegfried Line Campaign, p.199

  45. For details Henniker, An Image of War, pp.195-201

  46. See Kershaw, pp.316-320

  47. 200 figure cited in Powell, p.226; for 300 estimate see Middlebrook, Arnhem 1944, p.439; the British Official Airborne history cites a figure of between 300‒400; see Otway, Airborne Forces, p.283

  48. See for example The Pegasus Archive, Battle of Arnhem Archive, Biographies Sect
ion ‘Lieutenant-Colonel David Theodore Dobie’ at www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/david_dobie.htm, accessed 12/08/2018.

  49. For details of Lieutenant-Colonel Dobie’s activities in this regard see The Pegasus Archive, Battle of Arnhem Archive, Reports Section ‘Evasion Report: 21st September – 23rd October by Major A. D. Tatham-Warter, 2nd Parachute Bn., Annexure 1 to Appendix ‘F’, “Report on Operation to Liberate Personnel from Northern Holland by Lt. Col. D. T. Dobie DSO”’ at www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/RepPegasus.htm, accessed 12/08/2018

  50. A Belgian SAS team was parachuted into the area north-west of Arnhem to gather information on German troop movements around Utrecht two days before Operation MARKET commenced; see Powell, p.100; for Belgian SAS involvement in Operation PEGASUS see ibid., p.227; and Middlebrook, p.438; for the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment’s arrival on the Lower Rhine see Rapport and Northwood, Rendezvous with Destiny, p.379

  51. for details of the overall scheme see The Pegasus Archive, Battle of Arnhem Archive, Reports Section ‘Evasion Report: 21st September – 23rd October by Major A. D. Tatham-Warter, 2nd Parachute Bn., Annexure 1 to Appendix ‘F’, “Report on Operation to Liberate Personnel from Northern Holland by Lt. Col. D. T. Dobie DSO”, Para. ‘Plan’ at www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/RepPegasus.htm, accessed 12/08/2018; for the US account see Rapport and Northwood, pp.400-401

  52. See Waddy, p.182

  53. for detailed accounts of the execution of the Operation see Waddy, pp.181-188; and The Pegasus Archive, Battle of Arnhem Archive, Reports Section ‘Evasion Report: 21st September – 23rd October by Major A. D. Tatham-Warter, 2nd Parachute Bn., Para. “The Crossing”’ at www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/RepPegasus.htm, accessed 12/08/2018

  54. Ambrose and Truesdale refer to the operation beginning at or shortly after midnight, whereas Rapport & Northwood refer to 01:00; see Ambrose, Band of Brothers, p.161; Truesdale, Brotherhood of the Cauldron, p.161; and Rapport and Northwood, p.400

  55. See Waddy, p.187

  56. The precise number and makeup of the PEGASUS evaders varies between sources; see Middlebrook, p.438; Rapport & Northwood, p.401; and Truesdale, p.161

  57. See HMSO, By Air to Battle, pp.131-132; and The Pegasus Archive, Battle of Arnhem Archive, Biographies Section ‘Major Anthony J. Deane Drummond’ at www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/deane_drummond.htm, accessed 12/08/2018.

  58. Major John Secheverell A’Deane Coke is interred in Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery, Gelderland, Holland in Plot 23, Row B, Grave 17

  59. See Waddy, pp.188-189; Powell, p.228; and Middlebrook, p.438

  60. See Urquhart, pp.195-196

  61. See Sikorski Institute AV 20/31/27 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade War Diary, entry for 12:00, 25/09/1944

  62. See Sikorski Institute AV 20/31/27 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade War Diary, entry for 09:00, 26/09/1944; and Cholewczynski, Poles Apart, pp.272-273

