OOSTERBEEK – ARNHEM – DRIEL: BRITISH & POLISH AIRBORNE
This Itinerary, covering the area of the objective of the entire MARKET-GARDEN OPERATION, is the most complicated and the longest, yet is probably the most fascinating of all.
It is certainly the most difficult to describe to the reader with simple clarity to satisfy all interests and requirements. For instance, does the visitor wish (a) to retrace the main routes followed by the different Para formations towards Arnhem, or (b) to visit the main focal points of the battlefield, such as the Ginkel Heath DZ, the Hartenstein Museum, the CWGC Cemetery, the Escape Route and the John Frost Bridge or (c) to visit all the memorials and monuments on the battlefield or (d) does he or she wish to drive the most direct route from the furthest DZ to the objective of The Bridge to ascertain for his/herself just how far from the objective the Paras were dropped and gliders landed?
After much debate and consideration of how much time the visitor might have in the area and what his/her priorities might be, we have decided to make choice (b) our main Itinerary. This can be accomplished in a full day of touring. Choices (a) and (d) can be undertaken by carefully following the accompanying Major & Mrs Holt’s Battle Map, where the three 1st AB routes are clearly marked. The scale will give you the distances. Choice (c) is covered by clearly explained Extra Visits which are detailed below, which cover the majority of the memorials. Any not covered are marked on the Map. Of course anyone having a particular interest in a specific site who is not sure where it is covered should consult the Index.
• The Main Itinerary, Five, starts at Heteren, looks at the DZs and LZs at Ginkelse Heide, passes through the middle of the area where the three parachute battalions and the 1st Airlanding Recce Squadron came down on the first day and began their move on Arnhem, follows part of the Middle Route and the last half of the Lower Route, covers the fighting in The Cauldron at Oosterbeek and the withdrawal across the river, moves on to Arnhem and the John Frost Bridge, and finishes at Driel.
• The Route: Heteren; Ede Cougar Tank; Ginkelse Heide LZs and Memorials; Wolfheze 1st AB Memorial Seat; The Kussin Crossroads; Hartenstein Airborne Museum; Airborne Monument; Quatre Bras 21st Independent Para Coy Memorial; VVV Oosterbeek; Airborne Commemorative Marker No 2; the Schoonoord; The Tafelberg; Airborne Commemorative Marker No 1; 21st Independent Para Coy Memorial Vase; No 8 Stationsweg; Airborne Commemorative Marker No 3; Arnhem-Oosterbeek CWGC Cemetery, Flowers in the Wind Memorial; Oosterbeek Local Cemetery; Air Despatch Memorial; Old (‘Lonsdale’) Church and Memorials; Ter Horst House; Site of Baskeyfield’s VC; Airborne Commemorative Marker No 7; Arnhem Walking Tour - Sword in Provincial House/Devil’s House’ Stained Glass Window, Eusebius Church Memorials and Viewpoint, Man Against Power Statue, Bakkerstraat Plaque to Shot Civilians, Frost’s HQ Plaque, Jacob Groenewoud Memorial Garden, 25-Pounder Gun and Polish Memorial, Airborne Commemorative Marker No 8, Airborne Plein Memorials, John Frost Bridge Memorials; Windmill generator OP; RE Memorial; Driel-Heveadorp Ferry; Driel Polish Memorials, 5th DCLI Plaque; 7th Bn Hants Memorial.
• Extra Visits are suggested to: The Surrender Room, Wageningen; Hackett’s Hideaway, Ede: Papendal Sports Centre Plaque; Leeren Doedel and Preserved Foxholes; The Culvert, Johannahoeve; 3rd Para Memorial Seat, Wolfheze; Klein Amerika; Heelsum AB Memorial & Seat; Renkum RC Cemetery; Westerbouwing Viewpoint & Dorset Plaques; Wolfheze Psychiatric Institution Cemetery and Memorials; Airborne Commemorative Marker No 4, The Hollow; 1st Border Positions on The Perimeter;Airborne House’ Plaque; Dutch Women at War Memorial OP; Plaque Old German SD HQ; September 1944 Memorial; 14 Zwarteweg; Old St Elisabeth Hospital, Airborne Commemorative Marker No 6; Arnhem Evacuation Memorial; Moscowa Jewish Cemetery and CWGC Plot; Cross to 19 Civilians; Dakota Crash Site; Air Warfare Museum Deelen Airport; German Command Bunker; Arnhem 1940-45 Museum; Elden - Original 1940s Roadway, Civilians Memorial Column, Plaque on St Lucas Church, Lancaster Bomber Memorial; Groenewoud Plaque to J. McNee and J. Hyde.
• Planned duration, without stops for refreshment or Extra Visits: 5 hours 30 minutes
• Total distance: 59.8 kms/37.4 miles
• Heteren: Entry Point at Junction No 18 with A50/0 kms/0 miles
From Heteren take the A50 over the Neder Rijn. Take the first exit, No 19, on the N225 left towards Wageningen. Continue past the large Parenco factory complex on the left and then the turning to the Zetten ferry. Enter Wageningen and continue to the next traffic lights.
• Extra Visit to the Surrender Room, Hotel de Wereld, Wageningen (Map 1N/53). Round trip: 1.9 kms/1.2 miles. Approximate time: 15 minutes.
Go straight across on Ritzema Bosweg and continue to Bevrijdingsstraat. Turn left to 5 Mei Plein.
The building is on the right. Now an Education Centre, (Tel: + (0) 317 484413 e-mail: sander.essers@sg.osa.wau.nl) the old Hotel de Wereld was the scene of the German Capitulation to the Dutch. To the right of the entrance is a Commemorative Plaque recording that ‘In this building on 5 May 1945 Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes, CB, CBE DSO, the General Officer commanding 1 Canadian Corps accepted the unconditional surrender of 25th German Army from Col General Johannes Blaskowitz.’ In actual fact the papers were handed over on the 5th but not signed until the 6th. Terms of the Instrument for the Surrender included the clearing of the canals ‘of obstruction, mines etc’ and the assistance ‘in the arrangements for feeding the Dutch civilian population’.
Hotel de Wereld Wageningen
The beginning of the end had started in March when Queen Wilhelmina, ‘dressed in a long woollen coat with a piece of old fur around her throat’ and looking ‘like a stout Dutch country lady out for a stroll’ [Alden Hatch], as depicted in the statue of her in the grounds of the Overloon Museum (qv), made her first visit to the liberated provinces of her country, crossing the Dutch border near Ede. On 17 April Prince Bernhard moved his HQ to the Palace of Het Loo in Apeldoorn, which had been used by the Germans as a military hospital, actually living in his own nearby house, Spelderholt. On his return, loyal locals returned precious furniture and even the Prince’s personal clothes and jewellery, which they had taken and hidden for safekeeping for the five years of German occupation. His main preoccupation in the days leading up to the formal surrender was to get food into his starving country and to make sure that his troops would not wreak unlawful vengeance on the many German troops roaming the country. On 4 May the Prince heard the news of the German surrender to Montgomery at Luneburg Heath, which was to become effective at 0800 hours on 5 May. He met with General Foulkes who told him that the Dutch forces were forbidden to bear arms for at least three days - a difficult message for Bernhard to deliver to his Resistance Workers. He was anxious that Holland should not lapse into anarchy and at his staff’s celebration party warned, ‘We have won the war, but we still have to win the peace.’
The next day he met with General Foulkes, General Blaskowitz, British and American commanders and Dutch Resistance leaders around a trestle table in the Hotel de Wereld. Bernhard, who refused to speak German during the ceremony, recorded that Blaskowitz, ‘a gentleman of the old school’, had had a row with Hitler and resigned. Hitler recalled him to command the collapsing German force in Holland at the very end. The Russians later accused him of war crimes and he committed suicide. Bernhard stipulated to Blaskowitz that he would only accept the surrender if all the SS men were disarmed and imprisoned. Blazkowitz maintained that he did not have the power to do so. Bernhard had good reason to fear the fanatical roaming SS men who felt they had nothing more to lose. In fact twelve of his own friends were killed by SS after the surrender. Bernhard was particularly at risk because of his German extraction, which caused the Germans to regard him as a traitor. During a factfinding tour of his newly liberated country immediately after the Surrender, Bernhard took the precaution of wearing a disguise - a beret and a khaki shirt and a ‘ridiculous false moustache’ [Hatch].
On entering the building the canteen, with some photos of Wageningen during the war, is straight ahead. The Capitulation Room, to the right, is beautifully panelled with stained glass windows but as it may well be in use for a meeting it is wise to telephone ahead if you wish to visit it other than during the three weeks from 5 May each year when the original furniture is replaced and an exhibition is mounted.
In the 5 May Square is a striking National Liberation Memorial by H. Richters.
Return to the traffic lights ami rejoin the main itinerary.
Turn right on Diedemveg direction Ede/Bennekom. Continue and take the right turn to Bennekom (10.9 kms/6.8 miles). Continue to a roundabout and follow signs to Centrum. Continue through Bennekom, follow Ede signs under the motorway and enter Ede. Go under the railway following Apeldoorn signs and continue past the church tower on the left to the turning to Molenstraat to the left (18.4 kms/11.5 miles).
Extra Visit to Hackett’s Hideaway, 5 Torenstraat, Ede (Map 1N/55). Round trip: .6 kms/.4 miles. Approximate time: 10 minutes
Turn left on Molenstraat. Continue to the Square on the left and park. By the Prenatal shop at No 2 on the corner is the tiny Torenstraat. Walk up it to the Onder de Toren Wine Merchants adjoining the Balkan Yugoslav Restaurant. This is the site of No. 5.
After escaping from the St Elisabeth Hospital (see below) Brigadier Hackett was brought to Ede by Resistance worker ‘Piet van Arnhem’. After stopping briefly at the house of Tonny de Nooij in Brouwerstraat (which is the road along which you are parked) where he met Brigadier Lathbury, who had also been rescued from the hospital by Piet, Hackett was taken to No 5 Torenstraat. First his severe stomach wound was treated by a Dutch doctor who wondered at the skill of Lipmann Kessel (qv), Surgeon to 16th Para Field Ambulance. Then he was gently nursed back to health and strength by the kindly owners (also members of the de Nooij family) who risked grave danger for harbouring him and who Hackett came to love and admire. It was not until 29 January that he was deemed fit enough to leave and was escorted to a safe house in Maarn near Doorn. There to his surprise he was reunited with Lipmann and other Airborne colleagues. Lipmann tidied up Hackett’s wound before they were all moved along the next hazardous leg of their escape route - by rickety canoe through the Merwede River, through the maze of swampy channels to the River Waal. Finally Hackett arrived at HQ 21st Army Group where Monty gave him a slap-up dinner with oysters and wine. On 7 February he arrived back at Northolt and arranged for the BBC to broadcast to his Dutch friends the coded message, ‘The Grey Goose has gone’. General Sir John Hackett’s experiences are described in detail in his book, ‘I Was a Stranger’, Chatto & Windus 1978. The title comes from St Matthew Chapter 25 verse 35, ‘I was a stranger and ye took me in.’
Continue to the junction with the N224, turn right direction Arnhem and continue to the roundabout.
On the right is the Pannenkoekenhuis de Langenberg. Tel: + (0) 318 610485.
Turn right and immediately left into the slip road.
• Cougar No 13 Tank/20.3 kms/12.7 miles/5 minutes/Map 1N/56
This Canadian tank took part in the liberation of Ede by the Canadian Calgary Regiment of the 49th (Polar Bear) West Riding Division on 17 April 1945. It was restored on 10 March 1980 by the 8th Canadian Hussars, Princess Louise’s Maintenance Troop. A plaque acknowledges all the sponsors of the restoration who include the MoD, various local Rotary Clubs, schools, builders and banks.
Cougar Tank No 13, Ede
Continue on the N224, passing Military Barracks and training areas to the right.
At 22.4 kms/14 miles a Memorial can be seen in the heath to the left. This is to Belgian Refugees of the First World War who had a camp on this site (Map 2/1).
Continue to the Café on the left.
The Zuid Ginkel Café, Tel: + (0) 318 653972 is a favourite haunt of veterans and over the period of the Anniversary is always very busy. 133rd Para Field Ambulance set up a DS here on 18 September as the medical orderlies scoured the burning heath for wounded.
Turn right opposite the café onto the unmade road and follow a sandy track to the sheep barn. Park.
The sheep barn was standing in 1944.
• Ginkelse Heide and Airborne Memorials/23.7 kms 14.8 miles/15 minutes/Map 2-2/3
The Memorial, in the form of a pillar with the insignia of the KOSB, a Pegasus and the Airborne Badge, is surmounted by a symbolic Dove of Peace. It was designed by Mrs M. M. Heuff van Oven, erected by the people of Ede and unveiled by General Urquhart on 19 September 1960. Below the Memorial is a quotation from Isaiah 40.31, ‘They shall mount up with wings as eagles.’ There is a large stone with the inscription in white ‘Luchtlanding 17-18 September 1944’ [actually the area was not used on 17 September]. ‘Luchtlanding’ can mean both parachute and glider landings - ‘Drop’ Zones were for parachutists and ‘Landing’ Zones for gliders.
Weather permitting, there is a commemorative drop and short service of commemoration here, normally at 1100 hours, on the nearest Saturday to the 17 September Anniversary. In 2000 there was still a sprinkling of veteran parachutists in the drop, some even dropping solo, others in tandem with their modern Para counterparts. It is a thrilling sight, and very well attended both by loyal locals and visiting veterans, families and other interested groups and individuals from the UK. If you wish to see the drop it is advisable to arrive early or you may have to park a long way from the heath. To stand here alone, however, on the quiet heath, covered in parts by heather, with only the images retained from familiar photographs and film scenes in the mind, is an extraordinarily evocative experience.
Airborne Memorial and detail, Ginkel Heath
Ginkelse Heide was Drop Zone Y, the furthest from The Bridge of all the DZs. General Urquhart would have preferred to have put his troops down on top of the Arnhem Bridges in order to capitalize on the primary advantage given by the use of airborne forces - that of surprise. However, Air Force commanders said that German anti-aircraft defences in the area were so concentrated that it was not possible to fly tugs and transports close to the bridges. It was also claimed that the polder (low-lying reclaimed land) immediately to the south of the road bridge, the only nearby non-built-up area, was too marshy either to land or drop upon. (This was later found to be untrue and the reader should look back to the entry on the soggy Airstrip B-82 on the polder at Keent near Grave, where 209 C-47 Dakotas landed on one day.) The General, not an Airborne man, and who in hindsight may be considered as having ‘drawn the short straw’ in being given this command, was persuaded, and chose assault zones some 10kms away from his objective.
There were not enough planes to drop the 82nd AB, 101st AB and 1st AB at the same time on the same day. Airlift priority had been given to the American AB since their targets were closest to XXX Corps’ start point and had to be captured first. Also Air Force authorities said that essential maintenance, shortness of daylight hours and crew fatigue would make two sorties a day impossible. Some para soldiers wondered whose side the Air Force was on. Therefore, with only one sortie a day, the aircraft allocated to General Urquhart would take three days to deliver his whole division - one ‘lift’ per day: hardly conducive to surprising the enemy.
This heath was a drop zone for the second lift, scheduled for 1000 hours on 18 September, consisting of 4 Para Brigade (10th, 11th and 156th Para Battalions) plus those British parts of the Division that had not landed elsewhere the day before. Often overlooked are the Supporting Arms and Services that back up the infantry elements of fighting forces, thus, as part of the ‘Brigade Group’, were also 2nd Anti-tank Battery RA, 4th Para Squadron RE, 133rd Para Field Ambulance RAMC and personnel from 3rd and 13th Light Aid Detachments REME. No forces landed here on 17 September but it was secured for the next day’s activities by the 7th KOSB (from 1st Airlanding Brigade which had landed on LZ S which you will shortly pass). Bad weather in England delayed the drop and the first troops did not begin to arrive until 1500 hours. 11th Para Battalion was sent immediately to the Arnhem area, eventually joining up with the South Staffords in the assault past Zwarteweg (qv) where General Urquhart was holed up. The remainder of the Brigade prepared to move towards Arnhem late in the afternoon of the 18th. They all ended up manning The Perimeter.
Return to the main road, turn right and continue on the N224 over the A12, direction Arnhem/Wolfheze. Continue to the traffic lights and the junction with the N783 signed to Wolfheze.
The road to the right, the N783 Wolfhezerweg, leads past LZ S (see the Holts’ Map). The road that you are now driving along was the Upper Route, code-named LEOPARD. On the 17th there were German armoured vehicles in the woods to your left ahead and German infantry on the right. Lieutenant-Colonel Dobie’s 1st Para Battalion, whose task was to take the high ground behind Amhem, came up Wolfhezerweg from the area of Wolfheze railway station intending to use the Upper Route, but, despite fierce fighting, were unable to get anv further. Hearing that Colonel Frost was at the bridge and needing help, Dobie decided to forget his allocated objective and that evening headed for the bridge.
• Extra Visits to Papendal Sports Centre Memorial Plaque (Map 2/23)/the Leeren Doedel (Map 2/24)/Traces of Foxholes and Slit trenches (Map 2/25) Round trip: 7.8 kms/4.9 miles. Approximate time: 30 minutes
Continue on the N224, under the A50.
The A12 was under construction in 1944 and was known as the ‘Hares” Path - the road to Germany, along which the Dutch presumed the Germans would flee like hares! It was only finished in 1968/69.
Take the first right at the traffic lights, following signs to the National Sports Centre. Drive into the entrance and park outside the main reception building.
The National Sports Centre, Tel: + (0) 26 4821853 has extensive sporting and training facilities, including an 18-hole golf course, three hotels and three restaurants.
Walk into the main building. Turn to the left inside the door and walk to the end of the corridor.
On the wall to the right is the Plaque which reads, ‘From 17-27 September 1944 this area was involved in the Battle of Arnhem. Lest We Forget.’ The area immediately south of here was LZ L where the Polish Parachute Brigade was planned to arrive in gliders on 19 September. The parachute element of the Brigade was intended to land on DZ K south of the Arnhem road bridge that same day. But poor visibility in England prevented the parachute force, which included General Sosabowski, from taking off. The airlanding element, however, did arrive here on the 19th to be met with savage anti-aircraft fire. Figures vary as to the number of Polish gliders that landed - thirty-four according to General Sosabowski (cf his memoirs, Freely I Served), twenty-eight according to the respected author Martin Middlebrook (Arnhem 1944, The Airborne Battle) - illustrating the dangers of being dogmatic about precise details when relating military history. The Poles, with jeeps, trailers and six-pounder guns, drove south fast, probably following much the same route as the main itinerary until they reported to Airborne Headquarters at the Hartenstein Hotel.
Return to the traffic lights.
On the corner on the right at 505 Amsterdamseweg is the good value Van der Valk Hotel West End with typical Dutch food. Tel: + (0) 26 4821614
Turn right. You are now on the Upper Route. Continue along Amsterdamseweg to the Leeren Doedel restaurant on the right. Park.
During the battle the Leeren Doedel, now the Pinoccio Pizzeria Tel: + (0)26 3332344, was at the top end of a German blocking line that ran south astride Dreijenseweg to Utrechtseweg (Sketch Map 4). It began forming on Sunday afternoon under the command of SS Lieutenant-Colonel Spindler, who collected together various small groups of the 9th SS. After withdrawing from the Wolfheze area on the night of the 17th Krafft’s force also established themselves here under Spindler, forming the top hinge of the line. Krafft’s rapid reactions on the first day had stopped 3rd Para and forced 1st Para to divert, now Spindler’s force would prevent any further reinforcement of 2nd Para at The Bridge. The next evening the KOSB were held up, having moved up from the Johannahoeve farm area, and on the third day (Tuesday 19 September) the advance of 10th Battalion and an attack by 156th Battalion of 4th Parachute Brigade were unable to cross the line. The effect of Spindler’s force was to turn 1st AB south into the conflict around the St Elisabeth Hospital and thence back into The Perimeter. This crossroads is effectively the closest 1st AB got to Arnhem along the Upper Route. The building was the HQ of Kampfgruppe Spindler.
On the wall of the terrace extension is a Plaque which translates, ‘Destroyed 26 September 1944 [it was actually the 21st].’ The destruction was mainly by RAF Typhoons. The restaurant had been built to a high standard in 1939 and its destruction also caused the death of the owner. The building was full of the dead and wounded. Understandably his son felt very bitter about the Allied intervention, with its tragic consequences for his family. Rebuilding began by KL van Toor on 20 July 1955.
From the car park walk down Dreijenseweg to the junction with Sportlaan.
In the woods to the right can be found traces of September 1944 foxholes and slit trenches where desperate hand-to-hand fighting took place.
N.B. These are historic remnants of the battle and should not under any circumstances be climbed into or walked upon. That they still remain is some sort of miracle and they should be preserved for future generations. It is to be hoped that they will soon be protected so that the military historian can see them without damaging them.
Return to your car, turn round and return to the traffic lights and pick up the main itinerary as it turns right and you turn left.
Turn right and continue towards Wolfheze.
On the right, as the wooded area stops, was LZ S for 1st Airlanding Brigade. It was here that the 1st Border Regiment, the 7th KOSB and the 2nd South Staffords landed, together with a platoon of 9th Field Company RE and 181st Airlanding Field Ambulance. Their prime function was to protect the landing zones for the second lift and to establish road blocks on the access roads from the west. They were not involved in the first day’s push into Arnhem. Roughly in the middle of LZ S is the area of Reijerskamp Farm where Flight Lieutenant David Lord VC (qv) crashed in his Dakota KG374. The machine had flown to Arnhem on 18 September, successfully releasing its Horsa, despite heavy flak. On 19 September it was flying a supply drop mission. Some 7 miles from the target the plane was hit, but Lord decided to carry on with his mission. When he was forced to give the order to bale out, the one survivor, Harry King (qv), was thrown clear of the plane. The other crew members, Pilot Officer Richard Medhurst (son of Air Vice-Marshal Charles Medhurst) and Flying Officer Alec Ballantyne (the wireless operator), plus the four Air Despatchers, who were described as ‘magnificent’ - Corporal Philip Nixon (qv), Driver Len Harper (qv), Driver James Ricketts (qv) and Driver Arthur Rowbotham (qv) - were all killed. (See Arnhem-Oosterbeek CWGC Cemetery entry.)
To the left the radio and television tower at Den Brink is visible. It is on high ground from which the Germans fired on the 2nd Battalion as it made its way to The Bridge.
To the right is Duitsekampweg (30.9 kms/19.3 miles), so called because there was a WW1 Camp for German internees here 1917-1919 - Holland was then a neutral country. On 17 September probably the first Dressing Station was set up in Nos 8, 9 and 11 along this road by 181st Airlanding Field Ambulance where casualties from the landings were quickly treated. A fierce battle soon raged around the temporary medical facility and on the 18th they moved across the railway line to the mental hospital (qv). On the 19th there were so many casualties that the Schoonoord (qv) and Vreewijk Hotel in Oosterbeek and the Paasberg School were also taken over.
Continue towards the railway.
• Extra Visit to The Culvert (Map 2/13). Round trip: 1.3 kms/.8 miles. Approximate time: 15 minutes
Just before the railway, turn left along Johannahoeveweg. After some 200m as the road turns left to Sara Mansveltweg continue straight ahead on the unmade track.
N.B. In the winter this narrow road becomes very muddy and is only safely negotiable with 4-wheel drive. It may be safer to leave one’s vehicle here and continue on foot.
Continue, pass the sign to the Johannahoeve Estate, to the track to the right leading through a culvert.
The Culvert under the Railway. On 17 September part of Major Freddie Gough’s Recce Squadron and a troop of REs came up this track as far as the culvert. Their coup de main task was to motor by the shortest route possible to The Bridge to remove any demolition charges and to hold it until reinforced. After a successful rendezvous after landing on LZ Z, (see the Holt’s Map - you can drive through LZ Z on an Extra Visit) 23-year old Lieutenant Peter Bucknall’s two jeeps of C Troop were to lead the dash to The Bridge. As his own jeep (which contained their wireless) had not arrived, Bucknall roared off in the direction of Wolfheze in what should have been the second jeep, followed a few minutes later by his own jeep.
