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FRIENDS OF THE AIRBORNE MUSEUM
Editors:Drs. R.P.G.A. Voskuil, C. van Roekel, G.H. Maassen jr.
Newsletter No. 76, October 1999
Translated by Cathrien and Peter Clark
Representative in Great Britain: Mr. E.E. Shaw, 298 Totnes Road Paignton – Devon TQ4 7HD Tel. 0803-553616

From the editors
The 55th commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem is
already one and a half months in the past. They were hectic days in which many things happened that are worthy of mention. This naturally means that a major part of this enlarged Newsletter is given over to photos and reports of the events.
Besides these you will of course find the latest on the Society of Friends and the Airborne Museum. It is the future intention to introduce a number of items about the museum into the Newsletter under fixed
headings. Board members of the Airborne Museum Foundation and the museum’s full-time employees will be responsible for these items, and the headings you can expect to come across are: ‘The Museum’ and ‘Museum activities’ by W. Boersma; ‘From the archives and library’ by A. Groeneweg; ‘The Museum on the internet’ and ‘The Museum shop’ by B. de Reus; ‘From the collection’ and ‘Recent acquisitions’ by R. Boekhorst.
Once again, many books on the Battle of Arnhem have been recently published. These will be reviewed in this and the next edition.

Theme afternoon, 20 November 1999
The annual theme afternoon will be held in the Concert Hall, Rozensteeg 1, Oosterbeek on Saturday 20 November next.
The afternoon will concentrate entirely on the Royal Netherlands Army’s Recovery and Identification Service. This service’s responsibilities in the Netherlands include the exhumation and identification of the remains of allied servicemen who died during the war.
The programme is as follows:
13.00 – 13.30 hours: Reception of the members.
13.30 -14.45 hours: Lecture on the general
activities of the Recovery and Identification Service.
14.45-15.30 hours: BREAK.
15.30 -16.30 hours: Lecture on the service’s work
in Renkum Municipality and surroundings.
Approx. 17.00 hours: End of the theme afternoon.

Normandy reunion
A reunion of participants in the spring excursion to Normandy will be held in the Airborne Museum on the evening of Friday 26 November 1999. The meeting room will be open from 19.30 hours. Don’t forget to bring your photographs and videos!

10th Battalion’s Colours donated to the Airborne Museum
During a special ceremony held on Saturday 18 September, the two standards of the 10th Battalion The Parachute Regiment were handed over to the Airborne Museum. Prior to the ceremony a service took place in the Old Church in Lower Oosterbeek during which the Reverend R.F. Bowers, chaplain to the 10th Battalion in 1944, talked of the bond that exists between the battalion and our municipality.

After the service the Colour Guard marched with the standards to Hartenstein.
The 10th British Parachute Battalion was raised in Kabrit, Egypt, in 1942 and first saw action in Italy. On 18 September 1944 some 600 men of the battalion under the command of Lt Col K.B.I. Smyth landed on Ginkel Heath. The battalion formed part of the 4th Parachute Brigade, whose job it was to occupy the area to the north of Arnhem. During their advance they encountered strong German resistance near ‘De Leeren Doedel’ restaurant, forcing them to alter the line of advance towards Oosterbeek. On arrival in the village they were given orders to occupy positions in a number of houses in Annastraat and Utrechtseweg, east of the Schoonoord Hotel. This sector of the perimeter was defended against German attacks from the east and north-east until the end of the battle. In the night of 25/26 September 1944 the remnants of the battalion crossed back over the Rhine along with the rest of the division. Only 35 men of the 10th Battalion reached allied lines.
After the Second World War the 10th Battalion became a territorial unit (Volunteer Battalion), comparable to the Dutch ‘National Reserve’.
The use of standards by army units goes back a long way in time, and in the 17th century they were already being referred to in the British army as ’the Colours’. In those days the banners did indeed vary in colour as a means of recognition of the unit(s) concerned. During the 18th century the number of standards per unit was reduced to two. These are the Queen’s Colour, which consists of a British flag bearing the names of the battles in which the unit concerned has been involved (the Battle Honours), and the Regiment’s Colour, which is in the colour of the regiment and bears the regimental badge or emblem.
When the Colours need replacing or if a unit is disbanded, it is usual for the old Colours to be hung in the church to which the unit feels attached.
In 1952 the 10th (Volunteer) Battalion The Parachute Regiment received its Colours. They were replaced in 1983, the old being placed in the Regiment s church, St Lawrence Jewry, near the Guildhall in London. The reorganisation of the British Army in 1999 led to the 10th Parachute Battalion being disbanded. To illustrate its connection with Oosterbeek the battalion wished to have its Colours placed in the Old Church in Lower Oosterbeek, however it is not customary for military standards to be hung in churches in the Netherlands. The battalion therefore decided to present the Colours to the Airborne Museum.
The handing-over of the standards took place on the front lawn of the museum with full military pomp. General Sir Rupert Smith, KCB, DSO, OBE, QGM, deputy commander-in-chief of NATO, attended the ceremony as representative of the British Army. In his address he emphasised the fact that it was 55 years to the day that the 10th Parachute Battalion dropped on Ginkel Heath, and that the battalion, after a week of heavy fighting, was more or less annihilated only a few hundred metres from where the standards were now being handed over. That the standards will be kept in Oosterbeek is unique, because it is virtually unheard of for Colours to be held in countries outside of the British Isles or the Comm o n wea 1 th.
The Colours will be housed in a large showcase that has been built in the hall of the Airborne Museum where they will be on show to the visiting public. (W. Boersma)

