IT NEVER S N O W S IN SEPTEMBER

against man . . . The engineer battlegroup stood firm against all attacks.Around 1000 hours the paratroopersslackened their momentum. They hadsuffered great losses in men andmaterial, and we had been shown wewere up against a very strong anddetermined opponent. We permittedthem the chance to recover theirwounded as well as dead and woundedcivilians. Then it was quiet in oursector.'

Moeller's men may well have gained arespite,

'. . . but it was not to take very longbefore it started further to the left withSpindler's men. It was quite obviousthey were probing the front for a softspot, but their attacks failed there also,withering in the well-aimed fire of theWaffen-SS. They had not succeeded inbreaking through, much less, they hadnot even gained a single metre ofground. The fighting had beendevastating on both sides - now thewar was catching its breath.'

6

Western forces. Theformation of theKampfgruppe vonTettau . . .

As SS-Colonel Hans Lippert gazed open-mouthed at the aircraft stream thunderingtoward Arnhem during that first afternoon,he 'knew then with certainty that the SSN C O School "Arnheim" would be em-ployed against the airlanded enemy'. Hewaited hours for information and the antici-pated call to action. Every conceivable typeof Dutch vehicle, including bicycles, wasimpounded for the expected move. Butnothing happened. Companies had beenordered to 'stand to', but still they receivedno call to action. Lippert was seething withimpatience.

'I waited constantly for our committalthrough the High CommandNetherlands. Still the stream ofaircraft continued withoutinterruption. Everybody certainlyknows that the success of an airbornelanding is decided in the first 24hours!'

By 1800 he had given up hope of any likelycommittal. Then at 1900, six hours after thefirst landings, he received word to reportwith his unit to von Tettau's headquarters atGrebbeberg. His first impression on arrival'of this improvised staff was of an unholycock-up, with panic reigning'. General-leutnant von Tettau greeted him with thewords: 'Now we're in the shit, we'refinished.' Lippert's response was: 'HerrGeneral, firstly the British have not got usyet, secondly, if we have gone under, thenwe won't make it too easy for them.'Lippert was being slightly unkind. Gen-eral Hans von Tettau, the 56-year-oldCommander Training in the Netherlands,was not totally inexperienced, having alreadycommanded the 24th Infantry Division in

8

The Sperrlinie, or blocking line, that theKampfgruppe Spindler instituted on thewestern approaches into Arnhem duringthe night of 17-18 September was to affectthe outcome of the battle of Arnhem decis-ively. The pendulum of success appeared tobe swinging in the German favour. Eighthours before, the unit had not even existed.By dawn eight separate formations hadalready come under command with more tofollow. All the other scattered units in thelocality were taken up and included in theline. Spindler's Kampfgruppe was now thefocus of resistance, with the task of pre-venting further reinforcements fromreaching Frost's 2 PARA on the Arnhemroad bridge.

7

108