When the latter crossed the railway line at Wolfheze and turned along this track they came under fire from the railway embankment. Lance-Sergeant Thomas McGregor was killed and most of the other passengers were wounded. They continued a desperate shooting match with the Germans until, finally waving a white cloth, they were taken prisoner. Later that day Bucknall’s jeep was discovered, the occupants all having been shot in the back and scorched by flame-thrower. The remainder of C Troop, led by their OC, Captain John Hay, were beaten back by the strength of the Krafft (qv) battalion’s blocking line which straddled the railway line and extended to beyond the Hotel Wolfheze (qv). The ‘Recce’ Squadron made no further attempts to continue the dash for The Bridge despite the fact that, contrary to many early reports that none of their jeeps had arrived, they had several vehicles available. Most of C Troop’s dead from the unhappy engagement were buried in the field next to No. 9 Duitsekampweg, near the dressing station that had been set up there.
Lieutenant Bucknall, Troopers Ronald Brumwell, William Edmond, Edward Gorringe (originally listed as missing until identified in 1987), Leslie Goulding and Lance Sergeant McGregor were re-interred together in the Arnhem-Oosterbeek CWGC Cemetery [16.B. 5,6,7,8,9 and 10.].
The culvert was constructed for water drainage purposes, not intended as a roadway, but on 19 September it was used as such by much of the 4th Para Brigade transport because the railway crossing at Wolfheze was under German control. Major E.J.M. Perkins who commanded 4 Para Squadron RE recalled that/By this time many of the jeeps were carrying stretcher cases and there was only just sufficient headroom to allow such vehicles to pass through at a very slow speed.’ Try walking through the culvert - it is very atmospheric.
Turn round and start back towards the junction.
The Culvert, Wolfheze
According to Middlebrook, there was a small line of trees here which on 18 September Captain Lionel Queripel (qv), the 2i/c of A Company, 10th Para Battalion, was tasked to hold. After battling to hold on all night, the position was overwhelmed the next morning, Queripel sending his remaining men off whilst he, although badly wounded, hung on, armed with his pistol and a few grenades.He was never seen alive again and is buried in the Arnhem-Oosterbeek CWGC Cemetery [5.D.8.J. Captain Queripel was awarded a posthumousVC (qv) for his outstanding gallantry.Other witnesses place his scene of gallantry nearer the Leeren Doedel (qv). Sadly all witnesses are now dead.
Return to the junction with Wolfhezerweg and turn left, picking up the main itinerary.
It was in the Wolfheze railway area that David Dobie’s 1st Para Battalion, en route from their drop zone, met elements of Gough’s Recce Squadron who told them that there were German armoured vehicles ahead. Dobie had arrived here having taken the small road that runs alongside and south of the railway from DZ X and intended to cross the railway and continue along the track that is the subject of the ExtraVisit above. Having heard that news, he decided to head north, back up the road down which you have driven, and hence met, and was stopped by, the Germans at the junction with the Upper Route.
Cross the railway line.
To the right, after roughly 0.6 miles (1 km), the railway runs between LZ S in the north and DZ X and LZ Z in the south (see the Holt’s’ Map). Major-General Urquhart landed on Z on the first day and immediately set about trying to co-ordinate the battle.
One of the most important factors in the achievement of success on the battlefield is that of communication, the ability to control one’s forces to meet changing circumstances. During the Arnhem part of MARKET-GARDEN radio communications were very poor. It was due to this failure of the radios that General Urquhart went searching for the scattered parts of his command. Lewis Golden, who was adjutant of the 1st Airborne Signals Regiment who fought with the Division, believes (see his memoirs, Echoes from Arnhem) that the General himself may have precipitated the circumstances that led to his inability to communicate by radio with his brigadiers. The radio system by which units communicate is called a ‘net’, each net operating on a different frequency. One designed for command purposes, such as this, is a ‘Command Net’. When Urquhart landed he was told that the jeeps of the Recce Squadron commanded by Major Freddy Gough had not arrived (this was not true - see above) and that therefore it would not be possible to carry out the coup de main attack on The Bridge. He then set off in his jeep to visit 1st Parachute Brigade and told his radio operator to contact Gough so that they could devise another plan. However, Gough’s radio was not working on the same frequency (net) as that of the General. In order to try to find Gough’s frequency the operator had to detune from the Command Net and search the airwaves, thus making it impossible for the General to communicate with his HQ. The mistakes in the use of the radios were compounded as the days went on, including the expectation that they would work from moving vehicles which, generally, they would not. Many different reasons have been advanced for the failure of the radios, from lack of preparation by the signallers themselves, to the use of the wrong crystals and wrong frequencies. Three things peculiar to the area of operations were probably to blame - the number of trees, the dampness of the ground and the presence of ferrous materials in the sandy soil which affected the ranges over which the radios could operate. However, there can be little doubt that in the same way that the presence of German armour was ignored by the High Command when deciding to go ahead with MARKET-GARDEN, the inadequacy of the radios was also known beforehand. Some weeks before, Captain Bill Marquand, who commanded 1st Para Brigade Signal Section, had carried out an exercise at Grimsby to test the Brigade signals equipment and, according to Lewis Golden, ‘it proved inadequate’. There were also other reasons:-
A PERSONAL OPINION
By Major-General John Frost as recounted to the authors
There may be a time when because of postponements the batteries begin to run down. If that takes place you start off with a set which isn’t working 100%. As the aircraft comes into land, be it a glider or you come in by parachute, the set takes a pretty hefty bang which very often is enough to put the thing out of tune. So you’ve got quite a lot of difficulties before you even start an airborne operation.
To the left is Wolfheze Station. After the battle, and as a result of the railway strike (qv), the Germans put personnel on all local trains, stopping the transportation of food from east to west. A purpose-built railway line led from here to the airfield at Deelen and the Diogenes Command Bunker (qv).
Next to the station is the Restaurant Het Wolvenbosch. Tel: + (0) 26 4821202, a favourite meeting place for many years of the KOSB when they returned to Arnhem.
• Extra Visits to 3rd Para Battalion Memorial Seat, Klein Amerika (Map 2/5)/Heelsum Airborne Memorial & Seat (Map2-6/7)/Westerbouwing Viewpoint & Dorset Plaques (Map*2-27/28)/Section of 2nd Para Battalion Route. Trip from Wolfheze to Utrechtseweg: 12.5 kms/7.8 miles. Approximate time: 45 minutes
N.B. This Extra Visit rejoins the main itinerary at the Koude Herberg Crossroads, omitting the next two main stops.
Immediately turn right along Parallelweg, running beside the railway line. Take the first small road to the left, immediately after the Van Beeck Calkoen School direction Boshoeve (.8 kms/.5 miles).
This road marks the extreme north-eastern edge of LZ Z. N.B. It can be extremely muddy and slippery.
Continue on this small track past the Psychiatric Institute on the left.
Eighty-five civilians were killed in the bombing of the Wolfheze area during one morning alone. The heavy bombing had been approved by Urquhart because it was thought that there were Germans in the Asylum which was very close to LZ Z. The bombing was done by the Americans who had asked for a personal assurance from the General that it was what he wanted. Perhaps they were mindful of the controversy that had followed the bombing of the Abbey at Monte Cassino in February 1944. It was here that white-clothed patients from the asylum were seen wandering by Urquhart just after landing on 17 September - ‘They were all smiles and full of greetings and some just stared… . They looked none the worse for their experience and did not interfere’, he wrote in his memoirs.
Continue to the first T-junction and turn left, continuing past the Boshoeve Farm on the bend.
You are now travelling through the area where Lieutenant-Colonel Dobie’s 1st Para Battalion came down on 17 September. They then moved off (back the way that you came) to the Wolfheze railway crossing.
Continue to the Renkumsheide Farm and turn left (2.6 kms/1.6 miles) passing Jonkershoeve on the right.
You have DZ X and LZ X on your right and LZ Z on your left.
Continue to the Klein Amerikaweg junction and park by the tree on the right (3.4 kms/2.1 miles).
On the left is a house on the site of the farm that was there in 1944. The area was known as Klein Amerika because of the modern US farming methods that were pioneered here. This area was the RV of Lieutenant-Colonel Fitch’s 3rd Battalion. Lieutenant-Colonel Frost’s 2nd Battalion had their rendezvous at the southern edge of LZ Z by the Hotel Klein Zwitzerland (qv). Each battalion moved off eastwards towards the Middle (TIGER) and Lower (LION) Routes respectively.
Walk up the path ahead to the bench.
3rd Para Battalion Memorial Seat/OP
The idea of veteran Len Wright, the seat was presented by the Battalion, in memory of their fallen comrades, to the inhabitants of Renkum, in gratitude for their courage and undaunted support during the Battle of Arnhem, September 1944. Sadly, in July 2000 the English plaque was missing.
With one’s back to the bench, take the path as 12 o’clock. At 3 o’clock the Den Brink radio and TV tower can be seen. To a first approximation that is the direction in which the 2nd and 3rd Battalions headed.
Return to the car. Follow the road to the right signed to Klein Amerika and continue into Renkum, passing Airborne Weg to the right. Turn left at the crossroads onto Bennekomseweg into Heelsum and continue to the memorial to the right at the ‘P’ for parking sign.
The small road opposite leads to Klein Zwitzerland where the 2nd Battalion had its RV and the Battalion moved down this way to the Lower Route. The itinerary from here follows the route taken by the Battalion to Oosterbeek.
Heelsum Airborne Memorial and Seat (5.4 kms/3.4 miles)
Erected by local inhabitants in 1945, this highly imaginative memorial, surmounted by a winged Pegasus and made up of battlefield remnants, was moved from its first site nearby when the motorway was built and turned round so that it could be seen from the new road. Sadly many of its original components - parachute containers, shell cases, helmets etc - have been stolen and have been replaced with substitutes. In 1994 it was restored and new plaques and explanatory diagrams were added. A modified 6- pounder gun still forms part of the memorial. The inscription reads, ‘Heelsum. In this place landed 1st AB Division on 17 September 1944 at 1 o’clock.’ The time referred to is the local Dutch time which was one hour behind the time used by the landing forces.
Beside the memorial is a Seat donated to the Rotary Club of Oosterbeek on their 40th Anniversary by the Rotary Club of Downham Market and Shanklin, IoW (twinned with Oosterbeek) on 14 September 1991.
N.B. By turning right through 180° to go along Utrechtseweg direction Renkum, continuing through Heelsum and into Renkum and then turning right just past the garage on the right into Groeneweg (1.9 kms/1.2 miles), Renkum RC Cemetery may be visited. The cemetery is then on the right. There is a CWGC sign by the gate. It contains, amongst others, the grave of Serjeant James Gibbons, 156th Para, age 25, 20 September 1944 (4.2 kms/2.6 miles round trip).
From the Memorial turn right and left under the motorway signed Arnhem, first right at the T-junction onto Doorthwerthsestraat and then left.
Heelsum Airborne Memorial
On the left are the typical small wire fences which in September 1944 badly hampered the heavily laden AB troops.You are now driving along Frost’s exact route.
Continue on Roggekamp, signed Oosterbeek/Arnhem, to the crossroads, continue following Doorgaand Verkeer signs under the motorway and bear left, still on Roggecamp.
Frost probably met his first opposition here. There was some fighting among the trees and German prisoners were taken en route to Doorwerth, which in 1944 only contained some twenty-five houses.
Continue on W. A. Scholtenlaan through the new housing development to the crossroads with Italiaanseweg. Continue.
To the right is the village of Heveadorp which, as it contained the only houses in the area untouched by the battle, was used at the beginning of the film Theirs is the Glory.
Continue to the T-junction and turn right on Oude Oosterbeekseweg. Continue to the next T-junction and turn right on Van der Molenallee towards Westerbouwing and immediately right into the Restaurant car park.
Westerbouwing Restaurant/Dorsets Plaque/Seat (10.9 kms/6.8 miles) RWC/OP Tel: + (0) 26 3332019. Closed during the week in the winter, it makes an ideal venue for a lunch break on the battlefield tour. There is a small scenic chairlift which may or may not be working. Note the tall tower which is visible from the Royal Engineers Memorial on the south bank and provides an excellent reference point. The terrace has a marvellous view over the river and as far as Nijmegen on a clear day. Two major attempts were made to get reinforcements across the river, one by the Poles into The Perimeter on the night of the 22nd and one to here by the 4th Dorsets on the night of the 24th. Oddly, Horrocks had that morning made the decision to evacuate 1st Airborne so it is valid to ask why the Dorsets were sent across. In his 43rd Wessex Division at War, Major-General H. Essame (then commanding 214th Infantry Brigade) wrote, ‘It was considered essential to get a firmer grip on the far side in order to enable them to be withdrawn.’ It sounds bafflingly similar to Sir Douglas Haig’s logic for the carnage of the Passchendaele offensive, ‘to be in a better positon to start the new year.’
Plaque to 4th/5th Dorsets, Westerbouwing
Even if the ‘firmer grip’ made military sense, the choice of Westerbouwing as a destination must be questioned. The Germans had been in and around here for at least two days. Essame continues,
The site selected for the crossing was the ferry at the western end of The Perimeter…. It was overlooked by the enemy on the high ground on the far side [essentially where you now are]… incessant mortar and machine gun fire made movement in daylight… between Driel and the river bank impossible.
The attack, therefore, was scheduled for 2200 hours, with a planned simultaneous crossing by the Poles into The Perimeter. The transport bringing up some of the assault boats took a wrong turning and drove into enemy lines at Elst and two more lorries slid off the road leaving insufficient boats for both crossings. Accordingly the Poles’ crossing was cancelled. The Dorsets had to carry their boats some 600 yards down to the river while under mortar and machine-gun fire and did not set off until 0100 hours, a time of strong current. One boat was hit by mortar fire and others swept away by the current, but eventually elements of four rifle companies landed below the Westerbouwing heights under fire and were plunged into close-quarter fighting. They fought their way up the slope in front of you, led by their Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel G. Tilly in a bayonet charge, though in the end his party had to surrender. A small group did get through to the Hartenstein but the night’s enterprise cost the battalion thirteen officers and two hundred men.
On the exterior wall of the restaurant is a Plaque to the Dorsets to commemorate the actions of the 4th and 5th Battalions (the 5th provided fire support for the crossing) between 24-26 September 1944. Up a small path is a Commemorative Seat to the Dorsets and the British flag flies above it.
On 16 September 1994, as part of the 50th Anniversary, the Dorset Regiment made a commemorative crossing in four boats.
Turn left out of the car park and right at the T-junction signed to the Hartenstein Museum into Oosterbeek.
Immediately to the left in the woods, in one of the ironies of war, a British soldier’s body was found after the war with seven spoons, perhaps from the restaurant, in his pocket.
Take the first left signed Wolfheze/Airborne Museum. Continue to the junction with Utrechtseweg on Van Brosselenweg.
N.B. The Kussin Crossroads (see below) is some 650m to the left.
Turn right to rejoin the main itinerary on Utrechtseweg following signs to Oosterbeek.
Continue 100m to the memorial on the right and stop.
• 1st (BR) AB Memorial Seat/31.2 kms/19.5 miles/5 minutes/Map 2/16
The semicircular brick structure includes a wooden seat and in the centre is a plaque, bearing the Pegasus insignia with the inscription, in English and Dutch,
In memory of the units of the 1st British Airborne Division and of the 1st Polish Independent Para Brigade which landed in the vicinity on 17, 18 and 19 September 1944. From here they advanced in the direction of Arnhem to seize the road bridge as part of Operation MARKET-GARDEN. This Battle of Arnhem lasted from 17-26 September 1944.
• Extra Visit to Wolfheze Psychiatric Institute Cemetery/Memorials (Map 2-14/15). Round trip: 1.9 kms/1.2 miles. Approximate time: 15 minutes
Take the road called Plein 1t/m6, and at the T-junction turn left into the grounds of the Gelderse Roos Psychiatric Institution.
There has been much recent modernization of the Institute where patients live in pleasant, open-policy accommodation, but there are still some original 1944 buildings in existence. It is on the north-east corner of LZ Z.
Continue to the large notice board opposite the Church and continue following signs to Mortuarium and Begraafplaats. The cemetery is behind the Mortuarium.
This dates from c1900 and is still open for burials. In it is an impressive Memorial to the staff and mental patients who ‘fell during the birth of Liberation’ (mainly during the bombing). Their names, including the Hendriks father and son, are inscribed around the edge of the memorial. There are also headstones to Jan Schiedam and Geurt Answik, shot by the Germans in the grounds on 19 September 1944.
Return to the AB Seat following Uitgang signs and pick up the main itinerary.
Continue on Wolfhezerweg, the N783, over the motorway.
Some of the trees along the road at the exits to houses bear white bands which are reminiscent of those used during the blackout to help navigation. The tops of iron railings in the area were also painted white. The HQ of SS Pz Grenadier Depot and Reserve Battalion 16 under Sturmbannführer Sepp Krafft was in the old Hotel Wolfheze, now the modern Bilderberg Hotel Wolfheze (Tel: + (0) 26 3337852), whose entrance is passed on the left (32.6 kms/20.4 miles). When the landings began the unit was carrying out exercises in the woods and Krafft immediately sent one company towards the landing zones and placed another in defensive positions around here. The first company reached LZ Z and after brief bursts of machine-gun fire fell back here. Krafft rapidly decided that the Arnhem road bridge was the target and used his troops to form a blocking line on the east of, and parallel to, the road along which you are driving, stretching from Utrechtseweg almost to Wolfheze station. He sent one platoon into the woods just north of the station and it was this force that halted 1st Recce Squadron on its drive into Arnhem. While issuing his orders Krafft was visited by General Kussin, the town commander of Arnhem, who promised reinforcements and set off back to Arnhem down this road, although advised by Krafft not to do so. It was a fatal mistake as you will see. Heavy fighting continued until dark, Krafft’s rapid reactions playing a major part in preventing 1st and 3rd Para from reaching Arnhem. That evening Krafft withdrew to join up with the forces at Dreijenseweg (Sketch Map 4). In October 1944, after the fighting was over, Krafft completed his war diary and sent a copy to Heinrich Himmler on his birthday who replied, ‘My Dear Krafft, Sincere thanks for your birthday wishes. Heil Hitler! Congratulations on the Arnhem operation. Sincere greetings to you and your men.’ The diary is a model of military writing that any graduate of an army staff college would be proud of and showed respect for the conduct and resistance of the British troops, yet it also displayed Krafft’s inability to understand the British sense of humour. He reported, ‘Inscriptions on the gliders are interesting: ‘We are the Al Capone Gang: Up with the reds: Up with the frauleins ‘skirts.’ How far this is connected with the political convictions of the troops themselves or whether it is due to Bolshevist or American influences is not known.’
Continue to the T-junction with the N225.
1st (BR) AB Memorial Seat and detail, Wolfheze
Wolfheze Psychiatric Institute Memorial and Graves in Cemetery
• The Kussin Crossroads/33.3 kms/20.8 miles/Map 2/18
It was here that General Kussin (speeding down the way you have just come) after his meeting with Krafft bumped into a leading platoon of 3rd Para led by Captain Jimmy Cleminson that was coming up from the right along the Middle Route. Kussin’s driver, Max Koester, stopped and tried to reverse, but everyone in the car was then killed. [The famous photograph of the dead General in his car was used in the film Theirs is the Glory (qv).] Although usually referred to as a ‘crossroads’, this is more accurately described as a T-junction and will soon become a roundabout.
Turn left
To the left is the entrance to the 4-star Hotel de Bilderberg Tel: + (0) 26 3649849.
Continue on Utrechtseweg to the roundabout (34.2 kms/21.4miles).
Known as the Koude Herberg Crossroads in September 1944 because of the inn of the same name that stood on the left corner with Valkenburglaan, this was at the western extremity of The Perimeter. Late on 19 September 17 and 18 Platoons of C Company of the 1st Borders occupied the area. They were supported by 6-pounder guns named after the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign - ‘Hellespont’ and ‘Scimitar Hill’ - and suffered repeated attacks. As the battle moved to the junction with Van Lennepweg, Sergeants Lewis, Smith and Walker of the Army Film Unit filmed another gun - ‘Gallipoli’ - knocking out a German self-propelled gun. It was among the few seconds of original film to survive. During the filming the most famous still picture of the Arnhem Battle - of Private Ron (‘Ginger’) Tierney firing a mortar - was taken. Veterans returning in 1946 found the original mortar tube. When they returned in 1993 the mortar pit was still discernable at the edge of the woodland to the south of Van Lennepweg, the next turning to the right.
• Extra Visit to Airborne Commemorative Marker No 4, The Hollow (Map 3/1) Round trip: 1 km/.6 miles. Approximate time: 10 minutes.
Turn left up Valkenburglaan to the riding stables on the right. At the edge of the road opposite is
Airborne Commemorative Marker No 4
Some 200 yards to the north is the area where the dwindling 4th Brigade was surrounded, under heavy enemy fire. Brigadier Shan Hackett just managed to roar out of the inferno in a clearing with a wounded man in his jeep as flames from a burning jeep engulfed the area. That wounded man was Lieutenant-Colonel Derick Heathcoat Amory, who went on to become Chancellor of the Exchequer and Viscount Amory. Desperate hand-to-hand fighting ensued and Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Richard des Voeux, CO of 156th Battalion, Major Ritson, his 2i/c, and the Brigade Major Dawson were all killed shortly before this battle [they are buried in the Oosterbeek CWGC Cemetery]. Hackett decided to press on southwards and called to Major Geoffrey Powell [later to become an accomplished author, including The Devil’s Birthday, an excellent account of the Operation] to gather his men together. They made for the hollow behind this pillar, cleared it of the Germans who held it and formed a defensive perimeter around it. It was held by some 150 men of 156th Battalion with only the ammunition they carried and no food or water. They saw off repeated attacks until annihilation stared them in the face. At 1700 hours Hackett called the remaining officers and NCOs together at the lip of the hollow and outlined his simple plan: to break out suddenly under smoke grenades and covering fire, leaving the wounded behind.
The wild rush of filthy, bloodied men, many carrying German weapons, burst into the orderly positions of A Coy of the Borders within The Perimeter where they received some well-earned food, water and sleep. The Brigadier then reported to Divisional HQ in the Hartenstein.
Return to Utrechtseweg and rejoin the main itinerary.
Airborne Commemorative Marker No 4
Continue along Utrechtseweg to the right turn to Hoofdlaan.
• Extra Visit to 1st Border Positions on The Perimeter Round trip: 1 km/.6 miles. Approximate time: 10 minutes.
Turn right on Hoofdlaan, with the park below the Hartenstein to the left and turn next right on Van Lennepweg. Continue to the bend in the road with a path to the left and stop.
In this area C company of the 1st Borders established their RAP and held off repeated German attacks from their arrival late on 19 September, when they set up their HQ in House No 3Van Lennepweg, until the night of 25th/26th. In 1993 the bodies of Privates Ernest Ager and Douglas Lowery (both listed in the Battalion Roll of Honour as killed on 24 September) were found here in a slit trench in a garden. In 1997 the body of Corporal Froud (listed as killed on 21 September) was also found nearby. All three were reburied in the Arnhem-Oosterbeek Cemetery (qv). There were also many German cartridges (the Regimental diary records that ‘at times we fired more German ammo than British’), phosphorus bombs and British spoons. Alan Green in his book 1st Battalion The Border Regiment - ARNHEM 1944 adds a postscript which records that setting out for the Operation the Battalion had a strength of forty-one Officers and 754 Other Ranks. When the Roll was called in Nijmegen on 26 September nine Officers and 241 Other Ranks answered their names. Green maintains that ‘the proportion of those killed and wounded was higher in the 1st Battalion, the Border Regiment, than in any other Battalion in the Division.’
Return to the junction
Hoofdlaan to the right winds down to Benedendorpsweg.
Return to Utrechtseweg, turn right and rejoin the main Itinerary.
Continue to the Hartenstein Museum on the right. Drive past the museum and turn right following signs into the car park. Walk to the museum.
On the right is the attractive Brasserie Kleyn Hartensteyn. Tel: + (0) 26 3342121 with typical Dutch food. In September 1944 this was the coach house of the Hartenstein estate (after the war it became the Fire Station) and the building was used to collect the wounded before the evacuation to Apeldoorn.