just before the start of the memorial service at the Airborne Cemetery, the clergymen who will lead the service make their way to the pulpit with, in front, the Reverend R.F. Bowers.
(Photo: Berry de Reus)

4th edition of the Roll of Honour
The presentation of the new ‘Roll of Honour, Battle of Arnhem 1944’ took place during the AGM of the Arnhem Veterans Club on the evening of Thursday 16 September. More than a year of preparation had preceded the event, a year in which Geert Maassen and Chris van Roekel, together with the compiler Ian Hey, worked intensively on the production of this 4th edition. Much new information had been prowded by various sources over the past years and all this has now been included in this new issue The first impression appeared in 1986, followed a year later by the second. In 1993 it was decided to publish a revised edition, and now we have a fourth, completely re-vamped issue. The ‘Roll of Honour’ contains the names and all other information on men of the 1st British Airborne Division, the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade Group, the Royal Air Force and other military units that were involved in the Battle of Arnhem in the south-west ‘Veluwezoom’ and at Driel, and who lost their lives during or as a result of the fighting in September 1944.
This edition of the ‘Roll of Honour’ is published by the Society of Friends of the Airborne Museum and 500 copies have been printed. The reference work is of A4 format, contains 174 pages and is illustrated with photographs and maps. It is available from the Airborne Museum and in Oosterbeek bookshops, price f 40,-.

REME bench unveiled
On Saturday afternoon 18 September 1999, a bench to the memory of the men of the 1st Airborne Workshop Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) who took part in the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944 was unveiled in the Hartenstein park. The bench was made by men of the present-day REME. Burgomaster Verlinden accepted the bench on behalf of the Municipality of Renkum, and it has been placed close to the spot where the REME held positions in 1944. Mr Don Jacobs, who himself served in the REME and now works part- time for the museum, instigated the setting up of the bench.

Burgomaster Verlinden reads the inscription on the backrest of the recently unveiled REME bench at the rear of the Airborne Museum.
(Photo: Berry de Reus)

Purchase of unusual bulldozer
Most people are probably unaware that the 1st British Airborne Division look a small American bulldozer to Arnhem in September 1944. This vehicle, the AMM/Clark CAI ‘Clarkair’, was transported by Horsa glider. The bulldozer was intended for use by 261 Field Park Company Royal Engineers for the clearance of landing zones and the eventual construction of an airstrip. The way the Battle of Arnhem developed rendered this impossible. The machine was driven from the

Mr Mervyn Potter poses beside the Clarkair bulldozer purchased for the Airborne Museum by the Society of Friends. In September 1944 Mr Potter served with 261 Field Park Company Royal Engineers, which took a similar bulldozer to Arnhem.
(Photo: Berry de Reus)

landing zone to Oosterbeek, where it was parked in the grounds of the then Sonnenberg Castle.
Earlier this year a collector of military vehicles in Zele (Belgium), a Mr E. Janssens, offered a Clarkair bulldozer for sale. After consulting with the Foundation Board, the Friends’ Society management decided to buy this unique vehicle for the museum, and on Monday 13 September delivery took place. For the time being the little bulldozer will go into storage in Oosterbeek and restoration work will begin in the spring of next year. This work will be led by one of our volunteers, Jaap Jansen, former Adjutant in the Technical Service. Society members who are willing to help with this project are asked to get in touch with the museum, tel. 026-3337710. The restoration is expected to be completed in time for the Airborne commemoration in September 2000. It is also the intention that one of the future ministories will feature the Clarkair.