  63. See Cholewczynski, Poles Apart, p.273

  64. See ibid., pp.280-281; and Sosabowski, Freely I Served, pp.190-191

  65. Sosabowski’s letter and Browning’s reply are reproduced in Sosabowski, p.189

  66. See ibid., p.190

  67. See Richard Lamb, Montgomery in Europe, p.251; cited in Cholewczynski, Poles Apart, p.286

  68. The report is reproduced in full in ibid., pp.312-313

  69. See ibid., pp.285-287

  70. Quoted from ibid., footnote, p.286

  71. For details see William F. Buckingham, Arnhem 1944: A Reappraisal, pp.43-48; for a more detailed analysis of the Polish input into the development of British Airborne Forces see Id. Paras: The Birth of British Airborne Forces, pp.179-193

  72. Quoted from Middlebrook, p.448

  73. Quoted from Alanbrooke Papers 14/36; cited in Powell, p.183

  74. The present author originally considered the distance between the landing area and objectives to be a salient factor in the failure of the Arnhem portion of Operation MARKET but modified his view as a result of further research

  Bibliography

  UK National Archives Files

  AIR 5/1253 Operations: Iraq Chapters 1-13

  AIR 20/2333 16th SS Panzer Grenadier & Reserve Battalion Report

  AIR 27/473 No. 48 Squadron Operations Record Book

  AIR 27/1154 No. 190 Squadron Operations Record Book

  AIR 27/1167 No. 196 Squadron Operations Record Book

  AIR 27/1433 No. 233 Squadron Operations Record Book

  AIR 27/1574 No. 271 Squadron Operations Record Book

  AIR 27/1654 No. 299 Squadron Operations Record Book

  AIR 27/1876 No 437 Squadron RCAF Operations Record Book

  AIR 27/1972 No. 512 Squadron Operations Record Book

  AIR 27/2041 No. 570 Squadron Operations Record Book

  AIR 27/2046 No. 575 Squadron Operations Record Book

  AIR 27/2134 No. 620 Squadron Operations Record Book

  AIR 37/418 ‘Report on the British Airborne Effort in Operation MARKET by 38 & 46 Groups RAF’

  AIR 37/775 1944: Subsidiary Airborne operations to Further Operation OVERLORD

  AIR 37/776 1944: 1st Allied Airborne Army: Formation and Employment

  AIR 37/1214 1944: Report on Operation MARKET GARDEN: Allied Airborne Operations in Holland

  AIR 37/1249 1944: Operation MARKET GARDEN

  AV 20/31/27 Sikorski Institute, 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade War Diary

  CAB 44/252 The Advance to the Siegfried Line and the Battle for Arnhem, 29 August to 30 September 1944 Part I

  CAB 44/252 The Advance to the Siegfried Line and the Battle for Arnhem, 29 August to 30 September 1944 Part II: Operation MARKET GARDEN

  WO 166/15077 1 Border Regiment War Diary

  WO 171/341 30 Corps HQ War Diary

  WO 171/376 Guards Armoured Division HQ War Diary

  WO 171/393 1 Airborne Division HQ War Diary

  WO 171/394 1 Airborne Division HQ Seaborne Element War Diary

  WO 171/396 1Airborne Division HQ Royal Artillery War Diary

  WO 171/397 1 Airborne Division HQ Royal Engineers War Diary

  WO171/398 1 Airborne Division Signals War Diary

  WO 171/400 1 Airborne Division RASC Airborne Element War Diary

  WO 171/406 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron War Diary (includes separate Diaries for A, C & D Troops)

  WO 171/589 1 Airlanding Brigade HQ War Diary

  WO 171/590 1 Airlanding Brigade HQ Seaborne Element War Diary

  WO 171/592 1st Parachute Brigade War Diary

  WO 171/594 4th Parachute Brigade War Diary

  WO 171/605 5 Guards Armoured Brigade War Diary

  WO 171/638 32 Guards Brigade War Diary

  WO 171/957 1st Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery RA War Diary

  WO 171/958 2nd (Oban) Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery RA War Diary