Continue towards the museum. On the left is
• Memorial to the People of Gelderland/Map 3/5
The inscription on this handsome memorial, erected by airborne veterans, which bears the Pegasus insignia and Gelderland coat of arms, reads,
50 years ago British and Polish Airborne soldiers fought here against overwhelming odds to open the way into Germany and bring the war to an early end. Instead we brought death and destruction for which you have never blamed us. This stone marks our admiration for your great courage, remembering especially the women who tended our wounded. In the long winter that followed your families risked death by hiding Allied soldiers and airmen while members of the Resistance helped many to safety.
You took us then into your homes as fugitives and friends. We took you forever into our hearts. This strong bond will continue long after we are all gone.
1944 September 1994.’
It beautifully summarizes the special relationship which still exists between veterans and the local populace. Let us hope that it will continue through forthcoming generations.
Continue to the Museum entrance.
En route are anti-tank guns from the battle and a Sherman Tank used during the Liberation of Arnhem in April 1945. To the left are pleasant gardens, beyond which is the site of the tennis court. In here some 200 German POWs were penned and given tools to dig themselves in for protection from their own fire. In this area the Public Relations Unit also sheltered, including the Canadian BBC correspondent Stanley Maxted, who came to be regarded as the Voice of Arnhem, and Alan Wood of the Daily Express. They sent their immortal reports to be relayed by the BBC and printed in the national papers, letting the world know about the heroic stand at Arnhem-Oosterbeek. The Film Unit and photographers also operated from here.
• Hartenstein Airborne Museum, Oosterbeek/35.4 kms/22.1 miles/1 hour RWC/Map 3/4
This museum is undoubtedly at the heart of the conflict universally known as the Arnhem Battle, but which in reality is the Battle of Oosterbeek. For veterans, faithfully returning to the area year after year, it is, with the Cemetery, the focal point of their pilgrimage and many have donated documents, photographs, personal accounts and artefacts to enhance what has become a unique collection.
The Hartenstein, meaning ‘Deer Place’, was often wrongly spelt as ‘Hartestein’ on Dutch 1930s maps and in contemporary accounts (much as ‘Pointe du Hoc’ in Normandy was repeatedly called ‘Pointe du Hoe’ on contemporary maps). It is often seen as ‘Hartestein’ during the film Theirs is the Glory (qv). Indeed there is still a small sign towards the car park and tennis courts that says ‘Hartestein’. Until 1942, when requisitioned by the Germans, it had been an elegant hotel. They abandoned it, still in excellent condition, in the panic of the news of the first landings on 17 September.
Here at the top centre of The Perimeter was the Divisional Headquarters of General Urquhart, Commander of the 1st Airborne Division. It was set up on a ‘temporary’ basis on Monday 18 September when it became clear that the planned HQ in the barracks in Arnhem would not be reached. A temporary Maintenance Area was also set up in the park and by late that evening Lieutenant Randall, the MO of HQ RA, had set up an RAP. Soon the cellar would be full of the wounded. In the absence of General Urquhart (who had taken off by jeep towards the St Elisabeth Hospital (qv)) command had been taken over by Brigadier ‘Pip’ Hicks, CO of 1st Airlanding Brigade. He was visited by Brigadier ‘Shan’ Hackett, CO of 4th Para Brigade, and there was some well-documented dissension between the two brigadiers as to who should assume command. Urquhart returned from his adventures on Tuesday 19 September and in an attempt to get a grip on the situation despatched Colonel Hilary Barlow (often mis-spelt as ‘Hilaro’ and listed by the CWGC as ‘Hilard’), the 2i/c of 1st Airlanding Brigade, to take control of the Arnhem section of the battle that the General had just left. As John Frost put it in Nearly There/Poor Colonel Hilary Barlow simply disappeared’. News of reverses was pouring in to HQ and by late afternoon of Wednesday 20 September The Perimeter had more or less taken shape around the Hartenstein (Sketch Map 5).
Hartenstein Airborne Museum: 1. People of Gelderland Memorial
2. The entrance
3. Diorama of Gen Urquhart’s command post
4. Diorama of 3″ mortar foxhole
On Sunday 24 September the Germans, in a somewhat pathetic attempt at psychological warfare, wafted broadcasts over the area and the strains of Glenn Miller, appeals to surrender and other taunts were only met by derisory bursts of fire. It was to here that Brigadier Hackett managed to drag himself that evening after being wounded in the stomach and leg at The Crossroads (qv) some 100 yards away. Drowsy with morphine and unaware of the seriousness of his wounds, he was visited by Urquhart, ADMS Colonel Graeme Warrack (qv) and Padre Harlow. He was then taken by jeep to the St Elisabeth hospital as part of the negotiated truce with the Germans (qv).
By the time the fateful decision to go ahead with Operation BERLIN, the Evacuation, had been taken on Monday 25 September, the Hartenstein had again filled with the wounded. In the once beautiful grounds slit trenches full of desperate, weary and hungry men with little ammunition were interspersed with more wounded and the unburied dead. A dreadful stench hung over all. The men had watched the brave but abortive efforts to resupply them by air fail, often ending in the death of the determined aircrews. The shrinking Perimeter was riddled with gaps that could no longer be plugged and metal poured into it from the German guns on all three sides. Yet the men in it held on with a tenacity born of desperation as their comrades fell around them. All hopes of relief by XXX Corps, in whom they had started with so much confidence, faded. It was time to salvage what remained of this gallant band.
Many graphic pictures of the grounds and the Hotel in the successive days of the battle can be seen in the Museum.
The Airborne Museum was originally founded in 1949 and occupied part of Doorwerth Castle. Then the ideal home was found here for the collection and an expanded museum was reopened on 11 May 1978 by General Urquhart. As well as the fascinating exhibits, there is a large model of The Perimeter with a spoken commentary in several languages and, in the basement, lifelike, historically accurate dioramas with sound effects. An impressive new addition is the Colours of the 10th Battalion, Para Regiment. They are housed in a large glass case (which was a challenge to erect) just to the right of the first exhibition hall as one enters the museum. The caption reads,
This is the final resting place of the Battalion’s last Colours, entrusted to the Dutch Community who stood with the Battalion during its darkest, yet finest, hour. These Colours were laid up here on 18 September 1999.
The museum houses important archives and an extremely well-stocked souvenir and bookshop with prices that are internationally attractive (available by mail order as well). There is also a refreshment area and toilets, and the museum is set in attractively landscaped grounds. The knowledgeable staff of the museum are dedicated to preserving the memory of the events of September 1944. There is an active Society of Friends of the Airborne Museum. Battlefield Tours can be arranged for military groups (with their own coach and with prior booking) in four languages. Civilian tours can be arranged with the VVV (qv). A walking tour from the Museum, with explanatory markers, was set up in 2001.
Airborne Museum Hartenstein, Utrechtseweg 232, 6862 AZ Oosterbeek, Netherlands. Tel: (0) 26 3337710. Fax: (0) 26 3391785.
e-mail: info@airbornemuseum.com Website www.airbornemuseum.com.
Open: Weekdays: 1 April -1 November 1000-1700.1 November -1 April 1100-1700. Sundays and Public Holidays: 1200-1700. Closed Christmas and New Year’s Day. Admission fee payable, though Arnhem Veterans are, of course, free of charge.
The Airlift Trust. In February 2001 fundraising began for the worthwhile project of installing facilities for the disabled and the blind in the museum, notably with a state of the art transparent lift column. Donations can be made to Stichting Airlift Oosterbeek. Bank a/c 38.50.66.473/Giro 85.35.432. website: www.airlift.nl.
• Walking tour from the Museum car park (approximate time: 20 minutes).
Turn left outside the museum on Utrechtseiveg. Almost immediately opposite is
• Airborne Monument/Map 3/3
The foundation stone of the monument, designed by Jacob (‘Jac’) Maris (qv), was laid in September 1945 by General Urquhart and the memorial was unveiled by Queen Wilhelmina in September 1946 but not actually completed until September 1947. It was funded by the inhabitants of Oosterbeek and is known locally as ‘the Needle’.
Walk back towards Arnhem to the corner with Stationsweg. In the garden of the large white house is
• Quatre Bras 21st Independent Parachute Company Memorial/Map 3/7
The memorial was unveiled on 21 September 1981. It is dedicated to ‘21st IPC and was designed by Saskia Deurvorst of Oosterbeek. The 21st was commanded by Major B. A. B. ‘Boy’ Wilson who, at the age of 45, was one of the oldest paras in 1st AB Division. The task of Wilson and four officers and 185 men on the first day was to drop 30 minutes ahead of the main force and to mark the three zones, DZ X, LZ Z and LZ S with navigational aids (Eureka beacons and smoke signals) so that they could be readily located. It was done impeccably. As The Perimeter shrank during the battle, they moved into this area.
On the opposite corner of Stationsweg was the Hotel Vreewijk (Map 3/8), also used as a medical facility.
Continue along Utrechtseiveg, past the Lunchroom Oosterbeek, Tel: + (0) 26 3390716, which is ideal for a quick lunch snack. Adjoining it is
• VVV Oosterbeek
Raadhuisplein 1,6861 GT Oosterbeek. Tel: + (0) 26 3333172. Here one can obtain local tourist information, town plans, literature about MARKET-GARDEN and book battlefield tours etc.
Cross over the road.
At No.102 (opposite the petrol station) is the welcoming Baker’s Inn pub. It specialises in UK fare, like ploughman’s lunch, and caters for veterans’ gatherings with typical English teas. Tel: + (0) 26 3338467.
On the corner of Weverstraat with Utrechtseweg is an original red GPO telephone box, presented on 16 September 1994 by the Arnhem Veterans’ Club.
Continue to No 192 Utrechtseweg.
2. 21st Indep Para Coy Mem, Quatre Bras
3. Airborne Commemorative Marker No 2
4. Painting by veteran Reg Curtis in the Schoonoord
5. The Tafelberg
6. 21st Indep Para Coy Vase, Paasberg
• Airborne Commemorative Marker No 2/Map 3/11
This is sited in what used to be the Pastor’s garden. The legend reads, ‘In houses and gardens about here 10 Parachute Battalion sorely tried in battle since their parachute landing on Ginkel Heath on 18 September ‘44, fought to virtual extinction. On 21 September the remnants of the battalion were withdrawn from The Perimeter defence of the division. The battalion had then no officer left and no more than thirty men.’
Walk back towards the Hartenstein. Continue to junction of Utrechtseweg and Stationsweg.
This was immortalised by the David Shepherd painting and was known as “The Crossroads’ (or the ‘MDS’ - Main Dressing Station - Crossroads).
• The Café Restaurant Schoonoord/RWC/Map 3/10
Tel: + (0) 26 3390716. This is ideal for a lunch-time snack, but gets very busy during the Anniversary period. It has many pictures of the operation, including an original oil painting by Reg Curtis, a veteran of 1 Para, originally donated to the Hartenstein, but as they had no room it found an appropriate home here where Reg was treated during the battle.
By the late evening of 18 September a dressing station was established here. On 20 September the Schoonoord was captured by the Germans. The ADMS, Colonel Graeme M. Warrack of 1st AB, removed his badges of rank and posed as an orderly. During the night 4th Para Brigade pushed The Perimeter out towards Arnhem and briefly recaptured the Schoonoord, but it was soon retaken by the Germans. The next day it became seriously overcrowded with the wounded and other houses in the area were taken over as dressing stations and RAPs. On 23 September the Schoonoord changed hands yet again and the medical situation had become critical. All casualties were then kept in the RAPs and evacuation to dressing stations ceased. On the 24th Colonel Warrack met with General Bittrich and negotiated a ceasefire so that the wounded could be evacuated through the German lines. He was then permitted to visit Lipmann Kessel (qv) at the St Elisabeth Hospital to warn him to expect several hundred casualties. By the time firing resumed at 1700 hours 250 stretcher cases and 200 walking wounded had been evacuated. The next day Colonel Warrack was informed that XXX Corps would not be arriving and that the withdrawal would take place that night. The more seriously wounded would remain behind with all medical staff - 204 medics and Padres in all. On the 26th, as quiet descended on Oosterbeek, Colonel Warrack met with the Germans and the evacuation of the wounded to Apeldoorn began. His next task was to convert the barracks there into a military hospital and do everthing he could to delay the gruelling onward journey into German POW Camps for his patients. When the majority had left, thoughts of escape were uttermost to the remainder. After being told to get ready to leave, Colonel Warrack hid himself in the 3-feet-high, 12-feet-long and 18-inches-wide roof space of his bedroom, with a Red Cross parcel, some bread, bottles of water, blanket, candles and bucket. He emerged after about a week, slipped away and managed to make contact with the same Resistance group that was looking after Lipmann Kessel and Brigadier Hackett. After many adventures they all finally escaped through the treacherous area of the Biesbosch, where the Waal and Maas merged. For his considerable achievements in the campaign Colonel Warrack received the DSO and the MBE.
The area beyond the houses to the right was where German prisoners were held in the Hartenstein tennis courts and the direction you are now taking was that of the withdrawal on the night of 25 September.
Continue to walk to
• The Tafelberg/Airborne Commemorative Marker No1/Map 3-13/14
In September 1944 the Tafelberg was the HQ of Field-Marshal Walther Model, C-in-C of Heeresgruppe B, who was the German equivalent of Field-Marshal Montgomery. He was at lunch when news of the landings at Wolfheze reached him. Thinking that the airborne soldiers were coming to capture him and his HQ, Model left within minutes and the Tafelberg and the Hartenstein were evacuated. Model reached General Wilhelm Bittrich’s HQ (of 2nd SS Panzer Corps) at Doetinchem (20 miles to the east) around 1500 hours, having briefed local commanders en route. Bittrich had already alerted Lieutenant-Colonel Walther Harzer’s 9th SS Hohenstaufen Division and Colonel Heinz Harmel’s 10th SS Frundsberg Division, and elements of both were moving on Arnhem and its approaches. Model phoned Field-Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt at OB West and was promised immediate reinforcements. By midnight Model had issued orders that directed the German reaction against each of the three Allied divisional areas, the maximum effort being concentrated against Arnhem. The following day von Rundstedt signalled to all units that ‘Every town, every village, every bunker is to be defended to the last drop of blood and to the last round.’
This historic building, such a vital part of The Cauldron story, is now at risk. The religious order which occupied it since the war dwindled so significantly that they were forced to wind up and sell the building. It has now been acquired by a builder/developer and local historians/Friends of the Airborne and other organisations are working hard to preserve the distinctive facade and the most memorable features inside. The most emotive area is the section of the stone floor which still bears the bloodstains of the Allied wounded who were brought here for treatment (including Major John Waddy - OC of A Company 156th Para Battalion - who was operated on on the billiard table) and the staircase that was used for the filming of Theirs is the Glory (qv). A dressing station was established here in the evening of 18 September and Captain Michael James of 181st AL Field Ambulance set up an operating facility. By the 21st the Tafelberg was going in and out of German hands, but the medical teams supported by Dutch doctors and nurses continued to treat the wounded until evacuated.
In front of the building is Airborne Commemorative Marker No 1, the original wooden post having been replaced by the new concrete version.
Turn round and turn sharp right along Paasberg. Continue to House No 17.
• 21st Independent Para Coy Memorial/Map 3/12.
This is in the form of a vase (which always contains fresh flowers) in the garden of the house called ‘Monty’. A platoon of 21st Indep Para Coy defended this area in the last four days of the battle. The owner, Han Kardol, was a child of ten years old during the battle and sheltered during it with his family in the cellar.
Return to your car. Return to Utrechtseweg turn right and left at the traffic lights at The Crossroads, following a green CWGC sign along Stationsweg.
No 8 Stationsweg. The 21st Indep Para Coy occupied the houses in Stationsweg nearest to Utrechtseweg on 22 September. In house No 8 was Corporal Rodley, known as ‘Max’, one of the Company’s German Jewish contingent (which was recruited by Major John Lander, the creator of the Unit, in 1942 from refugees from Hitler’s Austria, Germany and Czechoslovakia). Some adopted Scottish names and all their papers were made out in their new names. They were intelligent, fervent and had the advantage of being German speakers. Max Rodley dug a slit trench in the garden and made contact with the friendly occupants of the house, the Kremer family. He posed for some photographs for them, with comrades Sergeant Sonny Binnick (who before the war was a professional ballroom dancing champion and after compered Come Dancing on BBC TV for many years, and who dropped in rank from Company Sergeant Major to Sergeant in order to join the Company), Sergeant Ben Swallow and Private James (‘Paddy’) Cameron (who died of their wounds in Apeldoorn and are buried in the Oosterbeek Cemetery [18.C.16. and 4.]), Private McCausland, Private H. Mitchell and Corporal Jeffries. The group photograph is on display in the Hartenstein Museum (qv). That afternoon Rodley was killed in his trench and buried in the garden.
After the battle the house, like many others in the road, was completely battered, with no glass left in the windows. The Kremers, like other families in the area, had to flee, carrying as many possessions as they could in suitcases. Suddenly the father stopped and returned to lock the door! When they returned in May 1945 they found Max Rodley’s grave still in their garden, marked by a wooden cross and a helmet.
Rodley had been involved in an incident on 20 September when 21st Independent Para Coy were fighting as infantry in their defence of The Perimeter in which some Germans, who might have been surrendering, were shot. General Urquhart’s account (in his book Arnhem) of the matter is:
At some stage, the Germans called on the Independent Company to surrender and Lieutenant H. D. Eastwood, CO of No 1 Platoon, ordered one of his German-speaking troops [Rodley] to reply broadly on the lines that the company was too scared to venture out and that the Germans should send a party to fetch them. Wilson ordered his men to stand by. Nonetheless, he was surprised when about 50 Germans emerged from the wood across the open field. Twelve Brens opened up simultaneously and not a German escaped.
Ron Kent, then a Sergeant with the company, commented in his history of the Parachute Pathfinder Company, First In! ‘It was certainly not as clear cut as that… they were armed, carried no indication of surrender and did not raise their hands’. He goes on to describe his own version of the event, and remarks, ‘The incident was never discussed afterwards - the whole thing was somehow unsatisfactory.’
Note that side roads off Stationsweg are named after Boer War Generals (e.g. Cronje).
Continue towards the railway line.
Just short of it to the left on the continuation of Stationsweg and standing slightly back off the road is the Hotel Dreyeroord (Dreijerood) which contains a great deal of memorabilia of the battle. Tel: + (0) 26 3333169. It was to here on 19 September that Lieutenant-Colonel Payton-Reid of the 7th KOSB led about 270 survivors of his battalion from the fighting below the Leeren Doedel. They called it ‘The White House’. At about 1630 hours on the 21st the Germans mounted a strong attack on the hotel and infiltrated into the grounds. The KOSB put up a fierce resistance and inflicted much damage on their attackers, but they suffered heavy casualties and General Urquhart decided to pull them to the west (to Bothaweg and Paul Krugerstraat) to shorten the line that night thus making this stretch of road the eastern edge of The Perimeter (see the Holts’ Map).
Cross the railway onto Dreijenseweg.
Immediately to the left is the opposite end of Johannahoeveweg to that taken on the Extra Visit to the Culvert.
Continue past the ‘End of Oosterbeek’ sign to the marker on the left.
• Airborne Commemorative Marker No 3/37 kms/23.1 miles/5 minutes/Map 2/26
The inscription reads:
156 Para Bn was stopped here by strong German forces on 19 September having fought their way from Ginkelse Heide. Many were killed and the remainder withdrew to Oosterbeek. This point was the extreme north-east corner of The Perimeter on 21 September.
Turn round and just before the railway turn left along Van Limburg Stirumweg following green CWGC signs to the cemetery car park on the left.
• Arnhem Oosterbeek CWGC Cemetery/Flowers in the Wind Memorial/38.2kms/23.9 miles/30 minutes/Map 3-21/22
After considerable debate this site was chosen after the war to bury the casualties from the MARKET-GARDEN operation and later battles. The authors’ research at the CWGC archives at Maidenhead have disclosed a much greater input by General Urquhart into the form the cemetery should take than is told in the received story of its conception. In April 1945 Major-General Urquhart, Commander of 1 AB Division, had requested that the Airborne Cemetery should be placed at the Hartenstein Hotel and that it should be called the 1 AB Division Cemetery. In this he was supported by General Gale, the Commander of 1 (BR) AB Corps. 21 Army Group replied that regulations required that the only official name that can be given to a cemetery is that of the nationality of the dead and the place at which it is located. They originally allowed that an ‘Extension’ could be named after a formation and suggested the name ‘Arnhem British Cemetery (1 AB Div Extension)’ - the type of phraseology that had been agreed for 6 AB Division Cemetery at Ranville in Normandy. In June Urquhart was informed that Lieutenant-Colonel Stott (Assistant Director, Graves Registration & Enquiry - see below) had chosen this present site, but Urquhart still had some firm ideas of his own. He wanted the cemetery to be primarily for the men of his division, with the only exception being for attached non-airborne troops who fell north of the river. 1 AB men buried in other cemeteries should be moved (even though he accepted that to move men from consecrated ground might be difficult) so that they should all lie together, grouped by Brigades and Divisional Troops, with a separate group for Glider Pilots etc. He also wanted a memorial to be erected in the cemetery - another idea which was tactfully abandoned.
2. The Gronert Twins
3. ‘Flowers in the Wind’ Memorial
4. Flt Lt David Lord, VC
As one enters the approach to the cemetery, there are benches to the right and left donated by a local hotel. On the right is an Explanatory Board in Dutch, English and Polish, with a map, sponsored by the Oosterbeek Rotary. To the left is a brick structure incorporating a seat with a beautiful Plaque with a gold Pegasus and the flags of Holland, Poland and the UK. It bears the legend,
Flowers in the Wind
This plaque is dedicated to the children of this region who grace this cemetery every year, paying homage to the men who gave their lives for Liberation.
It was funded by the Arnhem Veterans Club and unveiled on 5 September 1998 by a man and a woman who as children laid flowers on the graves in 1945 and by a boy and girl who laid flowers in 1998. It pays homage to the beautiful annual custom of local children laying flowers on each grave in the cemetery before the Service of Commemoration.
On the left-hand pillar of the entrance gate is a Dutch Wargraves sign.
The cemetery now contains nearly 1,700 Commonwealth burials - 1,314 Army plus 243 Unknown, 77 RAF plus 1 Unknown, and 80 Foreign National graves, the majority of whom are Poles from the 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade. The fifty-one Polish graves, the majority of which were re-interred on 29 August 1946 from the churchyard in Driel, are to the left and right as one enters the cemetery. Note that they are all inscribed with the Polish badge, not a religious emblem, as Poland was a Communist country when the headstones were first erected. Many of the Polish were devout Catholics and their veterans and families wished to have a cross inscribed on their headstones. Several requests to the CWGC have so far failed to effect the change. The Polish graves include that of the first Polish officer to be killed in the operation, Lieutenant Slesicki, age 37, whom General Sosabowski described as ‘a lawyer’, who ‘abandoned a nice safe job and asked for his old job as a company commander’ [34.A.15.]. Richard Tice, age 22, was an American, not even of Polish extraction, who volunteered to fight with the Poles because, as he told the General, he ‘learned at school that in the American War of Independence, many Poles helped us to win our freedom. I would like to make a small contribution to your struggle.’ Tice even learned Polish. Sosabowski was ‘deeply touched.’ Tice was killed in Driel as a group of Germans approached his patrol. They shouted in English, ‘Don’t shoot’ and Tice thought they were Americans. Lured into the trap the Polish platoon was raked with machine-gun and rifle fire.
There are also 8 Canadian Army (including 1 Unknown), 25 RCAF, 4 Australian and 4 New Zealand Airforce and 3 CWGC employees.
The graves were laid out so that plots IX-XIV were of Ground Forces ‘Link-Up’, III is Glider Pilots, IV is RAF and the remaining plots, I-XXVI, are of Airborne Forces. After passing the Stone of Remembrance, Plots XXVII-XXXII, which face inwards to the central pathway, are later additions.
[All dates of death in September below are in 1944.]
