2 Para were not expected to be the first troops to reach Arnhem Bridge, they were expected to follow 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron.The 1st Airlanding Reconnaissance Squadron was formed in 1941 under the command of Major CFH ‘Freddie’ Gough. It was attached to the 1st Airborne Division’s reconnaissance unit in late 1942. The squadron had 250 men organised into a headquarters troop, four recce troops (named A to D Troops), and a support troop including the squadron’s heavy weapons. The squadron first saw combat in September 1943 when it landed by sea in Italy with the 1st Airborne Division. The squadron led the advance up the Adriatic coast of Italy seizing German strong points and airfields along the way.
During the campaign, the squadron suffered heavy casualties and B Troop was permanently disbanded, its men sent to reinforce the other troops.
The squadron accompanied the rest of the 1st Airborne Division back to England. Once there, the men were trained to parachute into action and land their jeeps by glider to help cut down on the overall number of gliders required for the squadron. To reflect this, the unit changed its name to the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron in early 1944.
The 6th Airborne Division was chosen for the Normandy Invasion, but 1st Airborne Division was alerted for 16 operations, between June 11 and the middle of September, all of which were subsequently cancelled. This including one where the pathfinders of the 21st Independent Parachute Company were already airborne. The squadron remained split throughout this period with the glider party at Tarrant Rushton in Dorset and the parachute party at Ruskington. In fact, the Seaborne element of the Division was ordered to the Continent on 12 August 1944. The 84 officers, 2180 Other Ranks (ORs) and 1100 vehicles embarked on 14 August and were at sea on 15 August. They were ready for operations by 17 August. All 1st Airborne units were represented in the Seaborne Echelon. As discussed previously, planning only began for Operation Market Garden on 10 September 1944, soon after Lieutenant General Browning’s meeting with Field Marshall Montgomery, Commander 21st Army Group.
The 1st Airborne was assigned the Arnhem Bridge, which was approximately 64 miles behind enemy lines, to be taken on the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] September 1944. Due to concerns of the RAF over flak near Arnhem Bridge and at Deelen Airfield combined with concerns about the terrain near the bridge, the drop zones were several miles from the bridge. Due to a shortage of transport aircraft, the Division would have to go in three lifts. Both the 1st Airlanding and 1st Parachute Brigade, as well as the Reconnaissance Squadron, would be included in the first lift.
The glider party of the Reecce Sqdn would take off from Tarrant Rushton in 22 gliders towed by Halifaxs of 38 Group and was to land on Landing Zone (LZ) ‘Z’ at 1320 on 17 September 1944. Following would be the Parachute elements taking off from Barkston Heath in 8 C-47s of the US 61st Troop Carrier Group, 52nd Troop Carrier Wing, on to Drop Zone (DZ) ‘X’ at 1350. Both sites had been marked by the pathfinders of the 21st Independent Parachute Company, which had arrived at 1240. Major Gough would jump with the Parachute party. While the second in command, Captain David Allsop, would be in charge of the Glider party. The Squadron, minus A Troop in Divisional Reserve, was placed under 1st Parachute Brigade.
Additionally, elements of 9th Field Company Royal Engineers (RE) were attached to the Squadron to help deal with any demolitions the Jerries may have had at the Bridge. The Recce Sqdn accounted for 22 of the 358 gliders in the first lift. Upon completion of its task with 1st Para Brigade, the Recce Sqdn would revert to Division and were assigned recce tasks in the area, in order:
• Apeldorn
• Zutpen
• Zevenaar
• Nijmegen
• Wageningen
• Ede
Also upon completion of its task with 1st Para Brigade, the attached Royal Engineers would revert to command of the Commander Royal Engineers (CRE).
Since the British landing zones were over six miles from the primary objective, the Arnhem Road Bridge, C and D Troops were ordered to launch a coup de main assault to seize and hold the bridge until they were relieved. Instead of performing reconnaissance missions, A Troop and the Support Troop would stay with the division’s headquarters in reserve.
