The PDG and I, with her sister Lynne and her husband
Richard, were in Arnhem for the weekend. We had arrived at the Van der Valk
hotel in Arnhem the previous evening, and a two day tour of the battleground
was due to commence at 10.00 this morning. However there was a slight problem.
Our guide, Pat Murphy, my colleague at Watton Rotary Club, with his partner
Pam, had missed the ferry from Harwich yesterday. Instead they had to wait for
the evening ferry, which made an overnight crossing to the Hook of Holland.
They expected to arrive at the hotel in time for our 10.00 start, traffic
permitting.
Van der Valk Hotel
In the days leading up to this weekend I started reading
Anthony Beevor’s history of the battle of Arnhem, to try and get an
understanding of the events leading up to this conflict and the aftermath. To
be honest I found it rather heavy going. I was looking for an overview of the
battle, but the book really went into forensic detail, and I was regularly
confused as to whether I was reading about British, German or American
regiments. I was looking forward to Pat putting some of the complexities in to
some kind of context.
Pat, himself an ex-para, has been organizing tours of Arnhem
for several years, usually for
Rotarians, their families and friends, at least two per year. He pays his own
way, and has never sought any payment for his services, other than a beer or
two in the hotel bar. As he explained, he just loves doing it.
The Rhine at Arnhem
He and Pam duly arrived at the Hotel just before 10.00 a.m.
looking fresh from their overnight crossing. The first thing he said to me was
unexpected. ‘Are you suitably dressed for a wreath laying ceremony?’ he said,
looking at my casual trousers and polo shirt.
I was mortified to have completely forgotten that before we came, he
had asked me for a contribution towards the cost of a wreath we would be laying
at a war cemetery on behalf of the Rotary Club. Hurriedly I went back into the
hotel and picked out a dark jumper which I could wear over the shirt. Now we
were all ready and off we went at 10.00 precisely, with military precision, the
four of us in my car following Pat and Pam.
Immaculate - The Arnhem-Oosterbeek War Cemetery
Our first visit was to one of the landing zones around 6
miles outside of the town, near a village called Wolfheze. The first British
troops and their equipment to arrive were flown in by glider, to a number of
designated landing zones in broad daylight. In
retrospect, one of the reasons for the failure of the mission was the refusal
of air staff to consider a night drop, worrying that it was too dangerous to
land gliders in darkness. Also they insisted the drop zones and landing zones
were situated 6 to 8 miles away from the objective to avoid aircraft losses.
These decisions ensured the Airborne Division lost the element of surprise.
German defenders could see them landing and would be fully prepared as they
headed for the bridge over the Rhine. I stood for a while trying to imagine the
mayhem of the landings at this site, with some gliders crashing, some being
shot down by enemy fire.
Glider memorial
Our next stop, at a railway culvert, demonstrated the difficulty
of facing an enemy who were prepared for them. One of the Para battalions were
retreating under intense enemy fire, and needed to cross the railway line into
Arnhem to reach the relative safety of Oosterbeek. The railway line ran across
a high embankment, where retreating soldiers were sitting ducks for enemy
artillery. Whilst it was impossible to manhandle vehicles and guns over the
embankment, it was discovered that if air was released from tyres, the vehicles
could just squeeze through the culvert, originally designed to allow rainwater
to drain away. However as they emerged on the other side, a deadly reception
awaited them from German troops who had been expecting them. As we looked at
the culvert, it seemed so quiet and peaceful that it was difficult to imagine
the deadly firefight which occurred here.
The railway culvert - note poppy wreaths
Another visit that morning was to a memorial at Heelsum,
which had been made from drop zone relics, including canisters containing arms
and equipment dropped by parachute. Here also we came across a bench donated to
the Rotary Club of Oosterbeek by Downham Market Rotary Club, from Norfolk,
together with Shanklin, Isle of Wight club some 20 years earlier.
Memorial at Heelsum
Rotary bench
From here we headed towards Arnhem along the second of the 3
routes taken by the Airborne Division. This was the lower route, code-named
Lion, which followed the river into the town. The Second Para Battalion
advanced along this route, facing fierce opposition the whole way. We stopped
at a railway underpass where the British paras found themselves trapped by
heavily armed German troops on the other side of the underpass, firing down at
them from the railway embankment. It was astonishing that the bullet marks were
still visible on the bricks. Once again I tried to imagine the bravery of men
who would come through that underpass knowing what was awaiting them on the
other side.