The VC was awarded to Captain John Grayburn, 2 Para (formerly Ox & Bucks), age 26, 20 September [13.C.11.]. His citation in the London Gazette reads,
Lt Grayburn was a platoon commander of the Parachute Battalion which was dropped on September 17th, 1944, with orders to seize and hold the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem. He, with his platoon, was to capture the southern end. Lt. Grayburn was wounded in the shoulder almost immediately, but he directed and pressed the assault until casualties became so heavy that he was ordered to withdraw. Later, he successfully organised the occupation of a house vital to the defence of the bridge. Although heavily attacked throughout the next day and night, thanks to Lt. Grayburn’s courage, leadership, and skill in disposing his men, the house was held until it was set on fire on September 19th, and had to be evacuated. Lt Grayburn then formed a fighting force of elements of all arms, including the remainder of his company. Although wounded again, this time in the back, he refused to be evacuated. When tank attacks, against which he had no defence, finally forced his retreat on September 20th, he stood up in full view of the enemy, and directed the withdrawal of his men to the main defensive perimeter. He was killed that night. For nearly four days, despite pain and weakness from his wounds, shortage of food and lack of sleep, Lt.Grayburn displayed supreme and unflagging gallantry and determination. Without his inspiring leadership the Arnhem bridge could not have been held for so long.
Captain Grayburn’s body was brought in by civilians returning to their ruined homes by the Arnhem bridge in January 1946. He was reburied here on the 24th.
The VC was also awarded to Flight Lieutenant David Lord, DFC, 271 Sqn RAF, age 30,19 September [IV.B.5.]. His London Gazette citation reads,
On September 19th, 1944, Flt. Lieut. Lord was pilot and Captain of an aircraft detailed to drop supplies to our troops, who were closely surrounded at Arnhem. For accuracy this had to be done at 900 feet. While approaching the target at 1,500 feet the aircraft was severely damaged and set on fire. Flt. Lieut. Lord would have been justified in withdrawing or even in abandoning his aircraft but, knowing that supplies were desperately needed, he continued on his course. Twice going down to 900 feet under very intense fire, he successfully dropped his containers. His task completed he ordered his crew to abandon the aircraft, making no attempt to leave himself. A few seconds later the aircraft fell in flames, only one of the crew surviving. By continuing his mission in a damaged and burning plane, twice descending to 900 feet to ensure accuracy, and finally by remaining at the controls to give his crew a chance of escape, Fit. Lieut. Lord displayed supreme valour and self-sacrifice.’
Lord had spent five years, mostly in India with 31 Squadron, notably supplying Orde Wingate’s ‘Chindit’ force behind enemy lines in Burma for which he was awarded the DFC in July 1943. He moved to No 271 Squadron at Down Ampney in January 1944 and took part in the D-Day Operation in Normandy in June.
The charred bodies of Flight Lieutenant Lord and the crew of his Dakota KG 374 of 271 Sqn were originally buried beside their burnt-out machine. When they were re-interred here, side by side, on 2 August 1945, the surviving crew member, 36-year old navigator Flying Officer Harry King, identified Lord by the DFC and Indian General Service Medal ribbons, Flying Officer Alexander Ballantyne, RAF, age 25 [IV.B.7.], by the fact that he ‘always wore his collar and tie on flights’ and Flying Officer Richard Medhurst, RAF, age 19 [IV.B.6.] because his tie was in his pocket. It was Medhurst’s first operational mission.
The VC was also awarded to Captain Lionel Queripel (qv), R Sussex attd 10 Para, age 24, 19 September [5.D.8.]. His London Gazette citation reads,
In Holland on September 19th, 1944, Captain Queripel was acting as company Commander. When advancing on Arnhem, heavy and continuous enemy fire caused his company to split up on both sides of the road and inflicted considerable losses. Repeatedly crossing and re-crossing the road under sustained and accurate fire, Captain Queripel not only immediately re-organised his force, but carried a wounded Serjeant to the Regimenal Aid Post, and was himself wounded in the face. Nevertheless he personally led an attack on the strong point blocking their progress and killed the occupants, thereby enabling the advance to continue. Later, Captain Queripel found himself cut off with a small party. Although by then additionally wounded in both arms, he continued to inspire his men to resist until increasing enemy pressure forced him to order their withdrawal. He insisted on remaining behind to cover their retreat with pistol fire and hand grenades, and was not seen again. During nine hours of confused and bitter fighting Captain Queripel unceasingly displayed gallantry of the highest order. [This gallant act is reminiscent of those of Captain Henry Glass who, with two broken legs, remained propped up against the wall of Obourg Station near Mons, and an unknown soldier who stood firing from the roof, covering the withdrawal of their comrades of the 4th Middlesex as the Germans attacked on 23 August 1914.] Captain Queripel’s courage, leadership and devotion to duty were magnificent and inspiring.
His body was originally buried in Renkum Communal Cemetery and reburied here on 24 August 1945.
The MC was awarded to Major Charles Bruce Dawson, R Berks attd 4 Para Bde, age 27, 20 September [6.C.11.]; Captain Thomas Rose, 112 Field Regt RA, age 25, 26 September [24.B.16.] and Captain William Wood, 124 Field Regt RA, age 29, 25 September [8.B.13.].
The rare George Medal was awarded to Captain Brian Brownscombe, RAMC (qv), age 29, shot by SS Oberscharfiihrer Lerche on 24 September 1944 [15.B.10.] at the Arnhem Municipal Hospital, where he was originally interred. Brownscombe won his GM on 30 November 1943.
The DSO was awarded to Wing Commander Peter Davis, 299 Sqn RAF, age 28, died on 19 September 1944 [4.C.17.], whose brother Pilot Officer Henry Davis, RAF, age 28, died in August 1940, is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
The DCM was awarded to Serjeant Robert Curley, 1st Hants, age 30, 4 October 1944 [13.A.13.]; Signalman Donald Stewart, 1AB Div Sigs, age 21, 24 September [15.B.11.] and Staff Sergeant Raymond White, 1st Wing Glider Pilot Regt, age 27, 18 September [16.B.17.].
The MM was awarded to Staff Serjeant Eric Holloway, 1st Wing, Glider Pilot Regt, age 24, 18 September [3.A.15.]; Staff Serjeant David Wallace, 2nd Wing, Glider Pilot Regt, age 24, 24 September [27.B.8.]; Lance Corporal George White, R Sigs, age 23, 1 October 1944 [13.A.17.]; Serjeant Samuel Williams, 2nd Devons, age 25, 3 October 1944 [9.C.19.] and Serjeant Donald Wilson, 3 Para, age 25,17 September [5.A.13.].
The DFC was awarded to Squadron Leader John Gilliard, 190 Sqn, RAF, age 24,19 September [4.B.I.] prior to MARKET-GARDEN, as was the BEM awarded to Lieutenant Stanley Watling, 156 Para, age 28,19 September [6.B.19.].
MiD were Lieutenant Peter Brazier, 2nd Wing, Glider Pilot Regt, age 22, 23-24 September [21.A.18.]; Lieutenant Kenneth Gentleman, Lt AA Anti-Tank Regt, age 22,1 October 1944 [9.A.2.] (prior to Arnhem); Lieutenant Robert Glover, 2 Airlanding Anti-Tank Bty, age 25,19 September [22.A.8.]; Flying Officer Clive Graham [his nephew Anthony Bonsor tells us his christian name was Clyde-now amended in CWGC records], 617 Sqn RAF, age 23,23 September [4.C.13.] the son of Major-General Sir Miles Graham, KBE, CB, MC; Captain Raymond Hutt, 74 Fld Regt, RA, age 29,17 April 1945 [10.A.20.] (prior to Arnhem); Lance Corporal William Kill, 1 Para, age 29, 28 September [24.A.5.]; Lieutenant Ralph Maltby, RA attd 2nd Wing, Glider Pilot Regt, age 26,17 September, previously awarded the Russian Order of the Patriotic War, was killed by flak while in his glider on the way to Arnhem [3.C.18.]; Captain Iain Muir, 1st Wing, Glider Pilot Regt, age 22, 25 September [3.C.15.]; Corporal William (Joe) Simpson, 1 Para Sqn RE, age 29, 20 September [22.B.17.] was also awarded the US Silver Star. Twice Mentioned were Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William R. De B. des Voeux, 9th Bart, Grenadier Guards, Commanding 156th Para Regt, age 32, 20 September [6.A.15.] (prior to Arnhem), Lance Corporal William Garibaldi, 10 Para, age 27, 20-21 September [5.D.14.] and Major Ernest Ritson, TD, 156th Para, age 35,20 September [6.D.18.] (prior to Arnhem).
An exception to the general rule that to be buried here one had died during or as a result of the Arnhem-Oosterbeek or Island Battles was one of the sons of Brigadier-General E.S. D’Ewes Coke, CMG, DSO. Major John Coke, 7th (AB) KOSB, MiD, age 33, 18 November 1944 [23.B.17] was killed during the unsuccesful Pegasus II attempt (qv) and originally buried in Ede, and Major Edward Coke, 6th KOSB, killed near St Oedenrode on 27 September was brought here [21.C.20.] at the request of the family to be near his brother.
Captain Jacobus Groenewoud, Jedburgh Group Claude (qv), age 27, 18 September, is a Holder of the Order of William 4th Class [20.B.12.]. The only other headstones to bear the Dutch Lion in the cemetery are of Private August Bakhuis Roozeboom, No 2 (Dutch) Troop, No 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando, age 22, one of twelve who landed near Oosterbeek on 17 September who was killed near the Hartenstein, at first buried as an ‘Unknown Canadian’ and identified in 1996 [I.A.6.] and S. Swarts, a 27-year-old Dutch Resistance Worker from Amsterdam. He worked at bringing in the wounded to Doctor van Maanen at the Tafelberg (qv) and was killed on 20 September when his car, No. M51466, was hit by a shell. In July 1945 his widow tried to get his body returned to Amsterdam, but it was reburied here. Later Mrs Swarts decided to let him remain here as he had died as a soldier in the Battle of Arnhem [16.B.18.].
Lieutenant George Austin, RA attd 2nd AB S Staffs, age 24, 24 September, was Commended for Act of Gallantry 27 August 1942 [20.C.18.].
The father of Major Charles Ashworth, 10th Para, age 35, 20-21 September [15.D.11.], Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Stirling Ashworth was killed in action in Egypt on 26 March 1917 while commanding the 4th R Sussex Regt. The father of Captain Nigel Beaumont-Thomas, 4 Para, RE, age 28, 20 September 1944 [17.A.11.), Colonel Lionel Beaumont-Thomas, MC, General List, age 49, was lost in MV Henry Stanley on 7 December 1942. He was MP for Birmingham, Norton, and is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial.
The twin brothers, Privates Claude and Thomas Gronert (qv), 2 Para, age 21, died in the same incident on 17 September and are buried side by side [18.A.17/18.]. Their graves both bear the same personal message: ‘Winds of Heaven Blow softly here Where lie sleeping Those we loved so dear.’ The brothers of the following also fell on service: Lieutenant Alastair Clarkson, 1 Para, age 22, 22 September [6.A.H.], Pilot Officer Bertrand Clarkson, RAF, age 19, 23 August 1940, buried in Edinburgh Piershill Cemetery; Serjeant Roger Croft 1st Wing Glider Pilot Regt, age 20, 18 September [3.A.16.], Trooper Godfrey Croft, 5th R Tanks, age 22, 29 May 1942, commemorated on the Alamein Memorial; Private Arthur Evans, 1st Hants, age 30, 2 October 1944 [9.C.8.], Private William Evans, Pioneer Corps, age 29, 11 January 1941, buried in Edmonton Cemetery, Middx; Guardsman Eric Green, 2nd Irish Guards, age 34, 2 October 1944 [H.A.8.], Gunner Leonard Green RA, age 35, 9 June 1944, buried in Kanchanaburi CWGC Cemetery, Thailand; Lieutenant Leslie Kiaer, 10 Para, age 25, 20 September [19.C.12.], Lieutenant Eric Kiaer RF & 3 Cdo, 6 June 1944, buried in Bayeux CWGC Cemetery; Major David Madden, RA/HQ 1st AB, age 25, 21 September, who was awarded the Benson Memorial Prize at the RMA, Woolwich in 1939, [2.B.14.], Lieutenant Keith Madden MC, RA, age 20, 3 March 1943, commemorated on the Medjez-el-Bab memorial, Tunis (their father, Major John Madden, had the DSO); Private Norman Weaver, 10 Para, age 25, 25 September [30.C.3.], Driver William Weaver, RE, age 29, 12 August 1944, buried in Douvres la Delivrande, Normandy; Corporal Edward Wescott, 7th Hants, age 27,1 October 1944 [9.B.14.], Leading Motor Mechanic Robert Westcott, RN, age 19,18 October 1944, commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
The Rev Bernard Benson, Chaplain 4th Class, attd 1st Airlanding Bde, age 30, died on 27 September [4.B.10.]. The Rev Henry Irwin, Chaplain 4th Class, attd 11 Para, age 28, died 20-25 September [26.A.2.].
The Comte Jaques de Cordoue, 190 Sqn RAF, age 29, son of the Marquis Hugues de Cordoue, died on 21 September [4.D.16.].
Lieutenant-Colonel John Fitch, Manchester Regt, Commanding 3 Para, age 32, 19-23 September [20.B.20.] was originally buried in Arnhem Communal Cemetery and reburied here on 27 August 1945. Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Smyth, OBE, SWB, Commanding 10 Para, age 38, 26 October 1944 [18.B.8.], was originally buried in Apeldoorn Municipal Cemetery and reburied here on 24 January 1946.
Private Walter Lewy-Lingen Schwartz, age 24, 20 September [6.B.9.], served as Landon. Corporal Hans Rosenfeld, age 29, 23 September [23.A.11.] served as John Peter Rodley (qv). They were both members of the 21 Indep Coy Para Company’s German Jewish contingent (qv).
2nd Lieutenant Richard de Courcy Peele, 11 Para, age 20, 22 September [23.A.7.] was ‘Head boy of Rugby School, 1941-42; Scholar of Trinity College, Oxford.’
Major Thomas Montgomery, 1st Airlanding Brigade, age 36, 21 November 1944 [Sp Mem], was originally buried in Lingen Cemetery, Germany but his grave is now lost. His headstone stands alone to the right as one enters the cemetery.
Graves IV.B.11 and 12 were originally marked as ‘Unknown’. Grave 11 was later identified as ‘Sergeant C.G. Lewis’. On, 29 May 1946 Grave 12 was identified as Flight Sergeant Gabriel Griffin, RAF, age 23, crew of Mosquito 772 784 which crashed at Arnhem on 17 September, and then on 18 December 1946 further investigation on W/O Lewis (witness to the meticulous work of the Graves Registration Unit) found that the ‘acceptance was obviously incorrect as it is understood that this W/O lost his life while serving in SEAC Eventually it was discovered that W/O Colin G. Lewis, RAF, who died on 27 May 1945, was commemorated on the Singapore Memorial and the grave inscription was changed to W/O Pilot Alfred G. Lewis, RAF who died on 17 September 1944.
In Graves 4.B.13,14,15,16 lie the crew of Dakota F2626 which crashed on 19 September in Bakenbergseweg (qv), Pilot Officer J.L. Wilson, age 32, Flight Sergeants H. Osborne, age 23 and R. French, age 24, and Air Despatch Lance Corporal James Grace, (originally marked as ‘Unknown’). Air Despatch Driver R. Newth, age 35, also killed in the plane is in 6.D.2.
Amongst the many lads not long out of school lies the 46-year-old Private Walter Yates of 3 Para, died 18-25 September [5.D.13.]. He was probably the oldest para in the Division.
Three Commonwealth War Graves Commission workers are buried here in 23C: Percy Henry Dawson, BEM, 24 May 1987, age 71, Herbert Alastair Denham, 31 August 1993, age 49 and William Gregory, 20 October 1988, age 80. Percy Dawson worked in the cemetery with great devotion for 32 years, always refusing promotion so that he could stay with ‘his men’. He was regarded with great admiration and affection by their relatives and by veterans.
There have been several interments in this cemetery since its inception, most recently:
12 April 1989: Private William Allen, found near the South Ginkel Restaurant in Ede in 1987. [23.C.16.], Private Alfred Johnson, S Staffs, found near the Old Church on Benedendorpsweg in 1987 [23.C.20.] and 2 Unknowns, one found in Renkum in August 1984 and one at Bleijenbeek Castle in June 1985.
8 October 1993: Private Douglas Lowery, and Private Ernest Ager, both of the 1st AL Border Regt, the latter having previously been commemorated on the Groesbeek Memorial. Both bodies were found in a field grave in a private garden on Van Lennepweg (qv), Oosterbeek, 400m west of the Hartenstein [25.C.1]. Their funeral was attended by fourteen veterans of the battalion.
9 June 1994: Unknown RE, found in a field grave in the Bilderberg area [23.C.19.].
18 September 1998: After research carried out by the Dutch Army, the CWGC, the British Defence Attache at the Hague and the MOD: as in 1945/6, records were made of all possible identification clues, photos were taken of the remains and the artefacts and next of kin were sought. Serjeant Lawrence H. Howes, [25.C.5.] and Sergeant David Thompson, both of the Glider Pilot Regt [25.C.7.] whose bodies were found on the Sonnenberg Estate in January 1994 and Corporal George Froud, Border Regt, found at Van Lennepweg (qv), Oosterbeek in July 1997 [25.C.9.] were duly re-interred.
11 July 2000: In 1995 during excavation work near Westerbouwing the body of an Unknown Airborne soldier was found. Despite extensive research no identification could be made and the soldier was reburied as ‘Known Unto God’.
A detailed breakdown of the numbers of each unit buried here, and where they were originally buried, is given in the meticulously researched ROLL OF HONOUR Battle of Arnhem 17-26 September 1944, compiled by J.A. Hey MBE, published by the Society of the Friends of the Airborne Museum. This was updated in June 1999 with much new information and corrections and contains many poignant photos of original graves. In March 2001 Mr. Hey was awarded the MBE but sadly was too ill to be able to travel to accept it from the British Ambassador in the Hague, Dame Rosemary Spencer. At the same ceremony the Burgomasters of Arnhem, Mr P. Scholten and MrVerlinden of Renkum were awarded the OBE for their dedicated work for veterans of the Operation.
Cross the road to the local cemetery.
• Oosterbeek Local Cemetery/Grave of Surgeon Lipmann Kessel/10 minutes/Map 3-24/25
The CWGC plot is signed by the entrance to the cemetery and then to the left after one enters. It is then up a path to the right. The nine RAF graves date from 1942 and 1943, six of them from 15 June 1943. Beside them (Grave No 762) is a large white stone, with a Star of David and the Pegasus insignia, to Lipmann Kessel (qv), MBE (Milty), MC, FRCS, Professor of Orthopaedics, Surgeon Teacher, Humanist, Fighter for Freedom, and the words, ‘Lippy: remembered forever by all who loved you and those you served.’ A.W. Lipmann Kessel was Surgeon to 16th Para Field Ambulance and a Captain in 1944. He died in 1986 and is buried in the civilian cemetery as it was his express wish to be buried as near as possible to his fallen comrades. However, as a Jew, he did not wish to be cremated and it is CWGC policy that only the cremated remains of those other than men and women who actually died during the two World Wars may be buried in the cemeteries under their control. In such cases a casket may be buried ‘at the margins of the burial plots or by the boundary wall’, but ‘without ceremony or publicity’. Lipmann Kessel decided that to be buried here, opposite his Airborne pals, was the solution.
Opposite the line of CWGC headstones is a mass grave for Oosterbeek Civilians killed during the war. Many were refugees from Western Holland who fled to Oosterbeek and were never registered. The Town Hall, where all relevant records were kept, was destroyed during the battle and most of the registers were burnt. The refugees were sheltered by local families or in boarding houses. A Plaque from the Rotary records that this is a memorial to the 140 citizens of Oosterbeek who died during the war (some in Concentration Camps), two of whom died in the Battle of Arnhem. Some names are inscribed in the low brass rail that surrounds the plot and in it are some named headstones.
From the cemetery continue along the road to the memorial on the left, which is signed as one leaves the CWGC Cemetery.
Grave of Surgeon Lipmann Kessel
• Air Despatch Memorial/38.4 kms/24 miles/5 minutes/Map 3/23
Inaugurated on 18 September 1994, this memorial gives overdue recognition to the vital Air Despatchers, known as ‘The Forgotten Heroes of Arnhem’. Even in the 1914-1918 War primitive attempts had been made to provision military units from the air. Men of the RASC were trained to become ‘Air Despatchers’ as it was realised that this was specialised work that called for highly skilled men with custom-made equipment. By 1944, when it became apparent that there would be a high requirement because of the continuing war in Europe, the number of Air Despatchers was vastly increased. In June 1944 they provided 6th AB with supplies and also carried out drops near Falaise and Paris and to General Patton’s forces.
MARKET-GARDEN offered the first opportunity to supply a large military unit from the air. Between 18-25 September 610 dropping missions were flown with Stirling and Dakota aircraft, manned by a pool of 800 Despatchers, flying in crews of four in the Dakotas, two in the Stirlings. Several flew more than one mission. Eighty-four planes were lost, in which seventy-nine Air Despatchers were killed. They had loaded 1,561 tons of supplies, of which 1,247 were actually dropped. Tragically, only 7.4% actually reached British troops. Because of the failing radio communication, word could not be sent back to the UK to warn that the designated LZV to the west of Arnhem had fallen into German hands. When later drops were made in the terrain held by 1 AB it was into a much-decreased area around which the Germans increasingly deployed anti-aircraft guns.
In 2000 an exhibition was mounted in the Hartenstein Museum to show the work of these gallant and greatly unsung heroes.
The work of the Air Despatchers is continued to this day by 47 Air Despatch Squadron, Royal Logistic Corps, stationed in Lyneham.
The memorial was the inspiration of Mike Patey, conceived during the Nijmegen Marches in 1986 when he came with 10 Para and was aware, at a reunion of Air Despatchers, that the veterans were upset about being the forgotten people of Arnhem. Frank van den Berg, the historian at the Groesbeek Museum, was coopted as the Dutch Liaison Officer in the project. It was erected by the Comrades and Air Despatchers past and present with the help of the Burgomasters of Arnhem and Renkum and other Dutch friends.
Opposite the memorial is a Bench from the ‘Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council to the Municipality of Renkum in memory of the RASC Air Despatchers who gave their lives in resupplying 1st (BR) AB Division between 17-25 September 1944. Cllr T. L. Garland, JP, Mayor. 5 May 1997.’
The Air Despatchers’ Memorial
You are now, to a first approximation, going to follow the route taken by 1st AB on the night of 25 September when they withdrew from The Perimeter down to the area of the Lonsdale Church and across the river.
Pass the Schoonoord and the Tafelberg on the left and continue down Pietersbergseweg. As the road bends to the right, on the right is
Huize de Pietersberg (Map 3/15). This was taken over as a dressing station by 133 Para Field Ambulance on 20 September to ease the overcrowding in other medical facilities, by which time there were over 2,000 casualties in the Oosterbeek area. Their CO was Lieutenant-Colonel W. C. Alford, OBE, MiD (in the Italian Campaign in 1943), who had been allowed to remain at the Schoonoord when it was overrun by the Germans. In the battered Pietersberg Alford calmly continued to give blood transfusions as the building came under fire from XXX Corps’ ‘friendly’ box barrage. He was again MiD for his cool dedication.
Continue left down Kneppelhoutweg to Benedendorpsweg and turn left. Continue to the junction with Dr Breveestraat.
A short distance up Dr Breveestraat is the imposing yellow building of the Concert Hall (Map 3/17). (There is parking space there and if the traffic is heavy you may walk from here to the church.) When the remnants of the different battalions heading for the Bridge fell back on 19 September they were first stopped and rallied by Lieutenant Colonel ‘Sheriff’ Thompson of the Light Regiment RA. The group of 100 men of the 2nd S Staffs, 120 of 1st Para Battalion, 46 of 3rd Para and 150 of 11th Para were collectively known as ‘Thompson Force’. All were grateful to receive firm orders again. Thompson made the Concert Hall his HQ until he was wounded and the rallying function fell to Major ‘Dickie’ Lonsdale of 11th Para Battalion.
Continue towards the church on the right and park where you can, preferably in Weverstraat to the left.