Commemorative envelope, 1999
A new commemorative envelope was released on 17 September last. This latest issue by the Airborne Museum is the fourth in a series with ‘The monuments of the Battle of Arnhem’ as subject. This new envelope depicts the Airborne Monument in Arnhem, that consists of part of a broken column from the Arnhem Palace of Justice, destroyed in 1944. Arnhem architect J. van Biesen came up with the idea of using this piece of column and, on the advice of Arnhem sculptor Gijs Jacobs, it was placed beside the ramp of the Rhine bridge as a temporary monument. In 1953 a definitive monument was erected on the Kerkplein near Eusebiuskerk, but the ’temporary’ Airborne monument was retained. In 1954 the column was moved to the Damcircuit at the end of the northern approach to the John Frost bridge. Every September a wreath is laid here to commemorate the Battle of Arnhem.
500 numbered copies of the commemorative envelope have been produced. They bear two 80 cent commemorative postage stamps from 1998 (‘100 jaar inhuldiging Koningin Wilhelmina’ – 100th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Wilhelmina) and have been franked ’17 September 1999′ with the Oosterbeek post office branch stamp. The envelopes are on sale at the Airborne Museum for 7 guilders.

The standards are lowered during the commemoration at the bridge in Arnhem.
(Photo: Berry de Reus)

Backgrounds to an excavated ‘find’
One of the types of radio transmitter used by the 1st British Airborne Division during the Battle of Arnhem was the ‘Wireless set no.22’. The 22 set was developed in Britain in 1941 by the Pye Ltd. company as a replacement for the ageing No. 11 (High Power) set. Normally the set was transported by vehicle, although it could also be used as a portable radio. However, this required a three men team. A modification was introduced halfway through 1944 enabling the set to be tuned using crystals. The ‘WS no. 62’ was a later development of the ‘WS no. 22 MK 1’. Approximately 55,000 no. 22 wireless sets were produced during the Second World War.
The 1st British Airborne Division used the 22 set for such things as brigade to battalion and brigade to HQ communications. The set was also used for communication with the Royal Artillery. Telephonic range was 15 km and 30 km for telegraphy.
Early in the nineties a 22 set that had been used during the battle was unearthed in Oosterbeek at the northern corner of Kneppelhoutweg and Hoofdlaan. It was found between a brick-built pillar and an oak tree. Prior to this, veteran Robert Whelan had told Mrs Beelaerts van Blokland from Oosterbeek that he had buried his radio set there, but Captain John Lee, Troop Commander of ‘A’ Troop, 1st Airlanding Light Regiment, Royal Artillery, had said some years before that it was he who had buried the set there. However, according to John Lee it was near a brick pillar on the south side of the road. When the radio was found he wrote to the late Ed van Dam in 1994, saying: ‘Of course I am fascinated by the story of the 22 set. There was just one in that area and it came from my jeep. I was using a trench to the south of the crossing. I cannot remember if there was one on the north side too. I know for certain that I buried the set at the bottom of the trench on the south side of the road. The name Whelan does ring a bell but I can t bring him to mind. My Gun Position Officer, Lieutenant Tom Barron, thinks that he was one of our people. I am intrigued to know where the information came from that Robert Whelan buried the set and how it came to be on the other side of the road. As far as I can see it will remain a mystery’.
(W. Boersma)

