Arnhem 75th, Day Five: Bash On Recce! Pt 2

Bleedin' 'eck, guv'nor, these posts take an age to write. If only I'd thought to do this series a few weeks ago, I could have had them all nicely written and scheduled for publication. Oh well, too late now.


Today's post will cover what the squadron, less the bridge party, got up to on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th September 1944. With Major Gough missing (actually at Arnhem bridge), Captain Allsop had assumed command of the squadron the previous evening.

Monday 18th September 1944

At about 0700, the squadron set out on their allocated tasks for the day.

C Troop

C Troop were assigned to cover the eastern flank of one of the landing zones. Due to their losses, they had been reinforced by a detachment from HQ Troop under Lt Pearson and including Troopers Des Evans (despite his claim in "With Recce At Arnhem" to have been with C Troop all along) and Jimmy Cooke.At some point during the morning some of them posed for photos in Wolfheze.

Having adopted defensive positions, they came under sniper fire; a patrol was sent out to deal with them and around 1000 returned with four rather scared prisoners. 9 Section under L/Sgt Christie were sent out to the ambush site to recover their dead. They found Trooper Dickie Minns, who had been badly wounded and left for dead by the Germans, in a ditch a short distance from the rearmost jeep. He was still alive, but in very poor condition; after initially being treated by 181 Field Ambulance, he was taken to the dressing station at Hotel Tafelberg and eventually became a POW. It seems that they also managed to recover L/Sgt McGregor's jeep.

Of the four men who had been in the lead jeep, the driver was still in his seat and burnt beyond recognition. Initially it was assumed he was Trooper Arthur Barlow who should have been driving that jeep; Lt Bucknall had actually swapped jeeps and the driver was Trooper Ted Gorringe - Trooper Barlow had been taken POW. It took nearly 60 years before Gorringe was correctly identified and his grave marked accordingly.

During the morning and afternoon, C Troop were also subject to strafing runs by Messerschmidts, but took no casualties. They were also attacked at various times by German infantry, but beat these off - 9 Section had two other ranks wounded.

At around 1400, the supply drop came in under heavy fire from flak guns. At about 1500, the landing zone came under heavy mortar and artillery fire, supported by machine guns. This made it near impossible to get out to recover supplies.

The Troop withdrew to 1st Airlanding Brigade's HQ at 1900.


The Others

The rest of the squadron had been ordered to recce forward along the Utrechtseweg through Oosterbeek and on into Arnhem. D Troop were in the lead, followed by HQ, A Troop and Support Troop.

There is some rather nice home movie footage showing the Recce Squadron in Ooosterbeek that day; I'm not certain about the time it was taken though.

Setting off at 0700, they initially encountered no opposition until 0800 when the lead elements came under MG and small arms fire from the north. They were on the outskirts of Oosterbeek at this point, within half a mile of Mariendal and Den Brink on the western outskirts of Arnhem.

D Troop dismounted and patrolled forwards to locate the enemy positions. They found them on a side street leading up to the railway line and proceeded to "deliver some good blows causing numerous losses to the enemy. 2 O.R.'s wounded."

Around 1000, slightly further back on Utrechtseweg, A Troop sent out foot patrols following civilian reports that German patrols were working around to the squadron's rear. They observed German positions on the railway embankment; civilians reported them to be SS troops.

About 1130, HQ and A Troop withdrew to the west to a point just north of the Hartenstein Hotel (I believe that there is a typo for the grid reference in the transcription of the squadron war diary);  A Troop's 3 Section jeeps reported in at this point and the Troop was ordered to push on towards Arnhem. They established themselves at a crossroads at 1200 about 1km east of the Hartenstein and sent out foot patrols to the north, having "Some spirited brushes with the Germans".

At 1200, D Troop was relieved by the 2nd South Staffords and withdrew to A Troop's location. Around 1300, enemy patrols engaged them but were driven off, the Germans leaving their dead and wounded behind. At 1400 snipers became active; these were ferreted out by individuals.