• Old (‘Lonsdale’) Church and Memorials/Airborne Commemorative Marker No 5/41.6 kms/26 miles/15 minutes/Map 3-19/20/OP
It was here that survivors from the 19 September savage fighting around St Elisabeth Hospital gathered and were reorganised by Major Lonsdale, 2i/c 11th Para. Enemy mortaring and shelling was increasing and ammunition was growing short, tired and dirty men coming into the church from all directions. General Urquhart described how they were rallied into an effective force:
‘Lonsdale now appeared, his hands in bandages. He looked down at the strained and desperate faces as he climbed the steps to the pulpit. [Considerable local dispute centres around whether he did or did not use the pulpit!]) In the congregation were survivors from the 1st, 3rd and 11th Battalions, the South Staffords and some glider pilots… suddenly the place was hushed as Lonsdale, his hands gripping the edge of the pulpit began, ‘You know as well as I do that there are a lot of bloody Germans coming at us…We must fight for our lives and stick together…We’ve fought Germans before -in North Africa, Sicily, Italy. They weren’t good enough for us then and they’re bloody well not good enough for us now’.
The Old (Lonsdale Church): The ruined church after the battle
Airborne Memorial
The Church then became known as ‘The Lonsdale Church’.
General Urquhart had returned from Zwarteweg (qv) to his HQ at the Hartenstein at 0730 that morning and decided to shorten his line (making it easier to defend with a decreasing number of effective troops) and bring his forces south of the Arhem-Ede railway with the idea of continuing the attack towards Arnhem along the Middle Route. German attacks intensified that day, particularly against the 7th KOSB and a force of glider pilots in the Heelsum area, the continuing pressure forcing the various elements of the Division into a tightening perimeter based around the Hartenstein Hotel. Despite the arrival of the Polish gliders at around 1600 hours that afternoon it was clear to Urquhart by the following day that there was no longer any chance of reinforcing Frost at The Bridge and that the Old Church was an essential foothold on the river bank.
The Church is open ‘during the season’ on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 1400-1700 hours. It is reputedly the oldest church in the Netherlands and is built of volcanic tufa. Known locally as ‘Old Oosterbeek Dutch Reformed Church’, it was severely damaged by German shellfire during the battle. When the church was rebuilt, in 1947-49, it was to a much smaller, earlier design than the cruciform shape of that of 1944.
On the lawn in front of the church is Airborne Commemorative Marker No 5, stating ‘A Last Stand was made at this church to cover the withdrawal across the Rhine’. (See entry at Engineers’ Memorial OP, Driel.) Behind it on the lawn is an ancient lime tree which was so badly damaged during the battle that it was decided to cut it down. The tree surgeon was delayed in carrying out the task and the following spring new growth started to sprout around the apparently dead hollow centre of the tree. It seemed to symbolize the renewal of hope and life in the battle-torn town. Today the tree grows vigorously.
To the right of the door is a plaque with a summary of the history of the church, including the events of September 1944. The hole in the church wall to the left is not caused by war damage. It was originally made so that lepers could stand outside and listen to the service (and was only rediscovered during the restoration). To the left of the lawn, on the foundations of the area ruined in 1944 and not included in the rebuilding, is a splendid Memorial with a golden Pegasus, unveiled by General Hackett and Mrs Ter Horst in 1990. It records how
In September 1944 British Airborne soldiers and their Polish comrades with the support of brave Dutch men and women fought a grim battle around this ancient church in the struggle to liberate the Netherlands from Nazi tyranny. This stone commemorates all who took part in this action and above all those who died. NOT ONE SHALL BE FORGOTTEN.
Behind the church is a Memorial Seat donated by Margaret, the daughter of No 6404135 Private William Ronald Dodd, 3rd Battalion the Para Regiment, who died on 27.7.89. A second Memorial Seat is ‘In Loving Memory of Leslie Jack Plummer, 1st Para Squadron, RE, 1920-1997. Forever in our hearts. Forever close to Oosterbeek. ‘Two other seats were donated by the Dreyeroord Hotel, the KOSB HQ during the Battle, and often called The White House (qv).
In the field behind the church three guns of the 1st Light Regiment RA were sited in September 1944. Supply containers and panniers were lying behind the church and many attempts to reach them ended in tragedy. Stand facing the river. To the left the Railway Bridge can be seen. The withdrawal was made over the polder this side of it. Take the centre span of the bridge as 12 o’clock. At 2 o’clock across the river is the Engineers’ Memorial OP and at 3 o’clock is the square tower with golden cockerel weather vane of Driel Church (the original of which is in the Hartenstein Museum). The edge of The Perimeter is marked by the line of poplar trees to the left.
As the Church meant so much to the men who gathered here in the last desperate days of the Battle, many of them wished to place a memorial in it. It could have become rather like St George’s Church in Ypres, where practically every feature in it - pulpit, font, windows, chairs etc, is a memorial (First World War) to an Army, a Division, a Regiment -even an individual, with historical Standards hanging all around. The Council of Churchwardens, however, was determined to keep this simple building, which has been a place of worship for over 1,000 years, as a living Church for its congregation. The number of permitted battle-related memorials has, therefore, been strictly limited to the following:
1. The Pulpit. This was presented by Boston in Lincolnshire in 1949. On the pulpit is the ancient States Bible, printed in 1660 and bearing a bullet mark from the battle. When the church was renovated in 1972, three large Light Regiment RA Memorial Panels from the Pulpit were moved near the entrance on the south wall.
2. The Communion Table. This was presented during the first service in the restored church on 17 September 1950 by the British and Polish Airborne. On it is a Bible in English and Welsh, presented in September 1979.
3. Seat behind the table presented by the parents of LAC Eric A. Samwells, who died on 22 September 1944, age 21. He is buried in the Oosterbeek CWGC Cemetey [4.C.20.] Kneeler and Desk presented on 23 September 1973 by the Diocese of Lichfield.
4. Font. Made of Portland stone with a copper lid in the form of a parachute canopy. Presented by 1st (BR) AB Division on 17 September 1950.
5. Airborne Prayer. Presented by veteran R. Dixon, who painted the English text. His daughter painted the Dutch version.
6. Plaque to the men of 156th Para Battalion (although they did not form part of the ‘Lonsdale Force’). It was unveiled on 20 September 1986 by Elizabeth, one of the three daughters of their CO, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Richard des Voeux (qv) who was killed on 20 September 1944.
7. The Altar Cross. This was originally from the Bernulphus Roman Catholic Church in Oosterbeek. It was taken from the ruins of the church by Eric Collinge of the 1st Paras, sent from this church on a patrol to Oosterbeek. Eric kept the cross under his smock as he swam the Rhine during the Escape and on his return to the UK gave it to his devout Catholic mother. When she died he tried to contact the church with a view to returning the cross. His efforts were finally brought to the attention of Henk Duinhoven (qv) who, after consultation with other local friends, invited Eric to bring the cross back to Oosterbeek. This he did, and it found a place here in the Old Church.
8. Lonsdale Force Memorial Seat. This large, handsome bench was specially made with the money that had originally been raised for the erection of a stained glass window to Lonsdale Force. This is a somewhat sad and controversial story. It dates back to 1974 when ex-Mechanic with 271 Squadron Alan Hartley (qv) was instrumental in raising an Arnhem stained glass window in Down Ampney, from which airfield many men flew during MARKET-GARDEN. When Colonel & Mrs Lonsdale saw the window, Mrs Lonsdale suggested that it would be a good idea to have a window in the Old Church. The Lonsdales started fund-raising with Alan Hartley and when the Colonel died (on 23 November 1988 at the age of 74) Hartley continued until he had raised £3,500, commissioned a design (which showed the then Major Lonsdale giving his address from the pulpit in the Church) and obtained permission from the Churchwardens and the Burgomaster for the erection of the window. Hartley was greatly supported by Henk Duinhoven (qv), a local Headmaster and English teacher who translated during all the negotiations. At this stage General Hackett expressed severe disapproval of the idea (ostensibly because he wished it to incorporate the badges of all the Airborne Units who had fought at Arnhem/Oosterbeek, privately because he considered it ‘laughable and ludicrous’ that ‘an atheist like Dickie’ should appear ‘on a church window for posterity’). The project was vetoed. This was echoed by Generals Urquhart (who didn’t like stained glass windows) and Frost (who considered that there were already too many memorials at Arnhem). The veterans who had subscribed had wished to commemorate ‘Lonsdale Force’ rather than its leader alone, and the idea that the money should be put to a substantial bench bearing the badges of all the Regiments that had comprised the Force was agreed. Kate ter Horst, who objected to ‘the silly opposition’ to the idea of the window, congratulated Hartley on his ‘wonderful efforts ‘and thought the seat ‘a wonderful idea’. The badges, of 1st, 3rd and 11th Para Battalions, 21st Independent, S Staffs’, Glider Pilots Regiment, 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron, Royal Artillery and the Royal Corps of Signals were carved in Srinigar, Kashmir by a wood carver called Gulam Hassan who had done some work for 48 Squadron RAF. The seat was unveiled by six veterans of Lonsdale Force in 1991, but on that day two veterans of the Border Regiment pointed out that their badge was missing. A design was rushed out to Gulam Hassan who carved the missing badge and the badges were then re-arranged to incorporate the Border badge. The bench was originally designed to stand outside the Church, but it was thought that the beautifully carved badges would prove an easy target for souvenir hunters. It now sits at the back of the Church awaiting a final, fitting site.
The Lonsdale window that never was
The famous door from the Church, now on show at the Hartenstein Museum, on which Major Lonsdale supposedly wrote his final instructions, was actually used by him as an aide-memoire when filming Theirs is the Glory in August 1945 - but not in September 1944. For his leadership in the final days of the Arnhem battle ‘Dickie’ Lonsdale was awarded a second DSO, the first having been won in Sicily and having already won the MC in Jubbulpore in 1937. Lonsdale’s obituaries claimed that he was the last man of his Force to withdraw, swimming the Rhine despite being hampered by his bandaged wounds.
MARKET-GARDEN Battlefield Tours for groups, especially of this area, are given by Henk Duinhoven, MBE (qv). Tel: + (0) 31 481 465 069. E-mail: emdebe@planet.nl
• Walking tour from the Old Church (approximate time 15 minutes)
From facing the front of the Church walk down the short flight of steps on the right and onto the narrow brick path that runs parallel to the river.
This is the footpath, known as Kerkpad, that links the church to the Heveadorp ferry and it was across here and onto the polder that 1st AB made its withdrawal on the night of 25 September. In the 1915 disastrous Gallipoli campaign the one effective operation was the evacuation of the Allied forces from under the noses of the Turks without a single battle casualty. Oddly, Urquhart knew about it.
At the back of my mind was Gallipoli. As a young officer I had studied this classic withdrawal very thoroughly for a promotion examination. It all came back now: the extreme pains that were taken to thin out the forward positions… to keep up an appearance of opposition until the very last… The elaborate care with which parties were organised for their move to the beaches…. I called Charles Mackenzie [the General’s chief staff officer] over to help me with the evacuation plan. ‘You know how they did it at Gallipoli, Charles? Well we’ve got to do something like that’.
They did, but unlike Gallipoli they came under fire. The night was dark, the rain pouring down which helped to deaden the sounds of the withdrawal, the men’s boots covered in sacking as they moved slowly in single file, each holding onto the smock of the man in front. Tapes had been put out to lead parties down to the crossing points, guides waited to direct them, but some lost their way or were scattered by German fire. On the river bank, in the enveloping mud, were groups of men waiting for their turn to cross [a description of the crossing is given at the RE’s memorial which is visited later in this itinerary]. Having crossed the river Urquhart’s first thought was to report to General Browning. Near Driel he found General Thomas’s (43rd Wessex Division) Tactical Headquarters and sent his ADC, Captain Graham Roberts, inside to get some transport. ‘He was not received with any warmth.’ Eventually they reached Browning’s Headquarters.
Browning was a little time coming… I reported: ‘The division is nearly out now. I’m sorry that we haven’t been able to do what we set out to do.’ Browning offered me a drink…. ‘You did all you could,’ he said. ‘Now you had better get some rest.’ It was a totally inadequate meeting.
One of the authors of this book was a professional soldier. If Urquhart’s version of the meeting is correct then in our view Browning’s behaviour is inexcusable, the action of a man displaying the classic signs of the ‘Peter Principle’ (Dr Laurence J. Peter), that of being promoted to their level of incompetence. On the right is a large house
• Kate ter Horst House (Map 3/18)
This is the Old Rectory where in September 1944 so many wounded soldiers were treated by Army medics and the local doctor with the help of local Dutch ladies. On 18 September Captain Randall Martin, the RMO of the Light Regiment RA, asked if he could set up his Regimental Aid Post here. He was supported by a few medical orderlies under the indomitable ‘Scan’ Bolden. On the 25th The Perimeter was pierced by a German tank which fired a shot through the house. Bombardier Bolden, with the Padre, the Rev Thorne, ran out brandishing a piece of white cloth and let forth such a stream of furious Cockney that the tank withdrew. By the end the house, which was repeatedly hit by machine-gun and sniper fire, by shells from tanks and by mortar fire, had run out of food, fresh water and most medical supplies. For his tireless work, which finally became no more than ‘patching up’, Captain Martin was MiD.
The Ter Horst House
Fifty-eight of the approximate 300 soldiers who were cared for in the house, the cellar and the garden died of their wounds and were originally buried in the garden until re-interred in the Airborne Cemetery (qv).
The scenes in and around the Old Rectory are depicted in Theirs is the Glory and A Bridge Too Far, in which Mrs Ter Horst, the owner of the house, was portrayed as the heroine and an Angel of Mercy, thus making her a legend for all post-war visitors, veterans and students of the battle. This modest lady always maintained that her role was glorified by the films and that her actions were being duplicated in many other houses in the area. Mrs Ter Horst, who kept a detailed diary, later published her memoirs under the title Cloud Over Arnhem.
After the withdrawal from The Perimeter the Germans forced all the local inhabitants to evacuate. Mrs Ter Horst was sent off with her children. Mr Jan ter Horst worked with the Resistance and early after the Landings offered his assistance to the Airborne who sent him to Heelsum on a recce. He was then sheltered in the house of Doctor Oorthuis on Utrechtseweg. He was therefore separated from his family during the Battle and they were not reunited until they were all evacuated to Friesland.
In the marshes in the polder the Germans left many mines, which were taken out by German PoWs. Inevitably some remained and in 1947 Mrs Ter Horst’s son, Veldest, was killed with a friend when they jumped from a willow tree and landed on a mine.
In the garden of the house is a memorial in the shape of a Pegasus with drooping wings presented to Mrs Ter Horst by the veterans she sheltered and comforted. It is not visible from outside the garden.
Further tragedy hit the family when on 21 February 1992 Mrs Ter Horst, then aged 85, was killed by a fast-moving car driven by a policeman just outside her house as she was walking with her husband, both of whose legs were broken in the accident. Kate ter Horst was the daughter of a Dutch naval Officer. She married Mr Ter Horst, a lawyer, in 1930 and moved into this house in 1938. For her courage and help to the wounded in 1944 she was awarded the MBE, as was her husband.
N.B. Please remember that this historic house is a private dwelling place and respect the privacy of Mr Ter Horst who, at age 95, was still living in the house in 2001.
Continue along the brick path to the small junction to the right to Benendorpsweg.
This is directly below the Hartenstein, and was the bottom of one of the escape routes.
Return to the church. Cross the road and turn left up Weverstraat. Walk past the pond on the right and turn right at the footpath marked by a blue sign with a parent and child. Cross over the road (Zuiderbeekweg), turn left and then right by the site of the old Lammegroep Textiel building, demolished in 2001 to make way for new houses. Walk to the bank at the back.
• Site of Major Robert Henry Cain’s VC (Map 3/16). In 1944 this was the local Hofwegen Laundry, which drew water from the stream that runs into the pond over which you walked. Originally part of Thompson Force, Cain commanded a company of the 2nd S. Staffs which was virtually cut off from the main Battalion. He set up a position here below Ploegseweg, down which German tanks rumbled. Seizing a PIAT Cain knocked out six tanks and a number of self-propelled guns. His gallantry award was for his actions between 19-25 September when ‘he was everywhere danger threatened, moving among his men and encouraging them to hold out. Although he had a perforated ear-drum and multiple wounds he refused medical attention.’ By his dogged actions, Cain saved a vital sector from falling into enemy hands, as, after repeatedly attacking with self-propelled guns the enemy withdrew. This exceptional officer, born in Shanghai in 1909, became a member of the Nigerian House of Representatives in the 1950s and died in Crowborough in May 1974. He was the only Arnhem VC to survive the battle. His daughter Frances married Jeremy Clarkson the motoring personality.
Return to your car and continue.
Shortly after passing the church a platoon of Major Victor Dover’s C Company headed down a small lane, the Polderweg, towards the river in an attempt to capture the Railway Bridge, now seen ahead on the right. As the paratroopers gained the northern end of the bridge ramparts, the Germans blew the middle span. The Major then led his company back inland towards the Middle Route with the intention of following Lieutenant-Colonel Frost towards The Bridge, but came under murderous Schmeisser and 20mm fire in the gardens and houses near the St Elisabeth Hospital.
At the Doorgaand Verkeer sign to the left keep to the right. Follow the road round towards the junction with Acacialaan. Stop just before it in the layby to the right. Walk to Acacialaan.
• Site of Lance-Sergeant Baskeyfield’s VC/42.6 kms/26.6 miles/5 minutes/Map 3-26/27
Just around the corner on the left Lance-Sergeant John Daniel Baskeyfield with his six-pounder anti-tank gun knocked out two Tiger tanks and a self-propelled gun on 20 September 1944. When all his other crew members were either killed or badly injured, Baskeyfield, himself badly wounded in the leg, continued to man his gun. When it was knocked out, he crawled under fire to another six-pounder which he operated single-handed, putting out another enemy self-propelled gun, until he himself was killed. His body was never identified but his name is recorded on the Groesbeek Memorial (qv) and his heroic feat is immortalised by several famous pictures - notably by Bryan de Grineau, the Illustrated London News artist at Oosterbeek in September 1944, and in 1970 by Terence Cuneo. There is also a bust of Baskeyfield in the Hartenstein (qv).
In the garden on the corner is a Marker bearing the Staffs badge and ‘Jack Baskeyfield. 20 September 1996.’
Continue along Benedendorpsweg under the 3.8m high railway viaduct along Klingelbeekseweg (43.4 kms/27.1 miles).
This is the area (Map 2/33) where the Gronert twins (qv) were killed. Like the two sets of brothers killed on the Somme in July 1916 and buried in Flat Iron Copse Cemetery - the Tregaskis and Hardwidges - one man was killed as he went to the aid of his wounded brother. The tiny brothers, both in B Coy, 2nd Para Battalion, were moving with the company towards the viaduct when a German armoured car swept round the corner, started firing with its heavy machine guns and then withdrew.‘A’ Company came under machine-gun fire from the high ground at Den Brink and Colonel Frost then sent Douglas Crawley’s ‘B’ Company left of the railway embankment ‘to see what he could do’. Claude Gronert was then hit. Thomas moved up to tend to his wounded brother and they were both killed by a German machine gun firing from a railwayman’s hut along the railway. Their Platoon Commander, Lieutenant Peter Cane, was also killed and is buried in the Oosterbeek Cemetery [Joint Grave 18.A.13-14.]. Their Company Commander, Major Doug Crawley, dealt with the Germans at Den Brink (part of SS Kampfgruppe Spindler (qv)) and then went on to reach The Bridge with Frost, where he was also wounded and taken prisoner. He was a frequent visitor to the Hartenstein Museum until his death on 12 May 1998.
Site of Lance-Sergeant Baskeyfield’s VC with detail of plaque
There was a freight railway station here, Oosterbeek Laag, which was used by the Germans. Note the new bricks patched in to cover the 1944 damage.
N.B. In 2001 a new approach bridge was being constructed to the railway bridge which may alter the aspect of this historic site.
Continue uphill on Klingelbeekseweg and finally Hulkesteinseweg until it joins Utrechtseweg.
This junction, where the Lower and Middle Routes meet, is where the remnants of the forces trying to reach the bridge eventually came together. It looks very much the same today as it did in 1944. Frost passed this way with A Company but took the lower road at the fork ahead as you will in a moment, while Victor Dover’s C Company of the battalion went uphill past the hospital (now apartments) and became bogged down in a stubborn conflict with Harzer’s tanks and machine-guns.
Turn right on Utrechtseweg, signed Centrum.
• Extra Visits to Plaque on ‘Arnhem House’ (Map 2/39); Women in War Memorial OP (Map 2/39); Plaque on Old German SD Building (Map 2/42); September 1944 Urquhart Memorial (Map 2/43); No 14 Zwarteweg (Map 4/1); Old St Elisabeth Hospital/Airborne Commemorative Marker No 6 (Map 4/4) Round trip: 2.4 kms/1.5 miles. Approximate time: 25 minutes
Fork left at the 2nd traffic lights, past the old St Elisabeth Hospital on the left and continue along Utrechtseweg to the Museum of Modern Art on the right.
In the garden of the Museum (Map 2/40) is the sculpture by Henry Moore called ‘The Warrior’, which used to stand outside the Town Hall in Arnhem. It is one of five casts of the statue.
Park where you can and walk to the next three stops.
Immediately opposite is House No 72 now beautifully restored and called’ Airborne House’. Here Major Victor Dover and C Company of 2nd Para made their last stand and were finally forced to capitulate as their casualties were so high. A Plaque above the door recalls the efforts of thirty members of 1st AB Division who defended the building from 18-19 September. This was the closest point to The Bridge that 1st AB Division reached along this route and men of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffs got no further the following day. All attempts to reinforce 2nd Para at The Bridge along the Middle Route ceased after 19 September.
Some 200m past the Museum (in which Captain Brownscombe (qv) of the South Staffs established his RAP on 19 September until he was captured by the Germans and taken to the Municipal Hospital) is a viewpoint on the right with some seats by the Statue to Women in War. The view depends on a clear day and minimum summer foliage! Immediately below is the Lower Route along which John Frost with A Company made his way to The Bridge, passing here about 2000 hours on Sunday 17 September. Beyond the road is the Neder Rijn. To the left, upstream, the Nelson Mandela Bridge should just be visible and, at water level, just this side of it, is the site of the old pontoon bridge and it was here that the final attempt by elements of 1st and 3rd Battalions to join Frost via the Lower Route failed. The Bridge is 950m beyond. In the distance the Groesbeek Heights above Nijmegen are visible on a clear day and sometimes the bulk of the Nijmegen power station where the 504th started their river crossing can be seen. To the right, downstream, is the Railway Bridge. Immediately to its right can be seen the blades of the wind generator (qv) on the opposite bank of the Rhine. Some 3kms behind the generator is the area of Driel where the Polish Brigade dropped on 21 September. A large modern sculpture representing ‘Energy’ crosses above the road at this point.
Utrechtseweg Memorials: Plaque on old Sicherheitsdienst HQ. No 85
2nd Para Bn Plaque over doorway of No 72
Dutch Women in War Statue
Beyond the open space of the viewpoint is No 85, PGEM Building, the old SD (Sicherheitsdienst -German Security Police) HQ. A Plaque bears witness to its 1944 use.
Turn round and return along Utrechtseweg, past the old St Elisabeth Hospital, over the traffic lights and immediately turn right up Oranjestraat. Turn right again at the first turning, Alexanderstraat, and park before the next junction (2kms/1.3 miles). Walk forward along the road to the second junction with Mauritsstraat. Immediately past that junction is house No 135 (Map 4/3).
On 17 September General Urquhart had arrived by glider and watched the main body of Lathbury’s 1st Parachute Brigade land. It was, he said, ‘a textbook drop’. However, his signaller was unable to make contact with his other main formation, Hicks’s Airlanding Brigade, which had landed north of his position, so he set off in his jeep to visit them. Hicks was not there when he arrived and now, not able to contact anyone by radio, he set off again to see what was happening on the Lower Route where Lathbury’s HQ was following Frost’s 2nd Battalion. He made contact with the tail end of the 2nd Battalion but did not see Frost himself. He then decided to return to the Middle Route and talk to Gerald Lathbury who had joined 3rd Battalion, catching up with them at the Kussin crossroads. As the evening fell they came under heavy German fire and Urquhart decided to stay that night with Lathbury in a villa near the Koude Herberg Café (qv) west of the Hartenstein Hotel. At about 0400 hours the following morning the two set off together, making their way back to the Lower Route and reaching this area, following much the same path as you have done from the Old Church. Here they came under fire from self-propelled guns and took shelter in a nearby house. In the midst of intense German activity, Leo Heaps (qv) one of the most extraordinary figures of the MARKET-GARDEN story, appeared. In his memoirs Urquhart recalled,
There suddenly appeared a Bren carrier, its engine roaring, its tracks clattering on the small setts. It was driven by a ubiquitous Canadian lieutenant called Heaps who was soon to develop a reputation for turning up in the most unlikely places… in fact I never really discovered to which unit he belonged [he was attached to 1st Battalion]. In battle some men have a charmed existence: Heaps was such a man…. Heaps saluted and brought tidings from my own HQ, ‘You were reported missing’, he told me, ‘I was sent to try and find you.