The route chosen for the recce was known as Leopard and was the northern most route along the Amsterdamsweg. The 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment (1 Para) was to follow the same route. Lion was the southernmost route along Benedendorpsweg and was given to the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment (2 Para). The final route, TIGER, was along the Utrechtsweg and was given to 3 Para.
Maj. Gough would have preferred to use one troop scouting ahead along each of the 3 routes to the bridge and was concerned about the nature of the coup de main mission, arguing that his light recon troops were not well suited for an all-out assault against a potentially well-defended enemy position. When his arguments were turned away, he requested that his jeeps be fitted with twin Vickers machine-guns. He also asked for a platoon of Tetrarch light tanks so that he could overcome any German resistance on the objective. Both requests were denied due to a lack of transport and gilder-space issues. Remember, also, the division had less than a week to prepare.
jeep with twin Vickers K
Maj. Gough upgraded the armament of the Squadron by adding a single Vickers G.O. ('K') machine gun on the Squadron jeeps when he could. While firing the same cartridge as the Bren or the Vickers Medium Machine Gun (.303), the 'K' gun had a much higher rate of fire (950 rounds per minute) and was air cooled so it was much easier to use dismounted. Maj. Gough had hoped to equip each jeep with, at least, a twin mount, but he was turned down due to concerns over transporting sufficient ammunition.
For the majority of the 1st Airborne Division, the 17 September landings were executed flawlessly. However, the reconnaissance squadron was not so lucky. Three of the unit’s 22 gliders failed to arrive. Furthermore, due to difficult glider landings on soft ground, extracting the jeeps from crashed gliders proved difficult. As a result the departure of the C and D Troop coup de main force was delayed thirty minutes.
To make matters worse, within minutes of leaving the landing zone, C Troop was ambushed east of Wolfheze by SS-Sturmbannführer Krafft’s training battalion.
Krafft's troops rush to take up a blocking position
Ambush
The first matte set in the K&C WS series,WS1, with very rare early K&C papier mache buildings in the background, gives suppressing fire
The badly-mauled troop was then pulled off the line and assigned to guard LZ S. Due to the poor radio communications, as previously discussed, the remainder of the squadron returned to the divisional headquarters. Only Major Gough with two jeeps from the HQ Troop reached Arnhem Bridge, see below.
Only two jeeps, with Major Gough, reached the bridge
The remainder of the squadron with Division was then attached to Brigadier JW Hackett’s 4th Parachute Brigade to defend the Oosterbeek perimeter. The squadron fought until the evacuation order was given on 25 September and was ferried across the river with the rest of the 1st Airborne Division’s survivors.
Here is a basic organization for 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron
Commander: Major Freddie Gough
Headquarters Troop: Captain Horace Platt
Support Troop: Lieutenant John Christie
A Troop: Captain M. W. Grubb No.1 Section : Lieutenant J. StevensonNo.2 Section : Lieutenant Douglas GalbraithNo.3 Section : Lieutenant D. R. Guthrie
C Troop: Captain J. A. HayNo.7 Section : Lieutenant R. C. FoulkesNo.8 Section : Lieutenant Peter Bucknall No.9 Section : Lieutenant C. B. Bowles
D Troop: Captain John ParkNo.10 Section : Lieutenant J. W. MarshallNo.11 Section : Lieutenant W. F. V. HodgeNo.12 Section : Lieutenant Alan Pascal
Based at Ruskington. Flew in 8 C-47's from Barkston Heath, and 22 Horsas from Tarrant Rushton.
Went in: 181 men Died: 30 Evacuated: 73 Missing: 78
Apologies for the font, it goes mad when I try to post!
Thought I knew a fair bit about this landing, did not know any jeeps made it to the bridge. Your narrative is as usual intriguing and interesting. Robin.
Major Freddie GoughK&C produced a figure dedicated to the memory of Major Freddie Gough, wearing a 'red beret' and examining a map, see below.