  WO 171/1016 1st Airlanding Light Regiment RA War Diary

  WO 171/1059 64 Medium Regiment RA War Diary

  WO 171/1066 84 Medium Regiment RA War Diary

  WO 171/1230 HQ Cmd. Glider Pilots War Diary

  WO 171/1231 A, D, G Squadrons Glider Pilot Regiment War Diary

  WO 171/1232 B Squadron Glider Pilot Regiment War Diary

  WO 171/1234 1Wing Glider Pilot Regiment War Diary

  WO 171/1235 2 Wing Glider Pilot Regiment War Diary

  WO 171/1236 1 Parachute Battalion War Diary

  WO 171/1237 2 Parachute Battalion War Diary

  WO 171/1238 3 Parachute Battalion War Diary

  WO 171/1243 10th Parachute Battalion War Diary

  WO 171/1244 11th Parachute Battalion War Diary

  WO 171/1247 156 Parachute Battalion War Diary

  WO 171/1248 21st Independent Parachute Company War Diary

  WO 171/1253 1 Grenadier Guards (Motorised Battalion) War Diary

  WO 171/1256 2 Irish Guards (Armoured Battalion) War Diary

  WO 171/1257 3 Irish Guards (Motorised Battalion) War Diary

  WO 171/1286 4th Battalion The Dorsetshire Regiment War
Diary

  WO 171/1323 7th Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers War Diary

  WO 171/1375 2 South Staffordshire Regiment War Diary

  WO 171/1509 1st Parachute Squadron RE War Diary

  WO 171/1511 4th Parachute Squadron RE War Diary

  WO 171/1513 9th (Airborne) Field Company RE War Diary

  WO 171/1586 204 Field Company RE War Diary

  WO 171/1608 260 Field Company RE War Diary

  WO 171/1609 261 (Airborne) Field Park Company RE War Diary

  WO 171/2177 HQ Air Despatch Group RASC War Diary

  WO177/359 ADMS 1 Airborne Division War Diary

  WO 179/3129 20th Field Company RCE War Diary

  WO 179/3130 23rd Field Company RCE War Diary

  WO 205/313 Operation MARKET GARDEN Part 1

  WO 205/693 Operation MARKET GARDEN: Reports and Instructions

  WO 361/629 1st Parachute Battalion War Diary

  WO 361/642 2nd Parachute Battalion War Diary

  Unpublished Sources

  A Graphic History of the 82nd Airborne Division, Operation “Market”, Holland, 1944 (82nd Airborne Division, 1946)

  Capelle, Henk, My Airborne Experience, unpublished memoir. As a small boy Mr Capelle lived at No. 35 Nassaulaan in Oosterbeek and was present during the Battle of Arnhem. I am indebted to Mr Capelle for permission to include his account in this work

  Delamater, Major Benjamin F., The Action of the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry (82nd Airborne Division) in the Holland Invasion, 15-24 September 1944 (Personal Experience of the Battalion Executive Officer (Advanced Officer’s Course 1946-1947: The Infantry School General Section, Military History Committee, Fort Benning, Georgia, n.d.)

  Field Order No. 11, 82nd Airborne Division

  Johnson, Captain Kenneth L., Supply Operations of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (82nd Airborne Division) in the Invasion of Holland, Arnheim [sic] Operation 15 - 19 September 1944 (Rhineland Campaign) (Experiences of the Assistant Regimental S-4), (Advanced Officer’s Course 1948-1949, The Infantry School General Section, Military History Committee, Fort Benning Georgia, n.d.)

  Kappel, Captain Carl W., The Operations of Company “H”, 504th Parachute Infantry (82nd Airborne Division) in the Invasion of Holland 17 - 21 September 1944 (Rhineland Campaign) (Personal Experience of a Rifle Company Commander), (Advanced Officer’s Course 1948-1949, The Infantry School General Section, Military History Committee, Fort Benning Georgia, n.d.)

 

‹ Prev