Urquhart gave Heaps various messages to take back and then Heaps ‘managed to set off back along the road’. It seems strange that the General did not consider going with him since Heaps was going back to Divisional HQ. As the fighting intensified further the General decided that it was now vital to return to 1st AB Division HQ to retake control. Various members of the Battalion who were in other houses in the vicinity had called in from time to time and Lathbury had arranged to have paratroopers cover their breakout with smoke bombs. ‘Would you like to throw a bomb, sir?’ he asked. The General declined, but in their attempt to break out Brigadier Lathbury was wounded by Spandau fire. The General, Captain Willie Taylor and Lieutenant Jimmy Cleminson carried him to No 135 Alexanderstraat where he was taken in by the family and then moved to the hospital.
Turn up Mauritsstraat and immediately turn right up and across the road to the small alleyway. This leads to the rear of No 14 Zwarteweg.
After General Urquhart, Captain Taylor and Lieutenant Cleminson left Lathbury in Alexanderstraat they turned the corner into this alleyway and then into the kitchen of No 14 Zwarteweg, the home of Anton Derksen. Derksen directed them to the attic. Outside the house in Zwarteweg itself was a German SP gun and crew and Urquhart proposed that they should drop a grenade on it and make a dash for it. The others were doubtful and, surprisingly, the General took a democratic vote on the matter which went against him. Despite his urgent desire to return to his HQ, Urquhart did not attempt to break out again until the early hours of the following day, Tuesday 19 September, when Derksen told them that the British were at the end of the road. The three of them made a dash for it (watched by a surprised Surgeon Lipmann Kessel (qv) from the hospital window), meeting some South Staffs where Zwarteweg joins the Middle Route. They informed the General that his HQ was now at the Hartenstein. He quickly drove there, arriving at 0725 hours. It may have been better had he stayed at Zwarteweg as it was from this area that the last significant attempt was made to reach 2nd Para at The Bridge.
Walk round the corner into Zwarteweg to the front of No 14 which may well have a picture of General Urquhart in the window.
Ahead is the site of the old St Elisabeth [called by English-speaking locals ‘the St Elisabeth’s’] Hospital which was converted into apartments in 2000. The facade and the Chapel (straight ahead) will be preserved and the Memorial Plaques it contained were donated to the Hartenstein Museum (qv) in January 2001 by the last surviving Trustee of the Hospital. There they safely await the time when they can be replaced in the Hospital. The Plaque that was in the main hall bears Airborne and Medical insignia, with the dates 17-25 September 1944, the other was donated to the Hospital by British Airborne Veterans. Outside the main entrance is Airborne Commemorative Marker No 6, commemorating 16th Field Ambulance’s stay in the Hospital.
‘Remember September 1944’ Memorial, Nassaustmat
Façade of the old St Elisabeth Hospital with Airborne Commemorative Marker No 6
Plaques from the Hospital, at present in the Hartenstein
By 2200 hours on 17 September 16th Para Field Ambulance had established itself in the Hospital as planned and started to treat casualties. A large Red Cross flag was hung above the main entrance. Lieutenant-Colonel Townsend, the CO, and Captain Lipmann Kessel, Surgeon to 16th Para Field Ambulance (qv), who had already seen service in North Africa and Sicily, liaised with the Dutch doctors. During that night 1st Para, blocked on the Upper Route by infantry and armour of Colonel Harzer’s 9th SS Panzer (Hohenstaufen) Division, swung down to this area and bitter house-to-house fighting by elements of 1st and 3rd Para took place in the small houses in the streets you have just walked through. By 0800 hours the following day the Germans had occupied the Hospital.
1st Para concentrated in the network of small streets while 3rd Para were some 400m further back along Utrechtseweg. That night, Monday, the 2nd South Staffs (1 Airlanding Brigade) and 11th Para Battalion (4th Para Brigade) arrived here and, at 0445 hours on Tuesday 19 September, a composite force set off towards what is now the PGEM building ahead with the aim of relieving 2nd Para at The Bridge. The attack was difficult. The force was spread out from the Lower Route, past here and uphill beyond the hospital, and was under heavy fire from all directions. Despite the fierce actions around the Hospital, the staff inside continued to care for German and British casualties. It was now under the command of Captain Skalka, the Divisionsarzt of the 9th SS, who ordered the entire medical unit to be ready to march off. Townsend protested vehemently and two surgical teams were permitted to stay at the Hospital under Major Longland and Captain Lipmann Kessel.
The British withdrew that night, reorganising around midnight at Oosterbeek first under Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson and then in the Church under Major Lonsdale.
CAPTAIN A.W. LIPMANN KESSEL AND BRIGADIER ‘SHAN’ HACKETT
On 24 September Brigadier Hackett (qv) arrived here by jeep and was soon seen by Lipmann Kessel who performed a brilliant operation on the serious wound in his lower abdomen and thereby saved his life. A German medical officer had advised that Hackett should be given a lethal injection of morphine as his case was hopeless. ‘Lippy’, whom Hackett described as ‘a man with a dark ugly clever face and large intelligent eyes … a South African Jew, inclined to Marxism, an intelligent and sensitive person who had settled into England in the thirties’, eventually helped ‘Piet van Arnhem’ (Piet Kruijff), leader of the Dutch Resistance in Arnhem, to spring Hackett (who had originally been tagged as a Corporal Hayter, then as a major, to hide his high-ranking identity) from the hospital. Piet would later also have Brigadier Gerald Lathbury and Major Digby Tatham-Warter (qv) in his network of safe houses in and near Ede (qv). He disguised Hackett as a badly wounded Dutchman and drove him by car to the house of Tonny de Nooij where he was hiding Lathbury before moving him on to the house where he would spend so many weeks in Torenstraat (qv).
As the British wounded were moved on to POW camps, Kessel was the last remaining British surgeon. His dedication and bravery during this period, when operations were often interrupted by falling bombs, by running battles in and around the hospital and intrusive visits from SS Officers, and while he battled against the German determination to move patients he considered too ill to disturb, were legendary. On 13 October Lippy and his small team were eventually sent to the British Hospital that was created in the barracks at Apeldoorn to help deal with the over 2,000 Allied and over 1,500 German casualties from the Arnhem-Oosterbeek battle area. On 16 October he escaped with Padre McGowan, Lieutenant-Colonel Herford and Major Longland to a safe house in Ede (qv) as described above. On 20 September 1945, Captain A.W. Lipmann Kessel was awarded the MC and the MBE. His military service is described in his book Surgeon at Arms and his distinguished career continued after the war.
Continue along Zwarteweg and turn first left along Nassaustraat to the memorial on the small green ahead.
The Memorial bears the legend, ‘Remember September 1944’. Erected by local residents, it was unveiled by General Urquhart in 1987, the year before he died and during the last visit he made to Zwarteweg. To the right at the top of Frederik Hendrikstraat runs the railway line.
Return down Frederik Hendrikstraat to your car, go back to the traffic lights on Utrechtseweg and pick up the main itinerary.
Continue over the next traffic light forking right downhill past the
4 Star Golden Tulip Rijnhotel with great views over the river on the right. Tel: + (0)26 4434642. You are effectively following the route taken by 2nd Para Battalion to the bridge.
Continue on Onderlangs past the grassed open space to the left with a modern sculpture group in the centre to
• Airborne Garden Sign and Memorial Seats (45.4 kms/28.4 miles) (Map 2/41)
By the sign is a traditional teak bench with the text,
Donated in remembrance of their fallen comrades by the 3rd Parachute Battalion to the people of Arnhem in recognition of their courage and unflinching support during the Battle of Arnhem September 1944.
Another similar bench nearby had its plaque missing in 2001.
Continue towards Arnhem. At 45.9kms/28.7 miles, before the roundabout complex, take the small slip road to the right on Boterdijk and park. Walk towards the grassy slope to the post on the wall to the right.
• Airborne Commemorative Marker No 7/45.9 kms/28.7 miles/10 minutes/Map 2/44
The plaque reads
On the morning of Tuesday 19 September 1944 a final attempt by the 1st and 3rd Battalons the Para Regt to break through to the Rhine Bridge failed. After heavy losses the remaining British troops finally withdrew to Oosterbeek.
Continue (by car) to the ‘blue’ and white waves of Roermonds Plein.
The ornamental ‘waves’ (originally blue and white but now faded to grey) on the ground mark the site of the old harbour and ‘Ship Bridge’ (pontoon bridge) which existed before the original road bridge was opened in 1935. RAF photographs show the centre of this floating bridge out of position as early as 6 September 1944 and on 17 September it was alongside the north bank of the river.
Continue under the Nelson Mandela Bridge following Centrum, Westervoort and Apeldoorn signs. Continue to the traffic lights and turn left signed P Markt. Follow the signs, passing the Eusebius Church on the left and park in the Market car park (47.5 kms/29.7 miles).
Note that this is paid parking. It makes an ideal base for a walking tour of the area of The Bridge before climbing up onto it. The area close to The Bridge has changed so much (in 1944 the houses were next to it on both sides with their roofs level with the roadway) that the best way to understand what happened is to be clear exactly where the two main centres of action were - Colonel Frost’s Headquarters and the school where Captain Eric Mackay fought. Both are visited on the walking tour.
Airborne Commemorative Marker No 7, Mandela Bridge in background
• Walking tour of some of Arnhem’s Monuments (approximate time: 40 minutes). See Sketch Map 6 for precise locations.
The Market Square, and most of the superb historic buildings surrounding it, was completely destroyed in September 1944. One exception is the medieval Sabelspoort which adjoins the modern Provincial House (Map 5/5), the first important building to be rebuilt after the war in 1954, the seat of the Gelderland Government. Visitable during normal office hours only.
Walk to the Provincial House, at the southern end of the square, go through the archway into the courtyard and look back.
To the right of the archway is a Plaque to the Civil Servants who lost their lives 1940-45.
Proceed into the building.
To the left of the entrance is a glass cabinet containing the Ceremonial Sword presented by General Urquhart, on behalf of 1st (BR) AB and 1st Polish Para Brigade Group, to the people of the Province of Gelderland to commemorate their courage and help during the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944 and after, when many risked their lives in assisting evaders to reach the Allied Forces operating south of the Rhine. The handsome Wilkinson Sword is engraved with all the badges of the participating Allies and has an enamelled Pegasus and Coat of Arms of the Province.
AB Cermonial Sword, Provincial House
Stained glass window, Devil’s House
Arnhem War Memorial
Descending parachutists, Eusebius Church
Site of John Frost HQ
Jacob Groenewoud Memorial Garden
Airborne Commemorative Marker No 8
Airborne Plein Memorial with twin spires of St Walburgis Church behind
Also on the Market Square (in the top left hand corner) is the old Weighhouse, an 18th Century neo-classical building which was restored to its former style after the battle. Today it is a café/restaurant which makes a convenient lunch break: De Waag, 38 Markt. Tel: + (0)26 3705960.
• Just above the top right-hand corner of the Square on Walburgstraat is the old Devil’s House (Map 5/3), another building which miraculously survived the battle. The residence of army commander Maarten van Rossum (whose statue stands atop the building) this 16th Century house was named for the satyrs which can be seen under the oriel window. Today it serves as the Burgomaster’s ceremonial parlour and adjoins the modern city Hall. It contains a Stained Glass Window (Map 5/3) which shows Amhem in flames with a Phoenix rising from the ashes and the coat of Arms of Arnhem - the double-headed eagle. It bears the dates 1945-1969 and Labor vincit omnia - work conquers all.
Plaque on The Bridge
• To the left of the Devil’s House is the Eusebius Church/Memorials (Map 5 1/2)
The original church was built between 1452 and 1650. During the German occupation most of the church bells were, as with many other Dutch churches, taken away to be melted down for the German war effort. In the 1944 battle, and by artillery fire during the following winter, the Eusebius Church was reduced to a shell by the fire bombs that rained on it and the decision was taken in the autumn of 1945 to rebuild it in the original style. Work began in 1947 and was not completed until 1964. German stone was used in the rebuilding of the tower. A second restoration of the church was undertaken in 1981-83 and the belfry was restored in 1992-4 when the carillon was enlarged with four heavy bells and a glass elevator was installed to take visitors 73 metres up to the panoramic platform on the tower. The view from the top gives a marvellous OP of the battlefield on a clear day and has identification markers and explanatory MARKET-GARDEN panels. From the lift the inscription on three of the new bells can be read and the top bells commemorate the soldiers who took part in the battle: Irish, Scotch [sic], Welsh, English, Polish, Canadians, Americans and Dutch. The money was raised by the Arnhem Bell Appeal, founded in London in 1993 and supported by Sir John Hackett. On 17 September 1994, the 50th Anniversary, Prince Charles, Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment, inaugurated the carillon by playing the bells.
From the vaulted arches of the Council Chapel to the right at the foot of the tower nineteen bronze parachutists appear to be descending. Designed by Simona Vergani, this dramatic and moving sculpture group was a gift of the Burgesses of Arnhem in 1994. In the Anna Chapel to the left is a stained glass window which commemorates all the citizens of Arnhem who lost their lives during the battle, a gift from a Committee of Inhabitants of Arnhem in 1994.
In the church itself is a stained glass window depicting the church in flames with dive bombing aeroplanes and the word ‘1944’. It is called the Battle of Arnhem or Liberation Window and was made by artist Joop Janssen. There are several memorial plaques throughout the church, one in memory of the Soldiers of the 2nd Platoon, 9th AB Field Regiment, RE, another commemorates the Liberation of Arnhem by the British 49th West Riding (‘Polar Bear’) Division and another the Resistance Fighters of Arnhem.
The historic but sophisticated Church Hall is a venue for social and business events. Tower Open: Tuesday-Saturday 1000-1700 hours. Sunday 1200-1700. Tel: + (0) 26 4428844. Entrance fee payable. There is a cafeteria and small souvenir stall by the entrance to the tower lift. A guide accompanies the visitor on the spectacular and speedy trip up.
In 2001 the need for further renovation work was discovered.
• In Kerk Plein outside the church is the Arnhem War Memorial which depicts a man defending himself against the might of the enemy. Entitled ‘Man Against Power’the powerful bronze statue was sculpted by Gijs Jacobs van den Hof (1889-1965). It was unveiled by Queen Juliana in 1953. It is here that wreaths are laid and a 2-minute silence is kept at 0800 hours each year on 4 May, Commemoration Day.
• Halfway up Bakkerstraat on the left, on the shop at No 62, is a Memorial Plaque to Five Civilians (Map 2/51) shot in this building on 19 September 1944. Among them was Dr Zwolle who had treated Corporal Arthur Maybury of 89th Para Security Section in the Huishoudschool on the Rijnkade where he was being sheltered, and took from him the list of Dutch NSB (National Socialist Movement) Members he was carrying. This probably cost the Doctor his life as it was discovered by the Germans when he went to get food for refugees. Two days later he was shot here, the van Gend en Loos building, then being used by the Wehrmacht as an HQ. Maybury died of his wounds and his body, initially buried in the garden of the school, was removed by the Germans and re-interred in a garden along Utrechtseweg. He is now buried in the Arnhem-Oosterbeek Cemetery [25.A.4.].
The remnants of No 4 Platoon of 2nd Para under Lieutenant Hugh Levien, who were acting as rearguard as B Company approached The Bridge ran into these side streets as they came under German fire. A member of the Dutch Resistance, Jan Brouwer, led them into the house of Miss Mieke Engelsman, also on Bakkerstraat, from where Levien was able to telephone his Company Commander, Doug Crawley (qv), at The Bridge. The house was soon surrounded by Germans and the group had to surrender after 24 hours when all their ammunition had been exhausted.
Return to the Market, walk down to the left of the Provincial House towards the river to the Oranje Wacht Straat.
• On the Tax Office, just past traffic lights, on the wall on the left is a black Plaque commemorating the site of Frost’s HQ (Map 5/6) in September 1944.
• Opposite on the Rijn Kade is a small park. Jacob Groenewoud Plantsoen/25-Pounder Gun/Polish Memorial/Information Boards (Map 5-9/9a)
The garden is named for Reserve Captain (Intelligence) Jacob Groenewoud and was opened on 8 September 1994. A sign board explains that Groenewoud, ‘the only Dutch Serviceman killed in this area on 18 September 1944’, was awarded the Military Order of William 4th Class, the Netherlands equivalent of the Victoria Cross or the Medal of Honour. Groenewoud, born in 1916, a Dutchman living in South Africa before the war, joined the Dutch Army in Britain. He then became a member of the Jedburgh Team Claude.
JEDBURGH TEAM CLAUDE
‘Jedburghs’ were teams of three (normally two officers and an NCO wireless operator) conceived by S.O.E. in 1942 to support Allied Operations with ‘unconventional warfare requirements’. This included being dropped behind enemy lines, liaising with local Resistance groups to direct their attacks on rail and signal communications and to support an invasion. Their international personnel had to ‘be experienced in handling men’, to speak French and/or Dutch, to be experienced in small arms, all round physically fit and have completed para training. They were named after the district in Scotland where they trained. By the spring of 1944 over seventy teams had been trained, including American (100 US officers were allocated) Belgian, British, Dutch and French members.
Six Jedburgh teams supported MARKET-GARDEN, five of them deployed in Holland. The team which supported 1st (BR) AB Division was codenamed CLAUDE and comprised Groenewoud and two Americans, Lieutenant Harvey Todd and T/Sergeant C.A. Scott. Its task was to advise the Divisional Commanders on using local Resistance groups and to maintain liaison between the AB Forces and Special Forces HQ in London. They dropped at 1400 hours on the 17th with the aim of advancing with the leading elements of 1st Brigade and contacting the ex-Burgomaster and Police Chief to help them re-establish government.
Todd, Groenewoud and Scott had a frenzied journey towards Arnhem, collecting transport, killing any Germans that crossed their path [‘They might have surrendered,’ wrote Todd, ‘but no time for PWs here’], liaised with the German doctor in the St Elisabeth Hospital to take British wounded and moved on towards The Bridge. There they made contact with Brigade HQ and some local officials. It soon became apparent that vital communication between the Bridge party and Divisional HQ had been lost and the Jedburgh’s wireless operator, Scott, had disappeared (he was actually with Divisional HQ). Despite initial successes, the situation had begun to worsen as heavy German tanks (a Tiger and a Mark IV) arrived and opened fire and Medics were overwhelmed with the number of wounded. Civilians reported a large column of vehicles heading towards Arnhem from the Amsterdam direction. Contact with HQ was vital. Groenewoud found out from civilians that there was still a working phone in the house of a doctor two blocks away. He persuaded Todd to accompany him and the two Jedburgh officers volunteered to make their way from the bridge area to the phone. Groenewoud was killed outright by a sniper’s bullet to the head as he crossed the road. Todd’s report stated that this was on 19 September. He later recommended his colleague for a gallantry award for ‘action above and beyond the call of duty’.
The recommendation was endorsed by Major J. A. Hibbert, RA (Brigade Major at The Bridge) writing from 1 (BR) Air Corps HQ at Rickmansworth on 19 April 1945. He added that ‘Captain Groenewoud was always in the forefront of the battle obtaining information from Dutch civilians and acting as interpreter when required. He led a section in the capture of the HQ of the German Area commander and seized some highly important documents dealing with the German plans for the destruction of docks and facilities in Rotterdam and Amsterdam.’
Todd fought through the whole of Frost’s stand at The Bridge. On 18 September he took up a position on the roof of a building overlooking the road from which he killed ten Germans although he was hit on his helmet and was out of action until the next day. He then killed eight more Germans and, using a Bren gun, knocked out a 20mm gun before he and Groenewoud set off to use the telephone. On the 20th he destroyed a machine-gun post but was knocked out of his place in the rafters and fell through the building to the first floor. As the remnants of The Bridge force attempted to make their escape during the night he silenced another machine gun with a grenade and hid in a tree, hoping that XXX Corps would turn up. When they didn’t he was captured on the 27th. After moves from camp to camp in Germany and in Poland, involving liberation by the Americans and recapture, he eventually escaped on 30 April 1945 and finally reported to OSS HQ in Paris with vital intelligence notes that he had managed to smuggle through repeated searches. When he was debriefed on 25 May his Report was classified as ‘Secret’.
Beside Groenewoud’s Board is a Canadian ‘Fickes’ [Vickers]-Armstrong 25-pounder gun. It is dedicated to 16th Para Field Ambulance and bears the legend, ‘A stone with a badge, a name, a date buried here, brothers, friend and mate they fought their battles to free us all till the bugle sounded their last call.’ The aeroplane propeller is a gift from the Arnhem ‘40-’45 War Museum (qv). There is a Polish Memorial, Photographs of the Battle and an Information Board with a sketch map of the action here.
In November 2000 the area was redecorated in Airborne colours and repaved.
Continue under The Bridge and turn left along Eusebiusbuitensingel to the concrete post on the left.
• Airborne Commemorative Marker No 8, Site of the Van Limburg Stirum School (Map 5/8)
This concrete marker, erected in 1999, with its bright golden-painted Pegasus, marks the site of the school which was held by a group of 1st Para Squadron RE under Captain Eric Mackay of A Troop from the evening of Sunday 17 September to midday Wednesday 20 September. Over the hours they sustained heavy casualties. When the upper storeys of the school were demolished by a Tiger tank on Wednesday, Mackay, down to about thirteen men, began to evacuate as many of his wounded as possible. Coming under fire again and sustaining more casualties, he was faced with a difficult decision - whether to surrender or to continue to fight. He decided that the safest thing for the wounded was to leave them, leading the remaining men north with the phrase ‘Every man for himself’ until only four remained. It was a decision that later brought him much criticism - doubtless he would also have been criticised had he surrendered.
On that Wednesday, the 20th, the only VC awarded at the John Frost Bridge was won by Lieutenant John Hollington Grayburn of No 2 Platoon, A Company, 2nd Para Battalion, known as ‘Jack’. Grayburn had been in the thick of any action from the first day, when he was part of a tangle with a German machine gun near the beginning of the southern route, the successful outcome of which he signalled with a bugle call as taught by Digby Tatham-Warter (qv), his Company Commander. Grayburn’s was the leading platoon and he reached The Bridge at about 2000 hours to take up a defensive position on the near side of the northern embankment. His first wound came when leading his platoon, with blackened faces and muffled boots, in an attempt to cross over the northern end of The Bridge. They were met with machine-gun fire at point blank range from the pill box on The Bridge and suffered heavy casualties. At the end of Tuesday, the 19th, Grayburn was put in charge of the remnants of A Company, as Tatham-Warter had been wounded for the second time and his 2i/c Captain Tony Frank was also wounded. During the morning of Wednesday the 20th the Germans placed explosive charges on the bridge. Grayburn accompanied a party of REs, led by Lieutenant Donald Hindley, in an attempt to remove the fuses. Grayburn was hit, but quickly had the wounds patched up and returned to the fray with a bandage round his head and his arm in a sling. A German tank then moved up in support and Jack Grayburn was killed.
Walk up Eusebiusbuitensingel and turn left under the tunnel into
• Airborne Plein Memorial/Map 5/4
In the centre of the circle is a Memorial to 1st AB Division in the form of a broken pillar - debris from the destroyed Palace of Justice. It was unveiled on 17 September 1945 by the Governor of the Province of Gelderland in the presence of General Frost and 200 survivors of the Division. It is the focal point of the annual wreath-laying commemorations in Arnhem during the Anniversary weekend. [In 2000 it was at 1900 on Friday 15 September]. The benches and railings around the circular area are painted in Airborne magenta. At either side are stone bas reliefs, one with the Pegasus insignia the other with the words ‘Battle of Arnhem ‘44’, erected in 1945. The local nickname for the circle is ‘the bear pit’!
