Bowman - Air War Market Garden: Shrinking Perimeter

Other volumes in this series

Air War Market Garden: The Shrinking Perimeter

Volume 1 The Build-Up To The Beginning

Volume 2 So Near And Yet So Far

Volume 4 A Bridge Too Far?

First Published in Great Britain in 2013 by
Pen & Sword Aviation
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Copyright Martin W Bowman, 2013
ISBN: 978-1781591-77-2
PDF ISBN: 978-1473829-32-9
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Contents

Acknowledgements

I am enormously grateful to the following people for their time and effort and kind loan of photos etc, not least to my fellow author, friend and colleague, Graham Simons, for getting the book to press-ready standard and for his detailed work on maps and photographs: My thanks and sincere appreciation to Nigel McTeer, whose uncle, a man by the name of Maloney, fought at Arnhem and killed two Germans, one with a pair of scissors and one by putting sand in his mouth. Thanks are due in no small measure to The Pegasus Archive website and the Maroon Berets online news magazine for the wonderful collections of first-hand accounts faithfully compiled by the Association, its members and siblings of members. And to Deryk Wills, author of Put On Your Boots and Parachutes! My other favourite books on Arnhem and Market-Garden include The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, A Tour of the Arnhem Battlefields by Major John Waddy, Arnhem Lift by Louis Hagen MM and of course Arnhem 1944: The Airborne Battle by Martin Middlebrook. My sincere thanks as always to Libby, Jenny and Lesley at the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library in Norwich. And also to Jim Borrett.

Chapter 1

Hells Highway

We saw this incredible armada go over us in an absolute unending stream. I dont think it occurred to us that anybody could possibly stop us. We might have delays such as roadblocks, but nothing serious.

Major Peter Martin of the 2nd Cheshires.

The morning of 18th September had come too quickly for Sergeant Bill Tucker in the US 82nd Airborne Division and there was firing to the left. The Third Platoon was there, moving along the road towards the forest and on the right, the First Platoon was moving too. The mortar squads were to follow behind. They were told to expect bombers to come in towing the gliders carrying equipment so they had to hold the Landing Zone at all costs. By dawn on the 18th the 82nd were under simultaneous German attack not only at the bridge and in Nijmegen but to the east of Gavins perimeter by the captured bridges and the ten-mile-long Grave-Nijmegen road and near the drop zones near Groesbeek Heights, where the rest of the divisions artillery was to land at 10 oclock that morning. A resupply drop of ammunition was also scheduled there. The local German command nearest the Groesbeek Heights had assembled a force under the operational control of the 406th Division, totalling around 2,300 men supported by five armoured cars and three half-tracks mounting 20mm flak guns. This force was grouped into four Kampfgruppen which were ordered to move against the south and east side of the Groesbeek Heights. Wyler was still under threat and the 508th PIR could not take and hold it. Fortunately, the German advance was extremely slow, because the bulk of the troops were very badly equipped and untrained in infantry work. One contingent consisted of over-age men recently called up for PoW guard duties.

Bill Tucker and Jim Downing scouted ahead for an observation point since the First and Second Platoons seemed to have made contact with the enemy up ahead. They knew that the Third Platoon had been firing and fighting all morning. Norell Blankenship was hit, others too. Finally Tucker ran into Tony Crineti who told him that Staff Sergeant Clarence Prager had been killed on the road out in front. It seems that Prager was leading the Third Platoon when they ran into a German patrol. He waved a flag to the Germans and hollered to them to surrender. They waved a flag in return and three stepped out on to the road. Prager went after them, but the Germans jumped into a ditch and opened up with machine-guns. Prager was badly hit, but he kept alive and fighting where he was. He was recommended for a Medal of Honor for his tremendous action in bringing the Third Platoon down the road and holding the flank. Staff Sergeant Clarence Prager was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. His death was a great loss because he was a soldier without equal. He was a tough guy and everyone was concerned at

Downing and Tucker were still scouting around for an observation post and came across a deserted farmhouse. By this time they had passed through a big iron gate which separated Germany from Holland. They were in Germany - maybe the first Americans to cross the German border - theyll never know. In the farmhouse they found the table set with a roast duck, hot potatoes and vegetables. Evidently they were the first to go into this area since they had strayed away from the First and Second Platoons. The two made themselves comfortable and polished off as much of the duck as they could, carrying the rest of it away. The firing got heavier. Suddenly about six Me 109s appeared and began to strafe. If the Germans had airplanes in this area it was going to be rough. The 505 were in Germany so they were in for it anyway. The Mortar Squad moved towards the firing, setting up the guns at every opportunity. Bass, Logan, Lester and Intrieri were doing real well for the new men and Wingfield was Wingfield. He and Tucker decided to go up with the First Platoon to see what was going on. They saw that the Second Platoon was stuck over on the right and it seemed to be having a fight in a little town. Leo Lopez was the only one who had been hit with a shot through his helmet. It had a hole in it but that was all. There was a dead man in the middle of the road as they passed by the Second Platoon. It turned out to be young Everett Gilliland who had just married a girl in England who he hardly knew. Gilliland was either shot by a sniper or during a strafing. The Germans were about 300 yards away. Finally Tucker and Downing got to the front of the combat line and it happened to be Tommy Thompsons Squad. Louis Russo had a machine-gun in action and there seemed to be Germans in a cluster of houses about two hundred and fifty yards away. They all opened fire. Gliders were coming in and many were burning, tipping over and crashing. The Second Platoon was still in the town on the right. Tucker got into a deep hole with the Executive Officer, Tommy and a few guys and they all took it easy for a while.