IT NEVER S N O W S IN SEPTEMBER

his unit he thought back on his personalcontact with the enemy. 'I never knew ifthey survived,' he said after the war. 'Oneof them had a huge hole in his shoulder.'One of his grateful captives had offered hiswatch in recognition of his compassion, buthe replied, somewhat testily, 'not for me,thank you. You hold on to it; I am not athief'.During the early morning of 19 Septem-ber, while it was still dark, the battle noisesof the British pushing toward the Arnhembridge could be heard, way over to their leftin the suburbs of the town. Taut and ner-vous, the German soldiers crouching inpositions along the Dreyenseweg waitedexpectantly. Their turn would inevitablycome. First light almost always seemed topresage British activity.When the assault came in at dawn the linewas visibly shaken by its ferocity. FourthParachute Brigade, having moved tooccupy the high ground north of Arnhem,had marched forward during the previousafternoon and night, and clashed with the Sperrlinie outposts. Now multiple com-pany attacks came in along the woods run-ning west to east both north and south ofthe Dreyenseweg, mounted by both 10 and156 PARA. Although supported by somemortars and light artillery, they wereassaulting a line numerically stronger andboasting greater fire power than their own.Outlying German defended localitieswere overrun. 'These were determinedBritish attacks,' Ziegler recalls. Standingnext to his Kampfgruppe commander,Bruhns, the officer confided that 'if we donot get any reinforcements soon, we willhave to withdraw when the next attackcomes'. A prophetic statement, becauseZiegler remembers the subsequent 'terrible'assault that came between the main roadand the railway embankment:

23

some places our men had to adoptisolated "hedgehog" positions withall-round defence, while some smallgroups of enemy managed to infiltratethrough our lines. When Herr Bruhnsheard about this I was directed todrive towards Arnhem and pick upreinforcements which were supposedto be on the way.'

24

'I was with Bruhns when the positionfirst showed signs of cracking. In

174

Who was there, where they were, and howmany there were was not known. Event-ually, riding around on his motorcycle,Ziegler found them in a forest outsideArnhem. They were a Waffen-SS companyof self-propelled anti-aircraft gunsmounted on half-tracks, commanded by a Faehnrich (an officer-cadet equivalent tosergeant), 'who was subsequently to lose allhis vehicles in Oosterbeek'. In addition, abattalion of twin and quadruple 20mm AAguns, similarly mounted on half-tracks andled by a Major, also rolled up. With muchshouting and gesticulating, the vehicleswere immediately inserted into the line,occupying hastily-reconnoitred positions.Areas of fire were so tied up that nothingcould move in the open, and attackinginfantry would only be able to penetratewith difficulty through the wooded areas.They awaited the next assault.As it came in, two leading companygroups of 156 PARA were scythed downwithin a murderous interlocking networkof 20mm cannon interspersed with tracer.This sudden crescendo of heavy-calibre firewas apparent even to the British parachutecompanies moving up to support in depth,as 20mm rounds exploded and ricochetedamong top branches and from tree trunks.Empty shell cases clattered on to the metalfloors of vehicles as the urgent shouting andfire orders of gun commanders grew louderwith the British approach. Attacks peteredout, mown down by this sudden increase inthe concentration of fire. Exhausted surviv-ors stumbled and exfiltrated back through