The twin church spires to the left are on the St Walburgis Basilica. On 19 September 1944 a Focke-Wulf hit the towers whilst strafing the British soldiers on the bridge and crashed into a small lake which was on what is now Airborne Plein.
Walk through the tunnel on the left towards The Bridge.
The large complex of buildings to the right as you walk are the rebuilt Palais de Justice, State Archives and Tax and other administrative buildings.
Walk up the slope and onto The Bridge, being particularly aware of the fast-moving traffic on the cycle path.
• John Frost Bridge/Memorials (Map 5-8/10)
This is not the original bridge. The first one on this site was opened in 1935 and blown by the Dutch Army to stop the advancing Germans in the early hours of 10 May 1940. It was rebuilt by the Germans in early 1944 and was damaged by USAAF bombers on 6-7 October 1944. The Germans blew The Bridge at the end of October 1944. It was rebuilt by the Dutch and opened on 9 May 1950, the 5th Anniversary of the end of the War in Europe.
The Bridge was rebuilt to the original plans, so it looks much the same today as it did prewar. This is The Bridge Too Far, the target of 1st AB Division which, curiously, was not even marked on most British-issued operational maps which had been printed earlier than 1944. The maps were American, based on Dutch originals, but there was no doubt as to the position of The Bridge. The fighting here was bloody and intense and is well-documented in the Hartenstein Museum and in many books. The film A Bridge Too Far used the bridge at Deventer. About 500 men of 2nd Para Battalion under Lieutenant-Colonel Frost reached The Bridge around 2000 hours on 17 September and received some reinforcement from C Coy of 3rd Para Battalion and some Royal Engineeers of 1 Para Squadron. They occupied the houses that abutted the bridge ramps, their top floors level with, or higher than, the roadway. Against armoured cars, half-tracks, tanks and SS (Colonel Heinz Harmel’s 10th SS Panzer Division) the northern end (where you are standing) was held until around 0500 hours on Thursday 21 September when the remnants of the Battalion scattered, a final attempt to rally a force at what had been Frost’s HQ being unsuccessful. A truce had been arranged for the wounded to be evacuated - including John Frost, wounded earlier in the day - on Wednesday evening, but from that point on, exhausted and surrounded, with little ammunition and being burned out of their positions, the stubborn defenders had little chance. The Germans helped to collect the wounded and, using the Airborne’s jeeps, took them off to hospital. Although 1st AB Division did not capture the Arnhem Bridge, they did hold the northern end long enough to prevent German Panzers crossing it and influencing the battle for the Nijmegen Bridge.
• On the right at the top of the slope is a Plaque to John Frost and his men.
The authors stood here with John Frost, at a position virtually opposite his old HQ, and asked him to describe what had happened. This is what he said: -
A PERSONAL MEMORY
By Major-General John Frost
We squeezed our way through [the Lower Route] and the leading company and headquarters actually began to run down the road until we saw the great big bridge looming up ahead of us. One thing we were terrified of was to see this go up like the other bridge and so we occupied it as quietly as we could in the gathering darkness. We got into all the buildings which were controlling the bridge from the north end and we continued to let the traffic use the bridge. And then when we thought it was the right moment the leading platoon of A Company tried to go across. But they very quickly got spotted - I think by a machine gun - we don’t know if it was in some sort a pillbox [possibly on the site of the hut-like structure ahead that you will visit next] or much more likely in an armoured car. That produced sufficient fire, with the bullets ricocheting off the ground and off the spars of the bridge, so that almost half that platoon became casualties. So they came back. It was obvious that there was no future in trying to cross from this end of the bridge. To add to that, shortly afterwards three lorries came across and they were hit by machine-gun fire, caught fire and they began to blaze all through the rest of the night. Now the Germans began to attack, mostly from this side, but we were able to hold them off fairly successfully and then gradually as night grew on it became quieter. Now, unfortunately, the rest of the brigade was badly held up and they were given orders to stay where they were until the dawn and try again then. With me was the HQ of the Support Company and A Company and in the middle of the night along came C Company of the 3rd Battalion who had found a way up the railway line. Also there was the Brigade HQ, without the Brigadier, Freddy Gough’s Recce Sqn HQ and some Sappers. So the total force was probably some 500-600 men, not a complete fighting battalion. Knowing of course that we wanted both ends of the bridge, we tried to find some craft at the side of the old pontoon bridge [on the site of the present Nelson Mandela Bridge]. We had the idea we might be able to get someone across the far side that way.
They were unable to do so as the centre section of the pontoon was moored on the northern bank. The pillbox was attacked with PIATs, a 6-pounder gun and a flamethrower, igniting ammunition in a nearby hut, the heat setting the paint of the bridge afire. Captain D. J. Simpson RE was then ordered to take his half-troop of men of B Troop 1 Para Squadron to occupy the school (whose marker you visited earlier) and was joined shortly after by Captain Eric Mackay RE and A Troop, making a total of about forty fit souls. There were no Germans in the vicinity and they began to prepare the school for defence,’…the men rushing about and smashing windows with great glee. They were in high spirits.’ The night was relatively calm but at around 0930 hours the next day (18 September) a column of German half-tracks led by two scout cars came across the bridge. The scout cars got through but none of the half-tracks.
In 1946 Captain Simpson wrote, “The school was close to the ramp, overlooking it and it was possible to throw grenades straight into the uncovered vehicles. Car after car was hit and stopped, some of them bursting into flames. Those of the crews who were still alive endeavoured to jump out and run for cover but so determined and accurate was our fire that not one man got away.’ The school came under heavy mortar fire around midday and when Mackay discovered that it was ‘friendly’ and was coming from 2nd Para he stopped it ‘with some very fruity words’. Also in the force at the school was Major ‘Pongo’ Lewis of 3rd Para Battalion and a dozen of his men. Airborne accounts often ‘forget’ to mention the Engineers and Engineer accounts ‘forget’ the Paras. John Frost, however, was complimentary. According to John Waddy (qv) he said, ‘We of the Parachute Regiment always thought it a waste of time to use them as sappers when they were so good at killing the enemy.’ Both Mackay and Simpson were captured, but, using Mackay’s silk map, they escaped, together with two corporals, and were back in Nijmegen early on Saturday morning, 23 September. Mackay was awarded the DSC and Major Lewis was MiD.
• The Bridge was christened ‘The John Frost Bridge’ in September 1977 in the presence of the then Major-General Frost. A Sign in Airborne colours names ‘The John Frost Bridge’.
After much controversy and debate in the local press, and following a test section and survey in November 2000, it was decided to paint parts of The Bridge in Airborne colours. Further protests were made and a compromise was then reached by agreeing to paint some of the railings, but to achieve the coloured effect at night with blue floodlights.
Walk carefully along the path on the right to the shelter.
Inside is another Plaque, a Memorial to the soldiers who held The Bridge from 17-21 September 1944. It stands where the pillbox stood.
Standing here, the authors asked Major-General John Frost to tell them what he would want visitors who came here to know. This is what he said -
A PERSONAL ACCOUNT
By Major-General John Frost
We were very proud to have been selected for this task and we were disappointed that we couldn’t take both ends of this bridge, which was our aim. But we felt that that didn’t really matter as long as we could hold on to the north end and to start with we were in a tremendous state of morale. We felt that we had captured the real prize of the whole war and as long as we could hold on to it then we were going to see Guards Armoured Division, XXX Corps, the whole thing, steaming by to finish the war. And then gradually, it began to dawn that if it was going to happen at all it was going to happen much later than we hoped or expected. The biggest blow I think was when my Intelligence Officer said, ‘Oh sir, we are taking prisoners from the 9th SS Panzer Division and we have below an officer who speaks very good English. I think you ought to come and see him.’ I went down and saw this officer and said, ‘What are you doing here -1 thought you were finished in the Falaise Gap.’ He said, ‘Well so did we, but we’ve got an awful lot of our drivers and gunners and radio operators and officers and we’ve been up the road refitting. We hope to get reinforcements and I hope and expect the whole of our Division to be around you before very long.’ I think I offered him a whisky and soda. Anyway I wandered away rather sadly and knew then that the odds must be very much against us.
Frost was taken prisoner and was liberated from hospital in Obermassfeldt in March 1945 by General Patton’s Sixth Army. Major-General John Dutton Frost, MC, DSO and Bar, CB, then a farmer, died on 23 May 1993, age 80. His last military appointment was as GOC Malta and Libya (1961-64).
A tower of strength to his Battalion CO and an inspiration to the beleagured men near The Bridge was the OC of A Company, Major Digby Tatham-Warter. He took command when Frost was wounded, because the 2i/c, Major David Wallis, was tragically killed on the 18th by an RE sentry. This tall and colourful character, described by Frost as ‘a thruster if ever there was one’ and, with other officers, ‘tireless in directing men to new positions as and when they could. They kept control right to the end so that, when the wounded were evacuated and despite the resultant improvement in the enemy’s position, our men could go on fighting till they were physically overwhelmed.’ Tatham-Warter soon distinguished himself by his blasé brandishing of an umbrella which seemed to give him some sort of extraordinary protection until he, too, was twice hit. He continued, limping, with his arm in a sling, until he was forced to stay with the wounded, was taken prisoner and sent to hospital. He then crawled out of the hospital window with his 2/ic, Captain A. M. Frank. They were taken in by the Dutch Resistance and Tatham-Warter became the British co-ordinator of the great escape success of Pegasus 1 (qv) and was decorated with the DSO. After the war Tatham-Warter emigrated to Kenya. In 1991 he published his memoirs Dutch Courage and Pegasus. He died in March 1993, age 75.
Walk down the steps by the shelter and back to your car.
• Extra Visits to Evacuees Memorial, Arnhem Jewish & Moscowa Cemetery, Commemorative Cross, Dakota Crash site, Arnhem 1940-45 Museum, Diogenes German Command Bunker, Air Warfare Museum, Deelen Airport. Round trip: 33 kms/20.6 miles. Approximate time: 90 minutes
Turn left out of the Market car park, past the Eusebius church and turn left following Doorgaand Verkeer [through traffic] signs and left again at the traffic lights under the bridge, direction Apeldoorn. Continue up Eusebiusbuitensingel, past Airborne Commemorative Marker No 8 on the left to the traffic lights. Go straight over, past the Musis Sacrum Concert Hall on the left to the junction with Apeldoornseweg to the right opposite the Rembrandt Cinema and Theatre Café.
N.B. By continuing along Jansbuitensingel through to Willemsplein the Arnhem VVV is to be found on the right. Here you can obtain city plans, book accommodation, guided tours, walking and cycling tours, camping sites, find out about cultural or sporting events. Willemsplein 8, P.O.Box 552, 6800 AN Arnhem. Tel: 0900 20240 75. Fax: + (0) 26 4426767. Beyond the VVV is the Arnhem Railway Station, with money-changing facilities and beyond it the Bus Station. Within easy walking distance of here there is a plethora of restaurants of all nationalities, supplying everything from a quick snack to an exotic Indonesian meal. A list of restaurants (and hotels, hostels, camping sites) may be obtained from the VVV, though much literature has to be paid for.
The 4 Star Best Western Hotel Haarhuis (qv) is opposite the Station.
Try to pull in just before the turning to Apeldoornseweg on the right. Walk round the corner.
Evacuees Plaque, Arnhem (Map 2/49) (2.2 kms/1.4 miles)
The bronze plaque is on the wall of the first building on the left along Apeldoornseweg. This is one of the main roads along which the evacuees from the fighting of September 1944 were swept. The bas relief, with the words which translate, ‘Away, away, but where to…? 1944 Sept-April 1945’, was sculpted by Mark Geels of Arnhem in 1995.
Return to your car and continue to the right up Apeldoornseweg, under the railway, following signs to Moscowa.
On the left is Sonsbeek Park, designed in traditional English garden style. It is a delightful leisure area with deer park, lakes, a waterfall, a tea house and restaurants. Important exhibitions of sculpture are held here, the 9th being in the summer 2001.
N.B. At the end of the park there is a left turning along Wagnerlaan (3.4 kms/2.1 miles). This is signed to the large Rijnstate Hospital. During the war this was known as the Municipal Hospital and British medics and their patients who had been taken prisoner were brought here during the Battle. It had been designated as the objective of 181st Airlanding Field Ambulance in the MARKET plan (Map2/47).
Arnhem Evacuee Memorial
THE SHOOTING OF CAPTAIN BRIAN BROWNSCOMBE
There on 24 September took place one of the most regrettable incidents of the Battle. On 17 September Captain Brownscombe, RMO of the 2nd South Staffs, landed on LZ S and set up an RAP at Reijers Camp Farm (qv). As the Staffords moved on with the fighting, Brownscombe set up another RAP at the Muncipal Museum. On the 19th the Germans overran the Museum and the medics and their patients were taken prisoner. Brownscombe was then brought to the Arnhem Municipal where he took care of both British and German casualties. On Sunday 24 September he was invited for a chat and a drink with other doctors, both British and German, and two British Chaplains and a Dane, Knud Flemming Helweg-Larsen, who had joined the Waffen SS and was working with a propaganda unit in the Arnhem area to fire off material at British troops. Brownscombe was invited to the German billets. On his return he stood outside the hospital talking when he suddenly fell, shot through the head. Helweg-Larsen reported that the shooting had been committed by a drunken Karl Gustave Lerche, another member of the SS propaganda unit. After a convoluted story [told in detail in the booklet For No Apparent Reason by R. M. Gerritsen] Lerche was finally arrested in 1952, brought to trial in 1955 and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment (of which he served eight) for the war crime of murder. Captain Brownscombe, ‘a first-class doctor and … possessed of all the soldierly virtues’, was originally buried in the grounds of the Municipal Hospital and later reburied in the Oosterbeek CWGC Cemetery (qv).
Continue to the Synagogue in front of a walled cemetery to the left (4.5 kms/2.8 miles)
• Arnhem Jewish Cemetery (Map 2/48)
This adjoins the Moscowa cemetery and contains the grave of Sapper Gabriel Sion of the Jewish Bde Group, RE, 9 April 1946. His grave is marked by a private memorial. To visit the grave permission should be obtained from the Synagogue at the entrance.
Continue past the Jewish Cemetery. Take the next exit right signed Openluchtmuseum and turn back under Utrechtseweg signed to Moscowa Cemetery at the crossroads on to Schelmseweg. Continue to the Arnhem 50 kms sign on either side of the road. Turn left to Moscowa Cemetery and park by the gates to the right of which is a green CWGC sign.
• Arnhem (Moscowa) General Cemetery (Map 2/46) (6.6 kms/4.1 miles)
This wooded and landscaped cemetery covers many acres and in it are a Reception area, Chapel and Crematorium. It was named for Napoleon’s campaign in Russia. The British plot lies on both sides of the avenue leading from the gate, S. H. Frederikslaan. It contains 37 graves, one of which is Unknown. There are 30 UK RAF, 3 RCAF (including WOII R.J. Lynn, 3 February 1943, age 29, whose personal message is ‘An American citizen who gave all for his ideals’) and 3 Polish Airmen. Dates of death range between 14 April 1940 and 10 September 1944. There are also two Dutch graves.
The touching custom of placing the floral tributes from cremations on these military graves is often observed.
Among other Resistance Workers buried in the cemetery are the brothers Bert and Hans Kuik, shot by the Germans on 3 November 1944. They were part of the ‘Rolls Royce’ group that helped with escapes from the St Elisabeth Hospital and also hid evading Paras and Jews in their house. Their story has been written up by Paul Vroeman (Paul.vfoemen@hetnet.nl).
The cemetery opens daily at 0830 and shuts at 1630 in the winter and 1900 in other months except May, June and July - 2100 hours.
Return to Schelmseweg, cross straight over at the NIBRA (Netherlands Fire Brigade Training Centre) sign. Turn off and park in the car park on the right. Walk up the cycle path to just short of the motorway. To the left is
Cross to 19 civilians
CWGC Headstones, Moscowa Cemetery
• Cross in Memory of Nineteen Civilians (Map 2/45)
They were shot on this spot in reprisal for the strike of May 1943. The nineteen victims came from many districts in the area and their names are listed on the granite panel below the wooden Celtic-shaped cross. Behind the cross is a steep bank into which errant bullets sank during the executions. The cross has been adopted by the local Pieter Breugel School.
Return to your car and continue past the entrance to the right of
• The Dutch Open Air [Openlucht] Museum (Map 2/50)
This fascinating museum shows life in Holland as it used to be and as it is today. In the ‘Hollandrama’ a capsule takes the visitor past landscapes and townscapes from three centuries, incorporating changes in temperature, scents and sounds, with home videos and original artefacts. In the new entrance hall there are two exhibition rooms, an auditorium and a shop. In the car park is a coffee house.
In September 1944 600 of the evacuees who fled out of Arnhem along Apeldoornseweg sought refuge in the museum’s listed ancient houses, brought from all parts of Holland, which were maintained with antique furniture and utensils. Because of the value of the historic contents of the houses, the evacuees were not allowed to light fires in them and had to rely for warmth and cooking facilities on stoves outside the buildings throughout the harsh winter of 1944/45. They stayed there for 100 days - until strayV1s fell on the museum from the nearby launching pads, when they were moved. In the museum today there are some photos from this period. Open: 21 April - 29 October daily. Tel: + (0) 26 3576100.
Continue past the entrance to the right to the
Burgers’ Zoo. This was bombed during the Operation and many of the wild animals escaped and were seen roaming the area. Opened in 1913, today it shows wild life in different covered ‘worlds’ - the Bush, the Savannah, the Desert, the Ocean etc. - in natural-looking environments. There is a restaurant and other fast food outlets.
Open: Every day from 1 April-1 November 0930-1700 hours, June, July, August until 1800 hours. Tel: + (0) 26 4450373. Entrance fee payable.
Take the third turning right after the traffic lights onto Bakenbergseweg. Continue some 300m to a birch tree with broken branches on the right by house No. 264.
• Dakota Crash Site (Map 2/32) (10.7 kms/6.7 miles)
Dakota F2626 of 271 Squadron flown by Pilot Officer John Leonard (Len) Wilson had already made two sorties to Arnhem from Down Ampney on 17 and 18 September. Mechanic Alan Hartley begged to go on the third sortie. Wilson agreed, but at the last minute he was moved to a different aircraft and the replacement pilot refused to take Hartley. This saved his life as both Dakotas crashed, that flown by Len Wilson at this site. WOl Les Gaydon (the navigator) parachuted to safety but Wilson, Flight Sergeants Herbert Osborne and Reginald French were all killed and are buried together at the Oosterbeek CWGC Cemetery [4.B.13/14/16.]. Visiting their graves in the early 1950s, Alan Hartley noticed an ‘Unknown Airman’ in their midst. Further research proved him to be Air Despatch Driver James Grace. The headstone has now been amended. Air Despatch Driver Richard Newth is buried in another plot [6.D.2.] (he died at the St Elisabeth Hospital). Two other Air Despatchers, Jenkinson and Didworth, parachuted out and were taken prisoner.
Continue, following the road round to the right along Strolaan to the T-junction with Kemperbergerweg. Turn left. Continue under the motorway bridge and stop immediately on the right. Turn into the museum car park.
• Museum 40-45 Arnhem (Map 2/31) (13.9 kms/8.7 miles)
The Museum, as its name implies, covers more than the MARKET-GARDEN period and vividly pictures the life of the local people during the wartime years. Featuring largely is the Polar Bear insignia of the 49th West Riding Division which liberated Arnhem. It contains the collections of thirty local people, who jointly bought the building and brought their items together under one roof in 1994. It is manned by enthusiastic volunteers. As one approaches the entrance there is a plaque on the wall to the right which commemorates people shot by the Germans. The owners rescued it from the house on which it originally stood and placed it here.
The captions in the Museum are in Dutch, English and German. It contains many domestic and military artefacts and ephemera (such as an original photo album of wartime pictures that have never been published) which give a vivid picture of life in the ‘40s under Occupation and through the Allied invasion. In the MARKET-GARDEN section is an original parachute and an extremely accurate model of the John Frost Bridge. One of the prize exhibits is the rare Kettenratt - a tracked motorbike painted in desert colours, only two of which were used at Arnhem, mostly on the airfields. There is a re-creation of a radar outpost, codenamed Teerose, which was one of the outstations of the Diogenes Command Post Bunker (qv).
Note the original sign which proclaims ‘SAFE LANE’. Had such a sign been placed on the main Corridor, or at the beginning of the Sand Road (qv), rather than a ‘DANGER MINES’sign, XXX Corps might have reached John Frost in time.
There is a shop which sells militaria and a pleasant cafeteria. An annual Militaria Fair is held here. At the front of the museum is a German tank.
Open: Tuesday-Sunday 1000-1700. Closed Mondays, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Entrance fee payable. Tel: + (0) 26 4420958.
Continue to the road junction. On the left is
• Pannekoekhuis Den Strooper. This is one of several traditional pancake houses in the area and is ideal for a fairly quick and simple lunch during a day’s touring. The range of toppings for the hearty pancakes is staggering. Tel: + (0) 26 3516987.
Turn left on the N311 Koningsweg, signed Utrecht. Continue.
To the left, over the fence, is a campsite. In 1944 this was the site of the mess and dormitories for the Diogenes Command Bunker (qv).
Continue past the entrance on the right to the Krôller-Müller Museum
• The Krôller-Müller National Museum is set in Holland’s largest nature reserve, 13,000 acres, ‘De Hoge Veluwe’, with red deer, wild boar and other species. In the centre is the world-famous collection of Van Gogh, Seurat, Picasso, Mondriaan etc, opened in 1938. Museum Open daily, except Mondays, 1000-1630 hours. Tel: + (0) 318 591041. The Park is also Open daily, in the summer months from 0800 - at least 2000 hours. There is an entrance fee for the Park and a supplement for the Museum.
100m later turn up the small road to the right signed Rijks Archief
• German Command Bunker Diogenes (Map 2/30) (14.9 kms/9.3 miles)
In early 2001 a new cycle path and entrance to the bunker were made, disclosing another smaller bunker nearby. Tel: + (0) 26 4455651. There is a set group Entrance fee -for one or more persons.
N.B. The interior of this vast edifice can only be visited by prior appointment during normal working hours. This extraordinary site is little-visited and rarely mentioned in accounts of the MARKET-GARDEN campaign and yet it had enormous importance. Well worth a visit if you can fit it into your schedule.
Today the vast building houses part of the State Archives (although they are due to move out in January 2002) and the overflow collections of some museums. On the exterior the traces of filled-in bullet holes can be seen.
In 1944 this was the Command Post for German Fighter Command covering all parts of Belgium and Holland. It was codenamed Diogenes, with its initial letter coming from the airport at Deelen, as all such facilities were named after philosophers. It had been built in 12 months in 1942/3 by slave labour with walls 3-3.5metres thick. A light railway line was constructed to bring up the tons of concrete required for the bunker from Wolfheze Station to here. Information about Allied air activity was phoned in from outlying radar posts (the remnants of many of which can be found in the area) and even directly from German pilots. A team of fifty German girls, known as Luftnachrichtenhelferinnen but nicknamed ‘Grey Mouses’ because of their field grey uniforms, then used a sophisticated system of plotting by triangulation and pinpointed the movements of aircraft on a huge glass screen by the use of little lights - green for German and red for Allied. The Luftwaffe was then despatched to attack the intruders. So advanced was its technology that the Command Post was featured - without, of course, divulging its location - in Signal Magazine No 10 in 1944. VIPs such as Göring visited it.
Security was extremely strict. The building was well camouflaged with earth on top in which disguising trees were planted. Only the personnel who worked on this system were allowed in the plotting room, although up to 400 people worked in the building at any one time in shifts. Few local people had any inkling of what took place here, although Dutch intelligence warned the Allies of a huge building with a railway leading to it. Their information was apparently ignored.
In one of those mystery stories which have become part of the MARKET-GARDEN mythology, it has recently been reported in Dutch articles that on 16 September, the day before MARKET-GARDEN, a lone B-17 flew over the area. The size of the B-17’s escort varies from four to 400 planes! The story goes that a German working here reported the sighting to Hauptsturmfuhrer Viktor Grabner and the SS Panzer Divisions who were regrouping here. It was assumed that a very senior officer was on board - could it have been Montgomery himself? Something was obviously ‘up’. Ground antiaircraft were alerted and it was assumed that, in view of the extreme importance of the Command Post, any invasion force in the area would have as its prime target the destruction of the bunker. Further research, however, has established that while there were, in fact, two sorties by B-17s on that day they had nothing whatsoever to do with MARKET-GARDEN but were recconnaissance flights to discover information about the radio frequencies connected to the V-2 launching sites!