As discussed above, the recce troop jeeps were delayed and then ambushed on their coup de main mission, which aimed to capture Arnhem Road Bridge swiftly after the landings. Freddie Gough attempted to contact Brigadier Lathbury to inform him of the delay to the coup-de-main action, but as was being discovered across the Division at this time, radio communications were quite impossible in the thick woodland. Upon hearing of the Squadron's troubles, Major-General Urquhart sent a message to Gough asking him to report to him at Divisional Headquarters to work out a fresh route. Due to his own communication problems, however, Urquhart set out after the advancing parachute battalions to warn them that the Reconnaissance Squadron were not at the bridge.
Maj Gen Urquhart figure from original AN series
So it was that Gough arrived at Divisional Headquarters to learn that Urquhart had set out in pursuit of Brigadier Lathbury, so with the two Jeeps and 7 men of his Recce Sqdn Headquarters, he set out in his wake.
German activity along the Brigade's route was increasing, and with several detours being necessary it was not until 18:30 that Gough arrived at Brigade Headquarters, where Major Tony Hibbert, the Brigade Major, informed him that both Urquhart and Lathbury were last seen heading for the area of the 3rd Battalion.
Gough decided that it would be prudent to give up his quest to find the general and instead fall in line with the Brigade and follow them to the bridge, where he was supposed to be anyway.
Upon reaching the bridge, Gough familiarised himself with the defensive layout before installing himself inside the large three storey building that was to become Brigade Headquarters. He made another attempt to contact Urquhart on his radio without success.
Shortly after, the 2nd Battalion's No.2 Platoon attempted to take the southern end of the bridge, and after being driven back by heavy fire from a pillbox,
engineers brought a flame thrower forward to deal with it, and inadvertently destroyed their target after missing it and setting fire to a neighbouring ammunition dump. The explosions rocked the bridge and set it ablaze, which prompted a fear that the bridge may collapse. Gough could not be sure that it wouldn't, but nevertheless assured his men "It's only the paintwork".
During the disastrous attempt to move the 9th S.S. Panzer Division's Reconnaissance Battalion north from Nijmegen across the Bridge on Monday 18th September, Gough joined in the gunfight by firing the twin Vickers machine guns mounted on his jeep; Lieutenant-Colonel Frost noted that he was "grinning like a wicked uncle". I shall deal with this attack in more detail, later.
Gough was reported to be "grinning like a wicked uncle"
part of 9th S.S. Panzer Division's Reconnaissance Battalion
As the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade Group were expected to land on the southern bank during Tuesday morning, Frost planned to race a force in Jeeps across the bridge to link up with them and inform them of the situation, hoping that the Germans thereabouts would be sufficiently distracted by the parachute landings to enable them to break through. It was to be carried out by Gough's two Jeeps and one of the 2nd Battalion's Bren carriers, and perhaps in view of the slim chance of success Frost told Gough that it would be a chance to win his family's fifth Victoria Cross. Gough said after the war that he was "thoroughly miserable and quite unenthusiastic about the idea", but fortunately for him the Polish lift never materialised.
early AN series para bren carrier
later (P) series para bren carrier
Undeterred, Frost also considered sending Gough and his Jeeps across the bridge at dusk to attempt a link-up with the vanguard of XXX Corps, but he eventually abandoned the idea.At 08:00 on the morning of Wednesday 20th September, radio contact was at last made with the remainder of the 1st Airborne Division at Oosterbeek when the signallers at the bridge got through to the powerful Type 19 sets of the 1st Airlanding Light Regiment. Gough was on the line when Major-General Urquhart was brought to it, though as there were reports that the Germans were monitoring their transmissions and sometimes even posing as British soldiers, both men spoke with caution until the identity of the other could be verified.
Gough began by saying "Hello Sunray", which was the General's call sign, and on being asked by Urquhart to indicate who he was speaking to, he paused for a moment before saying "It's the man who goes in for funny weapons", but as this did not ring any particular bells for the General he added "The man who is always late for your 'O' groups". Urquhart immediately recognized the reference to Gough's prior unpunctuality and said "My goodness, I thought you were dead". Gough described the situation at the bridge, reporting that although morale was high they were desperately short of supplies of every kind, and the positions on the eastern side of the bridge were beginning to surrender, he said "It's pretty grim, we'll do what we can".