Deadly underpass.....
......Bullet holes still visible
Half a mile further on we were into Arnhem itself and stopped
for a while at St Elizabeth Hospital. Originally a hotel, and now divided into
apartments, it was a hospital at the time of the battle and played a
significant role in the battle which at times raged all around it. Throughout
the battle it treated wounded troops from the Airborne Division and was the
base for the 16th Parachute Field Ambulance.
St Elizabeth Hospital
From here we moved on to the bridge itself, which was
rebuilt after the war. It survived the battle of Arnhem intact but was
destroyed by the US Air Force a month later to prevent Germans from using it to
send reinforcements. The bridge was the focal point of the battle, although
only 2 Para Battalion, under the command of Lt Col John Frost, actually reached
it. Their job was to hold the bridge until reinforcements arrived, but none
came. They had been asked to hold the bridge for 48 hours, although they
actually held it, under a constant barrage of enemy fire, for three whole days
and nine hours. The replacement bridge, which we walked across today, was
renamed the John Frost Bridge in memory of the heroics of that day.
John Frost Bridge
We headed next to Ginkel Heath for lunch, and afterwards
walked on the Heath, which is about 8 miles from Arnhem and was the site of landings
by 4 Para brigade on day 2 of the battle. By now the Germans were fully aware
of Allied plans and the Brigade suffered heavy losses on the fly-in. Those who
advanced towards the bridge from Ginkel Heath would have passed the crossroads
where the Van der Valk Hotel now stands.
Information Board at Ginkel Heath
We visited a number of key areas relating to the battle,
including Acacia Lane, with its tree commemorating Sgt Baskeyville’s VC, the
site of the German blocking line along Dreijenseweg, and the Air Despatchers
memorial, where we laid a cross. Our main stop that afternoon was to be at the
Arnhem-Oosterbeek War ceremony.
Air Despatchers memorial
We stopped en route at a café /
bar called Leeren Doedel, where Pat said we could get the best ever apple pies.
Well we needed no persuasion as we all ordered apple pie, and were not
disappointed. Whilst the rest of us chatted over coffee, Pat said he needed to
go and ‘change’. I didn’t really know what he meant, until he emerged from the
rest room resplendent in his army uniform complete with campaign medals!
Although he had mentioned it when we set off that morning, I was so wrapped up
in the sites we were visiting that I hadn’t thought any more about the
wreath-laying ceremony we were to perform this afternoon.
At the cemetery - Richard, Lynne, PDG, Pam and Pat
After a short drive we arrived at
the Oosterbeek War Cemetery, normally a peaceful place to visit for quiet
reflection whilst examining the hundreds of immaculately-kept graves of the
Allied dead. Well, there was nothing quiet about it today. The cemetery was the
focal point of a Fun Run to raise funds
in connection with the 75th Anniversary of the battle of Arnhem. Some
runners were setting off and others were arriving at a marshalling area just
outside the cemetery gates. Many of those who finished their run were then
going into the cemetery to pay their respects. Pat carried the Rotary wreath
which I assumed he would simply place at the memorial in the centre of the
cemetery, where there were several others, and that would be it.
Pat speaks
But Pat had other ideas. As we
arrived at the memorial, surrounded by all the graves, and scores of lycra-clad
fun-runners, he cleared his throat and delivered an address in his best
sergeant-major’s voice. He spoke of the sacrifices made by Allied troops to
push the Nazis out of the countries they had invaded. Asking all those present
to reflect on the many thousands of Allied lives lost during the Battle of
Arnhem, not to mention over 500 civilian lives, he then called for one minute’s
silence. I was amazed. All the Dutch runners had stopped in their tracks and
were listening to every word. You could have heard a pin drop during the
minute’s silence. At the end of it he asked me to place our wreath on the
memorial, which I duly did, amid total silence from all those looking on. At
the end of the ceremony, lots of people came up to Pat to shake his hand and
thank him for the words he had spoken. It was a spine-tingling moment.
Our wreath is on the right
Later we returned to the Hotel
for a one course meal and a convivial evening in the bar afterwards. We had
done so much today, and there was still so much more to see.
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