IT NEVER S N O W S IN SEPTEMBER

columns along the several small tracks run-ning immediately north of Elst before com-mencing their attack.As they approached the village in dark-ness they were suddenly subjected to aflank attack from the direction of Valburg.This heralded the arrival of a previouslyundetected British unit: the 43rd WessexDivision. Unbeknown to the Germans,these were only the lead elements. After ashort fire fight a reconnaissance troop,commanded by SS-Sergeant Stocke fromBrinkmann's 2nd Company, captured anEnglish armoured car - a radio communica-tions vehicle. The crewmen, possibly from5 Dorsets, were taken prisoner, but the realprize was the vehicle, with its radio stillintact, which was recovered back to therailway embankment. It was left in noman's land where, untouched by Alliedfighter bombers, it enabled the British sig-nals net to be monitored by the Germansover the next few days. Brinkmann'sforces felt that they were unable to containthis new threat although it was only thevanguard of 43 Division. They retreatedunder cover of darkness in a south-easterlydirection, until reaching and establishingnew positions along the Arnhem-Elst rail-way embankment.

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much longer. The cauldron had to be over-whelmed before the infantry elements ofXXX Corps could effectively reinforce it.Moreover, the Poles had to be preventedfrom interfering any further. They haddrawn so many reserves from the forcespoised to invest the cauldron that theimpact of attacks programmed for 22 Sep-tember was reduced. Time was short, andvictory was almost within their grasp. It alldepended on how quickly XXX Corpscould move forward, and how effectivelyGerman counter-measures directed againstthe corridor could slow them down. Therace was on!

Bellowing engines punctuated by shoutedcommands signalled the beginning of theloading process. Forty-five factory-new 68-ton Porsche 'Tiger' II B tanks were carefullycoaxed and swivelled from loading ramps onto the flat rail cars. Even in Ohrdruf in theReich, eyes anxiously scanned the skies forsigns of enemy air interference. Chainsrattled through retaining rings and wedgeswere hammered home as crews secured theirvaluable charges for the rail journey to thefront. By midnight the steam locomotive,cascading steam and blowing sparks into theair, had puffed vigorously out of the sidingon to the main line. Crews made themselvescomfortable as best they could in the fewpersonnel carriages made available. It wouldbe a long journey. Heeresgruppe B had beennotified at midnight on 21 September that itsvaluable reinforcements had departed.Schwere Panzer Abteilung - Heavy TankBattalion - 506 was supposed to arrive inthe Arnhem area by the early morning of 24September. Mounting an 88mm gun, theywere the most powerful tanks in the west,and were vulnerable only to the heaviest ofcalibres. They were bound for Oosterbeekand Elst.

The crisis had worsened. German intelli-gence quickly spotted the character of thisnew threat - the 43rd Wessex was an infan-try division. With the limitations imposedby terrain, infantry could prove to be moreeffective than tanks. German fire had thusfar prevented the Poles from crossing theriver in any appreciable strength. Nick-mann's SS-Werfer batteries in particularwere effectively straddling the river banksand Polish positions. All were aware of thepotential significance of the new arrivals.Field Marshal Model urged the rapid elim-ination of the encircled British. He knewthat General Urquhart could not resist for

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