When Gough asked if they had any chance of relief he was told that it could only come from XXX Corps as the remainder of the Division was "in poor shape". Urquhart wished Gough the best of luck and asked him "to pass on my personal congratulations on a fine effort to everyone concerned".
The only source of relief was still fighting its way north
Later in the day of 20[SUP]th[/SUP] September 1944, Lieutenant-Colonel Frost was badly wounded and so command of the entire bridge force fell to Gough, though Frost was still to be consulted on all important decisions.
As resistance began to fail the defenders were concentrated around Brigade Headquarters, which had been badly damaged and was in danger of collapse. Gough was informed by two of the medical officers, Captains Wright and Logan, that he had to arrange a truce for the great numbers of wounded in the cellars, they needed to be evacuated as they were in danger of being burned alive.
With Frost's consent, Gough arranged a ceasefire, but before doing so he ordered those men not of the 2nd Battalion to scatter into Arnhem and attempt to make their way back to Oosterbeek. Gough remained behind with the paratroopers. The truce enabled some 280 wounded to be evacuated to safety, though the strict definition of a truce was not always fully observed by the Germans, who used it to infiltrate their men closer to and even inside the small British perimeter.
When some German soldiers approached their Jeeps, which had somehow escaped the battle largely unscathed, Gough ordered them to back away but was unable to prevent them from commandeering them when they explained, whether it was true or not, that they needed them to transport the wounded.
Meanwhile XXX Corps were doing their best to reach Arnhem.
When fighting resumed and the defence was finally broken during the night, the defenders attempted to scatter into Arnhem but with little success.
desperate fighting at the bridge on the 20th
Germans kept up the pressure
into the night
Gough made for the local waterworks, and upon hearing German voices in the vicinity he burrowed his way beneath a woodpile, however his left boot remained visible and he was dragged out by it and taken prisoner. Completely exhausted, he surveyed the faces of the men who had captured him and found that they were little more than boys, which prompted him to burst out laughing.
Shortly after, a German Major asked to see Gough, understanding him to be the commander at the bridge. The officer said "I wish to congratulate you and your men. You are gallant soldiers. I fought at Stalingrad and it is obvious that you British have a great deal of experience in street fighting."
street fighting
in Arnhem
Gough simply replied, "No. This was our first effort. We'll be much better next time."
Freddie Gough remained a prisoner until his escape in 1945.
To return to the story of 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Para Brigade after landing
As discussed earlier, when 1st Battalion followed the Reconnaissance Squadron a little later and found the route blocked, they desperately tried to outflank Krafft to the north, but finally gave up and headed south east towards Oosterbeek.
trying to flank Krafft
Krafft's Battalion caused crucial delay
Meanwhile, 2nd Battalion and 3rd Battalion were marching towards Arnhem.
As they advanced there was little to slow them, but they were not moving fast enough for the liking of either Urquhart or Lathbury, a problem compounded by radio failure, which led to both men leaving their headquarters to personally urge the battalions on. The two commanders eventually met in Oosterbeek behind 3rd Battalion, just as 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Battalion’s advance stalled when they ran into more improvised opposition from SS Kampfgruppe ‘Spindler’, see later. Urquhart found himself unable to return to his headquarters.
2 Para
From 1st Parachute Brigade, only Lieutenant-Colonel John Frost’s 2nd Battalion made substantial progress. The Battalion was dropped at 1445 hours on D-day 17th September, with perfect accuracy on the Drop zone (D.Z.) 7 miles West of Arnhem. There was no initial opposition on the D.Z. No opposition was met, except for a motor patrol captured by A Company, until the Battalion had moved two miles towards the town. Here A Company bumped into what proved to be the Southern flank of a strong enemy position.
Only after a spirited assault by one Platoon, was A Company able to continue the advance. They met no more opposition until the railway, West of Arnhem town. From then on armoured cars and hastily organised defences caused only minor delay in the falling light, until A Company reached and seized the North end of the Main Bridge at 8 p.m. They had taken some 50 prisoners during the advance.