The restoration of the excavated WS 22 radio set
Shortly after the radio set mentioned in the above article was found it came into the hands of the Airborne Museum. First of all it had to be dried out in a heated area, after which restoration work could begin. The front was partially treated with an anti¬rust agent because corrosion had begun to take its toll. Contact corrosion had been caused by the aluminium and copper components and some of the aluminium had been eaten away. After treatment with the anti-rust agent it was once again possible to get some movement in most of the set’s control knobs. The year ‘1942’ was clearly legible on the meter. When removed from its casing the radio set appeared to be complete. The traces of rust and corrosion were removed. The set’s valves were covered with a layer of dirt about 1 cm thick. This was scraped off very carefully and the valves could then be removed from their housings. After a clean-up they were put back in place. The wiring was still mainly intact.
The casing was made completely rust-free but some of it had rotted away. There was also some other damage, probably caused when the unit was dug up. From above one can now see the set’s ‘internals’, while the original colour can still be seen on the outside. All the webbing carrying straps have rotted away.

ine restored zz radio set that teas unearthed at the corner of Kneppelhoutweg and Hoofdlaan almost 50 years after the Battle of Arnhem. J
(Photo: R. Boekhorst)

Although the Airborne Museum possesses an example of all the types of radio set used in the Battle of Arnhem, this is the only original set about which the history is known.
(Roland Boekhorst, preservationist, Airborne Museum)

19 September 1999. In a long column of more than 100 old military vehicles the veterans are driven around the villages of the Municipality ofRenkum (Photo: Berry de Reus)

 

From the archives and library
The subject of the first article under this heading is the smallest piece of archive material in the museum. It is a pencil-written order from Brigadier P.H.W. Hicks, commander of the 1st Airlanding Brigade that landed around Reyerscamp on 17 and 18 September. The brigade comprised 1st Battalion The Border Regiment, 2nd Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment and 7th Battalion The King’s Own Scottish Borderers.
The 1st Border battalion took up positions on the western side of what would eventually become the Perimeter. In doing so they were the only unit to follow the original operational order. A, C, D and B companies lay from north to south respectively, from Sonnenberglaan to the then gasworks in the Lower Village. HQ company and Battalion HQ were in Van Lennepweg and D company HQ was located in the long farmhouse halfway along Van Borsselenweg. On 25 September, Corporal Alan Fisher from D company was detailed to collect orders from Battalion HQ. Knowing nothing of the plans for the withdrawal of the division across the Rhine, he was given a small note by Brigadier Hicks. On the way back to his company he came under mortar fire which prevented him reaching his company commander. However, he did come across some men from his own company and took them along with him. Corporal Fisher managed to cross the Rhine but the rest of D company, unaware of the withdrawal, were taken prisoner. Later, Corporal Fisher donated the note to the Airborne Museum. It is written on poor quality paper and the text is faint, too faint to be copied. It reads: ‘Coy: Monument 21.00, P. Hicks, 25-9’. The monument in question was that to Mrs ‘U.M. Kneppelhout, geboren Van Braam, en wijlen haren onvergetelijken echtgenoot. Het dankbare Oosterbeek’- U.M. Kneppelhout, nee Van Braam, and her late, unforgettable husband. A grateful Oosterbeek) and is to be found on the west side of Hoofdlaan on Hemelse Berg. With this note Hicks intended D company to assemble by the monument at 9 ‘o clock in the evening of 25 September and then cross back over the Rhine.
The original note can be seen in the museum by appointment with A. Groeneweg.
(A. Groeneweg)

Airborne Museum website
Http/ / www.airbornemuseum.com is the internet address of the Airborne Museum’s website. Messrs J. van Slooten, Peter Klaassen and Berry de Reus have been working on the preparation of the site for the past few months. Initially it will contain information aimed at promoting the museum. One will be able to surf to a simple presentation that will provide general information such as opening times, admission charges, etc. The site will also contain a photo page showing a number of pictures of the museum and dioramas. By clicking on the so-called ’thumbnails’ it will be possible to enlarge a photo and increase its resolution. In addition there is a year overview of activities in and involving the museum. The future intention is to extend the site to include reports on special items and to show what is available for sale in the museum shop. Purchases could then eventually be ordered via the internet. The presentation will be further enhanced by links to other sites. If you would like more information or have any queries you can make use of the museum’s e-mail address: hartenstein@wxs.nl.
(B. de Reus)