Sometime after 1430, A Troop's 2 Section jeeps arrived on the 2nd glider lift and reported in to squadron HQ. This would bring the troop up to (almost) full strength (one man had been badly injured in Sunday's drop and another had been taken ill and didn't jump). Captain Allsop decided to push HQ towards Arnhem, coming under fire when he reached the crossroads where A and D Troops were based.

D Troop, as well as foot patrols, had obviously been sending out jeep patrols to the south as they had made contact with other Divisional elements around Heveadorp and on the river road just west of Station Oosterbeek Laag.

At 1700, A Troop were relieved by the 2nd South Staffords and returned to squadron HQ, arriving at 1730. D Troop returned at 1800 and the squadron headed back to Divisional HQ which had moved to the Hartenstein.

At 2200, Lt Hodge's 11 Section of D Troop took a party of 11 Para to a point just east of Station Oosterbeek Laag, about quarter of a mile south-west of Den Brink.

At 2230, the squadron war diary records them digging in, having not had a hot meal all day.


Tuesday 19th September 1944

C Troop (with their reinforcements from HQ) were again given a separate task to the rest of the squadron.


Everyone But C Troop

The squadron's task was to patrol to the west of the Division, out towards Heelsum and Renkum.

HQ and Support Troop

0730 - initially established at the junction of Utrechtseweg and Wolfhezeweg (where Gen Kussin had been killed on Sunday). Wireless reception was good and the HQ moved slightly further west, passing through outposts of the 1st Border Regiment.

0900 - elements of Royal Army Service Corps dash through position, informing that Germans are pushing up the main road from the west. Defensive pits were quickly dug, but no enemy had appeared by 0930 so normal activity was resumed. Despite being in woodlands, wireless reception was still good.

1000 - enemy reported to be moving east from Renkum; Polsten guns sited to cover approaches from that direction. At 1100, the HQ moved back to the Wolfhezeweg junction.

1230 - Captain Allsop reports in to Divisional HQ to drive Gen Urquhart to 4th Parachute Brigade HQ. Wireless contact maintained throughout.

1415 - no wireless contact with C Troop so HQ moves north to near the Hotel Bilderburg. Still no contact, so return to junction at 1500.

1530 - remnants of 156 Para pass through position having been badly mauled. POWs brought in by A Troop.

1620 - Lt Collier reports in with bad news about C Troop.

1730 - HQ and A Troop return to Hartenstein


A Troop

0730 - Troop HQ sets up just off Utrechtseweg about 1km east of Heelsum. 2 Section sent to patrol DZ/LZ Z; 3 Section (now under Lt Wadsworth, Lt Guthrie having been injured at the RV on Sunday when his Sten accidentally fired, hitting him in his hand) were to patrol south down Schaaps Drift; 1 Section were to patrol Utrechtseweg west towards Heelsum.

0900 - 2 Section encounter a German tank supported by infantry. It was reported as a Panzer IV, but as none would have been in that area was more likely a Char B1 Bis, possibly a Flammenpanzer conversion (Panzer Kompanie C (ND) 224 had a mix of ordinary and flamethrower tanks). The section took one casualty.

1445 - 1 Section ambush a small bicycle patrol that wandered into their position, killing one, wounding two and taking the fourth man prisoner. The prisoners were escorted back to Troop HQ.

1700 - ordered to return to squadron. at 1800 take up positions to observe railway line. At 1930 they withdrew to squadron HQ, taking 3 casualties in an encounter on the way.


D Troop

D Troop were assigned to patrol the roads (Breedeweg and Italiaanscheweg) leading south through Doorwerth Woods to Doorwerth.

1000 - sighted by did not engage enemy in Doorwerth Woods.

1300 - encountered and hit Germans hard a short distance north-west of Doorweerth, forcing them to withdraw.

1400 - patrol encounters and drives off more Germans after a sharp battle.

1530 - troop withdraw to a location central in Doorwerth Woods, coming under a strong enemy attack at 1600. Ordered to withdraw to 1st Border's positions at 1630 and retire to Divisional HQ at 1700.