Interesting I suspect those 50 prisoners did not have to wait long before being freed, as it was only a few days for the Germans to recapture the lost ground. I am sure the Para’s were thankful they treated the prisoners well while they had them{sm4}. Robin.
Good point Robin, I have not read anything on this yet, apart from the above.
2 Para on the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] September 1944 continued
Meanwhile C Company had reached and taken the North end of the Railway Bridges. Their capture was brief however, as it was blown as they began to cross. B Company reached the Boat Bridge after overcoming considerable resistance. Similarly, this bridge was burnt before they could use it. The relative speed of the battalion however, meant that by the time most of them reached the Arnhem road bridge that evening, they found it virtually deserted.
Troops reach deserted Arnhem Road Bridge at the north end (K&C paras JGM scenics)
After reaching the north end of the road bridge, A Company attempted an assault across the Main Bridge to capture the southern end. This attack was met by devastating fire from tanks and light A.A. on the Bridge. The attempt was abandoned.
A Co assault the southern end of the bridge (K&C para and destroyed half track, JGM scenics and rubble)
PzIIL with effective 20mm gun when used against infantry (NMA version, mainly JGM and some TM terrain scenics)
20mm Flak, also useful against infantry (K&C version vehicles, guns, crew - JGM scenics)
Efforts were then made to secure boats for an assault on the southern end of the Bridge, but thorough reconnaissance revealed that all boats had been removed from the North bank. In spite of these reverses the Battalion was more than satisfied with the course of events of the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] September.
See earlier post for detail, Guards Armoured fight their way to Valkenswaard on the evening of the 17th
A strong counterattack from the south end of the road bridge was repelled during the night of 17[SUP]th[/SUP]/18[SUP]th[/SUP] September.
The Battalion lost contact with C Company after their episode at the Railway Bridge, and although patrols were sent out to contact them, nothing more was heard of them during the battle. The Battalion heard afterwards that C Company had reached their objective, but owing to the failure of the Brigade to establish the original sector, they were isolated, surrounded and eventually suffered much the same fate as the road bridge group.
By first light on Monday the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] the reported 2 Para position was as follows:-
(1) They had captured their objective with comparatively few casualties.
(2) They were holding a small but strong bridgehead north of the bridge.
Although attempts to cross the bridge were thwarted by German forces on the far side, by the end of the day Frost held a comfortable defensive position at the northern end consisting of about 750 men, including ‘C’ Company of 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Battalion, who had managed to wriggle through the German defences,
and some Reconnaissance Squadron men with Gough.
The 2nd Battalion at the bridge was missing C Company and one Platoon of B Company.
They were reinforced by the addition of 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Parachute Brigade Headquarters and attached troops, who had followed 2 Para in.
They were also joined by four 6 pounder AT guns from the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Airlanding AT Battery Royal Artillery.
To reference my attempts to cover some of the parts of this complex land and airborne campaign with the account of 2 Para above - on the 17th September 1944, the story of the start of XXX Corps advance begins roughly around post #1300, the story of Joe's bridge somewhat earlier.
As the 2 para reached the bridge on the 17th, XXX Corps fought hard to break the defensive crust ........
The Irish Guards queue at the start line on the road to Valkansvaard
Infantry advance up and either side of the road to clear the advance
From the off, support and rear echelons form massive traffic jams
To pick up from #1415 above, I have seen almost nothing regarding this unit’s vital contribution to the operation, so include this account here.
1st Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery RA
The Battery saw it’s first action in Sicily during July 1943. Tasked with supporting 1st Parachute Brigade in their operation to capture the Primosole Bridge, this was the first Airborne operation to transport 6-pounder Anti-Tank artillery into action, using WACO and Horsa gliders. 1st Airlanding A-Tk Bty was allocated 11 Horsas and 8 Waco gliders to take 6 officers and 69 men.
The Battery Commander Major Bill Arnold parachuted in as a 'Recce party' to select gun positions with 2 NCO troop commanders and 3 NCOs from each troop (although records show Major Arnold actually arrived some hours after the Operation began, at 0930hrs). The Battery was also deployed during the seaborne invasion of Italy in September 1943, before returning with the rest of the Division to the UK. After several cancelled operations, the Battery was sent to Arnhem, during Operation Market Garden.