‘Red Berets and Red Crosses’
A beautifully produced book about the medical services of the 1st British Airborne Division during World War II was published on September 3 this year under the above title. It is written by one of our English members, Niall Cherry (40), who has been researching the subject for many years.
Captain Peter H. Starling (Retd), Curator of the Army Medical Services Museum in Aidershot, had this to say about this new standard work:
‘Many books have been written about the Airborne Forces during World War 2 but very few give justice to or tell the story of the men of the Airborne Medical Services. Here, in a single volume, is the complete story of part of the airborne medical services, that of the 1st Airborne Division, from its beginnings in the early days of the war to the disbandment of 1st Airborne Division in November 1945.
From the early days of airborne forces there was a need for medical personnel, not only to accompany the fighting troops but to become heavily involved in the evolution of airborne forces and the trials of aircraft and equipment and their effect on the human body. Colonel A. Austin Eagger OBE was the first senior medical officer to be posted to the division and was shortly after joined by Captain T.R.B. Courtney as his assistant. These two officers were the founding fathers of the airborne medical services. The author takes us through these early days, fraught with the problems of transporting troops by air, the airsickness that 80% of glider-borne troops suffered from, the lack of lightweight medical equipment, the search for a means of transporting stretchers by wheeled vehicle once on the ground, to name but a few. Over seventy veterans of the divisional medical services have been interviewed and their reminiscences are interspersed with details of these early days.
It was not long before members of the RAMC were in action, accompanying the cross-channel raid on the radar site at Brimeval. Subsequent operations in North Africa, Sicily and Italy are dealt with in great detail and readers can read of the personal experiences of members of the RAMC and ADC and the hardships they suffered whilst trying to bring comfort to their wounded comrades.
The real strength of this book is in its account of the part played by the medical services during the battle for Arnhem & Oosterbeek. This has never before been told in such great detail, with members of the medical services own accounts interspersed with details from official records and reports. The greater part of the battle took place in and around the divisional hospital area with the dressing stations falling in and out of enemy hands constantly and coming under shell and small arms fire with great regularity. When the decision to withdraw the remnants of the division was reached, the medical services were instructed to remain behind with the wounded and endure the subsequent captivity which followed, and here we read of their accounts as POWs. The final chapter of the book takes us into disbandment via a short journey to Norway and the German surrender.
The book is complemented by over 100 illustrations (many published for the first time), maps and tables and will be recognised as the reference work on this subject for many years to come. The author, himself a former member of the RAMC, is to be congratulated for achieving this’.
Captain Peter Starling thus.
‘Red Berets and Red Crosses’ is published by Robert Sigmond in Renkum and printed by Veenman Drukkers in Ede. (ISBN : 890 804718 1 X). The book is available in the Netherlands via the Airborne Museum and from various local bookshops, price 49.50 guilders. In England it can be bought at the Army Medical Services Museum in Aidershot and at the Border Regiment Museum in Carlisle Castle, price 17 pounds 95p.

Niall Cherry, author of the book ‘Red Berets and Red Crosses’, photographed in front of‘De Tafelberg’ in Oosterbeek. He is holding the parachute helmet of Corporal Ken Holdsworth, 181 Airlanding Field Ambulance, who worked there in 1944.
(Photo: R. Voskuil)

Through the lens of De Booys
Last year an exhibition of the work of the well- known Arnhem photographer P.J. de Booys was held in the Arnhem Municipal Archives in celebration of thelOOth anniversary of his birth. Now, due partly to the enormous interest that the exhibition aroused, an extremely interesting book has been published entitled ‘Door de lens van De Booys. Een Arnhem reportage 1944-1954’ (Through the lens of De Booys. An Arnhem report 1944-1954). It was compiled by Drs. P.R.A. van Iddekinge.
Photographer De Booys achieved particular fame for the cold-blooded way in which he secretly took scores of photos of the plundering of the town in the autumn of 1944, when Arnhem had been forcibly evacuated by the Germans. Had the Germans been aware that their activities were being recorded on film, De Booys would almost certainly have paid with his life. These fascinating photographs of the plundering and the evacuation give us a penetrating