1730 - sent to recce the railway embankment running south-east from Halte Ooosterbeek Hoog for 1st Airlanding Brigade, supported by a 6 pounder. At 1800 they engaged German troops near the end of the embankment, slightly west of Mariendal, inflicting some casualties and taking one of their own.

2200 - a standing watch was established from houses alongside the railway line, before returning to Divisional HQ at 2345.



Poor Bloody C Troop

C Troop had a grand start to the day - hot tea and porridge for breakfast, before heading out on their assigned recce task for the day at 0630. They were to recce the area around Reijers Camp (LZ Y) and along the Amsterdamseweg to report any German Arnhem movements east towards Arnhem.

0900 - near Reijesheide come under heavy mortar fire, which destroys one jeep. Captain Hay withdraws Troop to Wolfheze.

1015 - troop moves across country and through woods to take up observation positions near Planken Wambuis on Amsterdamseweg.

1500 - as supply drop comes over, notice that Germans have cut their way south through the woods. Following a foot patrol to see if their is a way through, a conference of the senior staff at 1530 was called and the decision taken to break out at full speed along the main road towards Arnhem.

1545 - with jeeps in tight formation, the Troop breaks out of the woods and onto the road., hitting 60mph. They pass some British paras in a small clearing alongside the road who wave at them. Entering a stretch where the road is wooded on both sides, they are ambushed by Germans - the paras in the clearing had been trying to warn them of the danger. The lead jeeps take evasive action and all avilable guns are firing - Vickers K guns, Brens, Stens, rifles.

The first jeep carrying Captain "Butch" Hay, Lt Pearson (HQ Troop), Trooper Jim Salmon and Trooper Des Evans (HQ Troop) came under fire from a second group further along and Lt Pearson (driving) was hit and killed, causing the jeep to veer off the road.

The second jeep carrying Sergeant Winder and Troopers Giles, Tickle and Cross managed to avoid being hit and passed beyond the ambush location, with Trooper Giles doing a fantastic job of driving to avoid the first jeep and also a felled tree which was across the road.

The third jeep, driven by Lt Bowles wasn't so lucky. the jeep's engine was hit by MG fire and started to slow down. Bowles turned the jeep into the ditch alongside the road  and the men dismounted and took cover where they could. Trooper Brawn and L/Corporal Baker were dead, Trooper Fergus was assumed to be dead but was only unconscious.

The fourth jeep with L/Sgt Christie, L/Corporal Palmer and Troopers McSkimmings, McCarthy and Cooke (HQ Troop)  also made it through the ambush, but McSkimmings had been killed.

The last two jeeps, those of Lt Foulkes' 7 Section, were able to avoid entering the ambush by driving off the road into the woods to the south.  Lt Foulkes' group dismounted and disappeared on foot; the sixth jeep also turned south off the road into the woods but came under fire, the men in it being surrounded and taken prisoner not long after.

The two jeeps which had made it through the ambush raced on along Amsterdamseweg and took the sharp right turn onto Wolfhezeweg at speed. Trooper McSkimmings' body fell off the back of his jeep. They reported in to the squadron's base position near the Hartenstein shortly after 1600.

Trooper Tickle, batman to Captain Hay, was badly shaken and seems to have wandered off, not to be seen again. He was killed on either the 25th or 26th. The other survivors stayed with squadron HQ for the remainder of the battle.

the group with Lt Foulkes spent a couple of days trying to make their way back through the woods and picked up some stragglers from 4 Para Brigade before being surrounded and taken prisoner.

Lt Bowles and Trooper Evans had both been wounded. Bowles somehow made it to the hospital for the blind in Wolfheze, where he was treated and later taken prisoner. Trooper Evans claims in "With Recce at Arnhem" that he assisted Bowles to get there and was taken prisoner along with him. Bowles' account differs and says that Evans wasn't there.



Tomorrow's Installment: Bash On Recce! Part 3
Featuring the exploits of the Recce Men 20-22 September