Musuem ‘40-’45
Diogenes Command Bunker
When the drops and landings were confirmed the following day the Germans attempted to blow up the bunker. Only a few minor holes were made in the thick walls, but all installations were destroyed and the building was abandoned. The personnel were transported by train to similar facilities in Germany and their work carried on seamlessly as these air tracking stations were designed to overlap. In 1948 a Dutch bomb disposal airman was defusing bombs in the area when one blew up and five people were killed. Little damage was sustained by the building itself.
In 1994 a German couple, who both worked here in 1944 and who later married, made a sentimental journey to the site of their courtship. Their visit was reported by the local paper.
Return to Koningsweg and turn left. Continue some 3kms, direction Apeldoorn, and continue to some imposing white buildings on the left.
Now the existing Deelen airport staff buildings, they were built by the Germans as administration buildings during the war.
Turn left on the small road Leipzigerweg signed to Deelen immediately after.
To the left in the large fenced area Deelen Airport and assembly bunkers are clearly visible after the trees. This is a military, not a commercial, airfield and is only otherwise used for VIP flights. During the war this was the Luftwaffe night fighter base. The runways are original and wartime hangars are currently used by the farmers who have permission to farm within the restricted area. The old Luftwaffe Cinema is now the mess for airfield staff. The airfield was heavily bombed in September 1944. After the war much military materiel - hundreds of vehicles, well-preserved in the sandy soil - was buried within the airfield perimeter.
Continue on Hoenderloseweg to a sharp bend left. Turn left into the car park of
•The Luchtoorlog 1939-1945 Museum (Map 1N/58) (20.6 kms/12.9 miles) The Airwarfare Museum, opened in 1996, is in the old German Under-Officers’ Mess/Squadron Admin HQ, erected in 1941/2 with the strong, thick walls of a bunker, built to withstand a shot from a 500-pounder from 15 yards. The museum is manned by enthusiasts Robert Marcus and Piet Zeeman, whose personal collection forms the bulk of the exhibits. In 2000 the owners were worried that the museum was under threat in its present housing, - the natural place for it, but which is only on loan - so make sure you ring for the latest situation before you visit. A 3-year reprieve seemed likely in 2001.
On the wall by the car park is the propeller of an Unknown B17 Flying Fortress excavated from the Ijsselmeer in 1995. Outside the entrance is the prize possession - a French 75mm gun used by the Germans, called ‘Emil’, which was dug out of the mud near Elden in 1996. On 17/18 September 1944 it shot down several planes and slowed down the Allied ground forces across the Rhine. It was ranged on the crossroads near the Airborne Garden on the lower road (qv). As the distance to the target was so small the gun could not depress sufficiently and it had to be placed in a pit. On 21 September, when German panic was at its highest as XXX Corps approached, the gun was blown up before the crew hurriedly departed. They have actually been traced and have visited their gun here.
The Museum illustrates many aspects of the activity in Dutch skies, with exhibits which include pilots’ equipment, navigational instruments - even one of the light sticks used by a ‘Grey Mouse’ from Diogenes (qv) - and parts from excavated wrecks, and charts the history of Deelen Airfield at war, especially at night. It is very well maintained with clear captions in Dutch and English and has a good ‘human’ feeling with many personal stories.
It is the HQ of the Dutch Aircraft Examination Group, established in 1989 with the aim of studying the air war over Holland over the ‘39-‘45 period when approximately 7,500 aircraft came down on Dutch soil. The DAEG works on the recovery of missing aircrew and the excavation of crash sites and is involved in historical research. Although some battlefield archaeologists have come under criticism for their excavation methods, the DAEG prides itself on its professionalism and meticulous liaison with the appropriate authorities whenever they discover an aircraft. One of their successes is illustrated in the Museum: the discovery of Spitfire Mk 9 Pilot, Richard Eric Chambers of 416 RCAF Squadron, listed as ‘Missing with no Known Grave’ on the Runnymede Memorial for 50 years. His aircraft was found 10kms to the east of Nijmegen. Pilot Officer Chambers, age 24, 29 September 1944, is now reburied in Groesbeek CWGC Cemetery (qv) [XXIV.D.14.] Open: Saturday and Sunday 1000-1700. Tel: + (0) 26 4422881
Return to Koningsweg. Turn left signed Apeldoorn. Continue over the motorway, turn right immediately after and continue back into Arnhem Centrum, to the corner of Apeldoornseweg. Go straight over the traffic lights, with the Musis Sacrum on the left, to Airborne Plein and turn right signed Centrum and left following signs to Langstraat Parking and return to Markt Parking. Rejoin the main itinerary.
‘Emil’ gun, Deelen Airwarfare Museum
Leave the car park, return past the Eusebius church. Take the first left, signed Doorgaand Verkeer, to the traffic lights and turn left onto Eusebiusplein following Westervoort. Go under the John Frost Bridge and immediately turn left, following signs to Oosterbeek. Turn left at the second traffic lights, go round the roundabout and left to Nijmegen. Drive over the John Frost Bridge.
Note that the towers on The Bridge were for electrical equipment and, as is shown in contemporary photographs and drawings, that in 1944 the Germans had erected wooden structures on top of them. Also note that from the northern end one cannot see the southern end of The Bridge. Today trolley buses drive over The Bridge. The district at the southern end is the suburb of Arnhem to which the people of Rotterdam had been evacuated. They arrived only to be caught up in the fighting here.
Turn right at the traffic lights along Batavierenweg signed Heteren/Geldredome past the entrance to the Nelson Mandela Bridge. Follow signs to the right to Heteren/Driel. Continue to the crossroads signed Elden to the left, Heteren/Driel to the right.
• Extra Visits to Elden, Civilians’ Memorial Column (Map 2/37)/Plaque on St Lucas Church (Map 2137)/Original 1940s Roadway/Lancaster Bomber Memorial (Map 2/36). Round trip: 5.9 kms/3.7 miles. Approximate time: 15 minutes.
Turn left over the bridge and immediately right signed Elden onto Klapstraat. Continue into the town and stop by the memorial column on the right.
The Commemorative Column in French Euville limestone is in the shape of a cross and crowned by the Dutch Lion holding the Dutch Coat of Arms on a shield, erected in 1954. It lists the thirty-nine citizens who lost their lives during the war - in May 1940, 22 February 1944 during an air raid on Arnhem, during raids on Huissen on 2 and 5 October and by landmines in June 1945.
Walk to St Lucas Church in the square, De Brink.
On the wall at the back of the Church is a Headstone Memorial to Johan van Hal, born in 1908 and his son, Theo, born in 1934. They were both killed in the bombardment of Arnhem 22 February 1944 and the stone was raised by both Catholics and Protestants of the district.
The white windmill behind the square is, like most restored mills in the Netherlands, open on Saturday for demonstrations of milling, sale of flour etc.
Turn right on Rijksweg West signed Elst. After some 300m you drive along
Original 1940s Roadway. The road ahead leads to Nijmegen along the line of the 1944 road. At the time it was barely wide enough for two vehicles to pass and had ditches on either side. High profile Sherman tanks were virtually sitting ducks to anti-tank weapons fired from the open flanks. As the houses (many of which are from pre-1944) end there is a small section of road which, although repaved, is still the same width and still has the characteristic deep ditches at either side. In the ditch on the left runs a small stream that used to flow all the way to Nijmegen
Continue to the traffic lights and turn right on Burgemeester Matsersingel signed Elst. Continue over the traffic lights at Sporthal Elderveld, turn 1st right onto to Rotterdamsingel and then 2nd right on Delftweg. Continue to the barrier and drive past the sign which says ‘Uitgezonderd bestemmingsverkeer’ (meaning ‘residents only’) and continue to the memorial on the left.
Lancaster Bomber Crash Monument
The memorial, which was unveiled in 1992, records that on this spot on 17 June 1944 a Lancaster of the RCAF came down with the entire crew. It then lists the names of seven men, although the normal crew of a Lancaster was ten. Locals rushed to try and help the men but sadly they all perished. Of the seven, Flying Officer A.F. Hupman, age 30, Pilot Officer, H. Fletcher, age 22, Pilot Officer C.S. Johnston, age 21, Pilot Officer PJ. McManus, age 27, Flying Officer D. Morrison, and Pilot Officer E. Fahy, age 21, all of 419 Squadron RCAF, and Pilot Officer G.E. Quinn of 405 Squadron RCAF, age 26, are all buried in Groesbeek CWGC Cemetery (qv). Morrison, Fahy and McManus are mis-spelled on the memorial. Today the memorial is cared for by the local Scouts who hold an annual wreath-laying ceremony on the day of the crash.
Return to Burgemeester Matsersingel, turn left and left again at the traffic lights, signed Centrum following signs to Arnhem Noord. Filter right following signs to Driel to the left. Continue over the bridge to the junction and pick up the main itinerary.
Lancaster Bomber Crash Monument, Elden
Turn right along the small Drielsedijk signed Driel/Hetcren.
The road runs along the top of the dyke and, when in flood, the river rises to within lm of the road. The river has been considerably widened here since the war, but the panorama of the battlefield remains accurate. Ahead is the railway bridge and over to the right across the river is Oosterbeek.
Continue to the generator on the left.
• Windmill Generator/54.2 kms/33.9 miles/5 minutes/Map 2/35/OP
This is one of many pumps which drain water from the below-river-level Betuwe into the River Rhine. As an OP it gives a remarkable overall picture of the Arnhem battlefield and its salient points.
Face the radio/TV tower across the river.
That is Den Brink across the river at 12 o’clock. Immediately to its right is the round dome of the prison and the Eusebius Church spire and the twin spires of St Walburgis Church are at 2 o’clock. To their right is the span of the John Frost Bridge. Across the road to the right of the Water Authorities building (which is an original water station that was here in 1944) is a blue sign, erected by the Elden Historical Society, describing the Battle of the Water in December 1944 (Map 2/34). On Saturday 2 December, in what they named OPERATION STORK, the Germans blew a great hole in the dyke here, thus flooding great tracts of The Island and forcing the Allies back south. So extensive was the flooding that it threatened the Germans’ own defences and they were forced to try to build a caisson here, which was swept away by the strong current. In January 1945 the Over Betuwe was dry again but in February the Rhine came through once more with enormous force. In April 1945 the 225m hole was temporarily closed, but its traces can be seen by a careful examination of the dyke.
Continue under the railway bridge to the memorial on the left just before a bus stop.
• RE Memorial/55.8 kmsl 34.9 miles/10 minutes/Map 2/29
The main memorial of polished granite has the RE Badge and the Royal Canadian Engineers Badge and an image of the crossing of 25/26 September 1944 on black marble. In gold letters is the legend,’…they were just whispers and shadows in the night’. To the left is a marble frame with an orientation map of the North Bank sites and a description of the position on 25 September 1944 when the battle was still raging and the position of the troops on the northern bank had become untenable. [If foliage on the trees ahead obstructs the view in the summer, move slightly to the left.] The evacuation across the river, codenamed BERLIN, brought hundreds of soldiers in small parties following the marker tapes to the north-bank forelands below the Old [Lonsdale] Church, clearly visible from here. They waited to be rescued under heavy German fire from Westerbouwing. British and Canadian companies of Engineers made dozens of trips in their small boats from this bank, many boats being sunk by artillery and mortar fire. That one night, supported by other units, they managed to rescue 2,400 airborne troops [there is considerable variation in accounts as to the precise number - some say 2,720] between 2200 hours and 0545 hours on the 26th, landing them in this area. At the time the rescued hardly saw their savers, so they were never able to thank them. This monument was erected on 15 September 1989 to express their gratitude.
Many years later Horrocks reflected on the need for the operation in a fitting epitaph:
Royal Engineers Memorial and detail
By Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Horrocks, KCB, KBE, DSO, MC, LLD.
I’m afraid things didn’t go very well that night [24 September]. The 4th Dorsets were put across and they fought very gallantly but next morning all communication with them had ceased. We were getting desperately short of assault boats. Our road to the rear was cut again. The Germans got another armoured Division across it and it was cut this time for a further 48 hours. No transport could come up or down and the fresh assault boats - the ones we wanted - were the other side of the cut. We were also getting very short of ammunition. One regiment was down to 5 rounds per gun. So General Browning and I cleared our caravans and discussed the situation together and it was quite obvious it was impossible to go on now right up the Zuyder Zee - that was off. We were too stretched. The only thing to do was to bring back the 1st AB Division over the river into our lines and consolidate our gains which, after all, had been considerable - we had freed a large part of Holland and what was more important than anything else we were right up to the Rhine and that was to have a very important part in future operations. So that’s what we did and that night of the 25th, under a Corps artillery barrage, 2,323 exhausted Airborne troops got back across the river into our lines. Some of them were naked, swimming across, some in rafts, some in boats. They had gone in 10,000 strong 9 days before. I shall never forget that night. It poured and it poured with rain and it seemed to me that even the Gods were weeping at this sorry end to a gallant enterprise.
It is ironic that from here, in the very centre of the area through which the survivors of 1st AB Division withdrew on the night of Monday 25 September, the exact point can be seen (face down the road behind you) where, just 7.5 miles (12kms) away, below the chimneys of the Nijmegen power station, 504th PIR of the 82nd AB Division made their heroic assault crossing of the River Waal at 1530 on Wednesday 20 September. So near, yet so far.
Continue along the dyke which becomes Rijndijk Oost.
To the right is a sign to Oosterbeek.
• Driel-Heveadorp Ferry/56.6 kms/35.4 miles
This is the site of the Driel-Heveadorp vehicle ferry, now only used for pedestrians and cyclists. Sails: February-November Mon-Fri 0700-1800. March-October Mon-Fri 0700-1800, Sat 0900-1800. Sun 1000-1800. Closed December-January. Tel: + (0) 26 3343083.
On the opposite bank the Westerbouwing tower (qv) can be seen, as well as the Old [Lonsdale] Church. It was to and from the north bank between the two that all crossings of the river came and went.
The task given to 1st AB Division was to capture all the bridges over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem. This was interpreted by General Urquhart to mean the railway bridge, the pontoon bridge (where the Nelson Mandela Bridge is today) and the road bridge (the John Frost Bridge). The Driel cable ferry, which in September 1944 was capable of carrying half a dozen cars, was not considered. As the situation of the troops within The Perimeter worsened and the position of 2nd Para at the northern end of The Bridge deteriorated, the drop of the Polish Brigade was shifted to Driel in the hope that the Brigade could be moved over the river using the ferry. The ferry was in full working order and Cora Baltussen, a Dutch girl working with the Resistance and who gave intelligence to the Poles (qv), travelled across it on Monday 18 September. As late as Tuesday 19 September civilians were still crossing on the ferry from Driel to Oosterbeek to buy bread.
It was still available on the night of 20 September and used by two sapper officers to cross en route from Oosterbeek to Nijmegen. By the time the Poles arrived on 21 September, the Germans controlled the northern ferry exit and the ferry had been sunk - the ferryman, Peter Hensen, claimed to have done this to prevent the Germans from crossing. Had elements of 1st AB Division been told to cross the river by the ferry on 17 September and to make their way to the southern end of The Bridge, the Arnhem story might have been quite different.
Continue to, and take, the turning to Driel. Continue to the T-junction by the church.
Heteren (Driel) Protestant Churchyard (Map 2/20). Just inside the gate of the small churchyard behind the church to the right is buried WOII (CSM) Frederick Adams, 5th DCLI, age 33, 24 September 1944, killed in the De Hucht Crossroads incident (qv).
Turn left and continue to the second church and park on the right by the memorial.
• Polish Memorials, 5th DCLI Plaque, Driel/58.2 kms/36.4 miles/15 minutes/Map 2-21/22
The dramatic monument symbolises the Polish Nation and bears the legend, ‘Poland Arise!’ It was sculpted by Jan Vlasblom of Rotterdam and was presented to the Polish Airborne forces by the inhabitants of Driel on 21 September 1959, the 15th Anniversary. It contains a casket filled with Polish soil and has the emblem of the Polish Brigade. On the 35th Anniversary in 1979 two short columns were erected, flanking the memorial. On the left is a black marble plaque with the roll of honour of the ninety-four Polish Airborne men killed in action. On the right are the coats of arms of Poland and Warsaw. There is also a stone plaque from the people of Driel to their Polish Liberators, the memorial tablet from the first, provisional, monument. This had been unveiled by Lieutenant-Colonel A. Szczerbo-Rawicz on 21 September 1946. The present monument is surmounted by a rising slab of concrete that symbolises Poland’s spirit and intrepid courage. It was unveiled by Major-General Sosabowski on 16 September 1961. The figure of Youth steps forward from it, carrying the precious jewel of freedom in his hands.
Strong bonds were formed between the Polish Paratroopers and the residents of Driel and the surrounding area which remain to this day. The Driel-Polish Committee was formed in 1945 and the inhabitants adopted the graves of the Poles killed in action. When they were reinterred in the Oosterbeek CWGC Cemetery in 1946 the people of Driel continued to put flowers on the Polish graves. In December 1946 the schoolchildren sent Christmas greetings to all the Polish Parachutists who fought in Driel in 1944 and in February 1947 the Polish Paras donated a large sum of money for the rebuilding of the Boys’ School which had served as a Military Hospital during the battle. In May 1949 this school (which no longer operates as a school) was named the St. Stanislaus Kostka School and the street in which it is situated was called Casimirstraat. The main square of Driel became Major-General S. Sosabowskiplein. The Freedom of the Municipality of Heteren was bestowed on the General on 18 September 1954. A Standard was presented to the Polish Airborne Association by the inhabitants on 12 September 1959. In September 1969 a commemorative medal was presented to all Polish veterans who had fought at Driel. In September 1987 the children of the three schools in Driel adopted the Memorial and in 1991 the Square was reconstructed and became known as Plac Polski - Poland Square.
Opposite the Memorial is the St Stanislav Church whose tower was used as an OP by the Poles as well as by General Horrocks when planning the Dorsets’ assault. To the right of the entrance is a Plaque to Johan Kosman, 8th R.I., who fell in May 1940 and to the left is a Plaque to the 5th Battalion, DCLI, erected by their Old Comrades to commemorate ‘the Dash to Driel’. Inside the entrance porch to the right is a Polish Memorial, which mistakenly includes one more name than the tablet by the Memorial opposite the church, and other Polish badges. In the church is a Stained Glass Light Box with the Polish Airborne Badge which was presented by the Polish Paras to the Junior School for boys on 19 May 1947. After several moves it found its resting place here. If the Church is locked the key may be obtained from Huize Polska, Kerk Straat 17.
The original 1st AB Division plan called for the whole Division to be dropped over three consecutive days, beginning on 17 September. The Poles were to land on LZ L (qv) and immediately south of the Bridge on DZ K (qv) on Day 3 - Tuesday 19 September. On that day the Luftwaffe mustered more than 500 fighter aircraft which, together with bad weather in England, prevented the departure of the Polish parachutists. Thirty-four out of thirty-five Polish gliders did arrive at LZ L but ran into heavy opposition. The bad weather and poor radio communications caused most of the supplies, badly needed by the British airborne troops on the ground, to fall into German hands. On the morning of the following day, 20 September, General Stanislaw Sosabowski learned that his DZ had been changed to an area near Driel, but thick fog caused another postponement. Sosabowski insisted on being fully briefed on the military situation in the landing area, otherwise he would refuse to go. He had protested earlier about poor intelligence and over-confidence on the part of the British commanders. At 0700 hours on 21 September he was told that the Driel-Heveadorp ferry was in British hands.
Thus his new Driel DZ was ideally placed for his paratroops to move quickly across the river to help 1st AB. At 1415 hours the Poles took off in the American-piloted Dakotas and at 1715 hours began to drop south of Driel. Less than 3 hours later General Sosabowski learned from Cora Baltussen (qv) that the ferry had been destroyed and that the Germans dominated the far bank of the river. Attempts were made to ferry a few Poles across the river in rafts made from 10cwt jeep trailers, there being no boats, but no-one got across. So, that night of 21 September, the Polish Brigade took up defensive positions around this village and up to and including the river bank. Inside The Perimeter the next night, the 22nd, 4 Para Squadron RE gathered fifteen men, six recce boats and an RAF dingy and moved down to the river. Their plan was to tie signal cable to the back and front of the boats and pull two Polish paratroopers across at a time. The cables broke and two boats punctured. They found that they could only get one Pole across at a time, the round trip taking 20 minutes, but thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Lieutenant David Storrs who rowed across twenty-three times about sixty men got over. No more Polish re-inforcements were able to cross and after the withdrawal the Brigade was sent back to Nijmegen.
Driel Memorials: Polish Memorial, with church behind, ‘Dash to Driel’ Plaque on Church, Polish Memorials in Church
• Extra Visit to Memorial to John James McNee and John Hyde, Fikkersdries Farm, Groenewoud (Map 2/19a).
Round trip: 5.8 kms/3.6 miles. Approximate time: 15 minutes
Continue past the church.
N.B. Some 200m later on the left is Broekstraat and a further 200m up the street on the right was the farmhouse where General Sosabowski had his HQ.
Continue through Driel to the crossroads. Go straight over to the T-junction. Turn right and immediately left on Elstergrindweg. Turn right on Langstraat and first right on Groenewoudsestraat. Continue to the farm on the left by the gate to the Water Pumping Station (Waterbedrijf Gelderland). On the wall of the farm is a plaque.
The plaque is in remembrance J. I. Hyde, J. J. McNee. 4th Bn Lincolnshire Regt. on 6 March 45 who lost their lives in a fight with the Germans who held this farm.
Their bodies were never recovered and the men are commemorated on the Groesbeek Memorial. A comrade, Harry Reeves, 18 years old at the time, recollected that a patrol of approximately twenty men of the 4th Lincolns were walking knee deep in flood water in the pitch dark. Harry was at the head of the patrol with Hyde and McNee just behind him. As they approached dry land the moon came came out from behind the clouds and the scene was illuminated by moonlight. A voice, sounding English, called ‘Halt’ and the Sergeant asked, ‘Who is that? We are English.’ Shots were then fired and Hyde was hit in the head and chest and died instantly. McNee was shot in the stomach and carried into the farm. Reeves was shot in the thigh and was taken to the farm (Fikkersdries Farm) in a wheelbarrow. McNee then died. The elderly, dirty and unshaven Germans showed sympathy to Reeves and took him to hospital the next day. Reeves later tried to contact McNee’s next of kin, but was unsuccessful.
Plaque to McNee and Hyde, Fikkersdries Farm
John James McNee’s widow (then remarried and called Mrs Britten) visited the war graves in Holland in 1976 and met Coby and Geurt de Hartog (qv) of Zetten. After extensive researches they contacted Harry Reeves and discovered the full story. Mrs Britten asked if a small plaque could be erected in memory of her first husband and John Hyde. She offered to pay for it but was told that the Water Company had paid for it.
Return to Driel church and pick up the main itinerary.
Return to the dyke and turn left. Continue to the white weir and lock complex in the river (58.7 kms/36.7 miles).
The Sluice Gate, one of three along the stretch of the Rhine, acts as a ‘tap’. When the gates are closed part of the Rhine is forced into the River Ijssel. The foundations of the weir were laid in 1964 and the complex was completed in 1970. It is 260m long and each gate weighs 200 tons. They can be raised to an angle of 60 degrees in two and a half hours. There is a gangway along the top of the gates which can be used when the weir is closed and a tunnel which links the northern and southern banks. When the visor gates are closed the adjacent lock is used to allow large shipping to pass.
Continue to the menorial on the left behind the bus stop, opposite Castle Dorweth on the far bank.
• 7th Battalion Hants Memorial/59.8 kms/37.4 miles/5 minutes/Map 2/19
The brick memorial commemorates those men of the 7th Battalion of the Regiment who gave their lives for the cause of freedom in this area 23 September-4 October 1944. It bears 42 names in gold on the roll of honour.
• End of Itinerary Five.
7th Hampshires Memorial