By now the Battery consisted of A, B and C Troops who were to support the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalions respectively. These three troops each had four 6 pounder guns each.
D Troop, equipped with four 17 pounders, was to be deployed to protect the Divisional area.
P and Z Troops, with four 17 pounders and two 6 pounders respectively, were to support the 1st Parachute Brigade and Divisional troops respectively.
Traveling at the tail of the 2nd Parachute Battalion 'snake', the HQ Battery group traveled towards Arnhem Road Bridge, and eventually succeeded in reaching the Bridge. Five of the Battery guns reached the location and over the following days of the Battle of Arnhem, formed a key component to the defensive force at the Bridge.
As the Battle progressed however, more of the original gun crews were killed or wounded. Towards the end of the Battle, it was recorded that some of the last rounds fired by the last serviceable gun were fired by a crew consisting of Major Arnold, Captain Llewellyn-Jones, Lieutenant McFarlane and Sergeant Colls.
The next day saw the reinforcement of all three airborne divisions.
At 1500 on Monday 18[SUP]th[/SUP] September, west of Arnhem, 4th Parachute Brigade, divisional troops and the remainder of 1st Airlanding Brigade touched down on Dutch soil.
However, the resupply drop that took place soon after their arrival was of very limited use as the drop zone had fallen into German hands.
The Second Lift was delayed by fog and jumped onto a landing zone under heavy attack but still landed at full strength (the 4th Parachute Brigade consisting of the 10th, 11th and 156th Battalions of the Parachute Regiment, commanded by Brigadier-General Hackett) and C and D Companies of the 2nd South Staffordshire Regiment.
At this point Hicks, who had taken over command of the division in Urquhart’s absence, sent 2nd South Staffordshire Regiment (one of the airlanding battalions) and the 11[SUP]th[/SUP] Battalion of the Parachute Regiment to reinforce 1st Battalion and 3rd Battalion, who were attempting to break through to the bridge from the west, in the vicinity of St Elizabeth’s hospital.
In this confused street fighting, Lathbury was wounded and Urquhart was forced to take refuge in an attic. At this critical stage in the battle, the division could ill afford their commander not to be commanding.
The Monday morning (18[SUP]th)[/SUP] also saw an attack by yet another German formation, Kampfgruppe ‘von Tettau’ from the west, and with this, 1st Airborne Division felt itself gradually being surrounded.
S.S. Schule Arnheim English name : S.S. NCO School Arnhem Commander : Colonel Lippert The three battalions of this school came under command of Von Tettau on 19th September.
Strength: 3000 Dead: 130 Wounded: 350
S.S. Polizei Schule English name : S.S. Police School
Strength: 600
S.S. Training and Replacement Bataillon 4 Commander : Lieutenant Labahn
S.S. Wach Bataillon 3 Commander : Colonel Paul Anton Helle Came under command of Von Tettau on 19th September.
Strength: 600 Casualties: 300
Schiffsturm Abteilung 10 English name : Naval Manning Battalion 10 Commander : Kapitan Lieutnant Zaubzer
Strength: 600 men
Schiffsturm Abteilung 6/14 English name : Naval Manning Battalion 6/14
Strength: 600 men
Fliegerhorst Bataillon 2
Strength: 600
Fliegerhorst Bataillon 3
Strength: 600
Artillerie Regiment 184 English name : Artillery Regiment 184
Strength: 450 men
Regiment 42 Sichecheit
The font goes to bits when I transfer it, so apologies for the different sizes!
SS NCO school
Luftwaffe vehicle mixing with SS troops
SS Military police from their school
Kriegsmarine soldier .......
.... guarding a K&C Floatplane on papier mache K&C jetty
The XXX Corps story, by way of reference, is at post #1334 as it picks up the story from the night of 17/18[SUP]th[/SUP] September.
the long XXX Corps tailback
Throughout Monday the 18[SUP]th[/SUP], the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Parachute Battalion at the bridge was attacked with increasing vigour from the East.
It was also subjected to continuous mortar fire and shelling.
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