The veterans march from the Airborne Museum to the Town Hall to the accompaniment of loud cheers from the local inhabitants during the Farewell Parade on Sunday afternoon, 19 September. (Photo: Berry de Reus)

image of the situation in Arnhem in the autumn of 1944. When the liberation begins in April 1945 De Booys is in Velp, where he records the entry of the allied troops in a series of photographs. After the liberation he returns to Arnhem. He photographs the enormous destruction in the town and surroundings and shows how the populace attempts to re-establish a normal existence. In the years following the war he records on film the rebuilding of the town as well as all manner of festivities.
From the thousands of photos De Booys took, the compiler of the book has selected 212. The result is an absorbing image of one of the most turbulent periods in Arnhem’s history.
‘Door de lens van De Booys’ comprises 160 pages and is published by Matrijs of Utrecht. It costs 39.95 guilders.
‘Capture at Arnhem’
The book ‘Capture at Arnhem, a Diary of Disaster and Survival’ in the series Military Memoirs/World War II has recently been published in England. It was written by Captain H.R. Roberts.
As a Lieutenant during the Battle of Arnhem he was second-in-command of the Advanced Workshop Detachment of the 1st Airborne Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
Directly after arriving on landing zone ‘Z’ to the south of the Arnhem-Ede railway line on 18 September 1944, Harry Roberts was hit by German machine gun fire. Because of this he took no further part in the battle and the actions of the REME. In his book Roberts describes his personal experiences, first as a casualty during the battle and then as a prisoner- of-war in Germany.
As a casualty he was taken via Wolfheze to the Vreewijk Hotel in Oosterbeek, and after the battle to Stalag XIB in Germany by way of Apeldoorn. At first he concealed is rank, but in spite of this was later taken to a camp for officers, Oflag IX A/Z near

Standing on a jeep. Brigadier Mike Dauncey leads the Farewell Parade.
(Photo: Berry de Reus)

Rotenburg. His book is based mainly on the diary he kept up to 18 April 1945, the day he was liberated. The story gives a good impression of the lot of more than 6,000 British prisoners-of-war after the Battle of Arnhem. Roberts writes about day-to-day life in the hospitals and the camps. Food is a major subject and, among other things, he describes how he managed to supplement his rations through contact with the civilian population. Roberts ends his book with the story of the 16-day forced march through Germany, his liberation by the Americans and his return home. ‘Capture at Arnhem’ shows another side of the Battle of Arnhem. During the ‘Liberators behind Barbed Wire’ exhibition in the Airborne Museum in 1998, it became clear that there are far more unpublished stories by and about prisoners-of-war than had ever been suspected.
Captain Roberts died in 1992 and his wife has succeeded in having his manuscript published seven years after his death.
‘Capture at Arnhem’ is in paperback and is published by the Windrush Press, Moreton-in- Marsh, Gloucestershire (ISBN 1 900624 27 3). The book consists of 148 pages and is illustrated with photographs and a map. It is available at the Airborne Museum for 35 Guilders.
(W. Boersma)

Video film
Production of a video film about the commemorations on Ginkel Heath and at Driel is under way. The film mainly concerns the veterans who made the parachute drop this year and also incorporates footage from TROS TV and TV Gelderland. The wreath laying at Driel is shown at the end of the video.
Anyone interested in this professionally produced video should contact C.C. van den Bosch, Utrechtseweg 173, 6812 AC, Arnhem. If there is sufficient interest it is expected that the film will be ready at the beginning of next year and cost approx. 25 guilders.
(C. van den Bosch)

Message from your UK representative
A kindly reminder that your subscriptions are due in January 2000. Any outstanding 1999 subscriptions will also be welcome!
(Ted Shaw, UK representative)

Unique commemorative medal
The Airborne Walk, Pegasus Walk and Capitulation Liberation Walk organisation committees have presented a so-called ‘Liberation walk passport’. This gives one the opportunity of obtaining a ‘Wageningen Liberation Town 2000’ commemorative medal. To achieve this one has to ‘do’ each of the above walks once during the period 4 September 1999 to 12 May 2001 inclusive. Successful completion of each walk will be marked with a stamp in the passport, and those eventually managing to collect all three stamps will be considered for the above- mentioned medal.
(B. de Reus)

A Bren-gun carrier was among the old military vehicles displayed to the public by the ‘Airborne Battle Wheels Oosterbeek’ society.
(Photo: Berry de Reus)

‘Point Blank, Open Sights’
A booklet entitled ‘Point Blank, Open Sights’, telling the story of the 1st Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery, was published on 5 June this year. Its author John C. Howe served with this unit during the war.
The book begins with the fighting in France, the escape via Dunkirk and the unit’s rebuilding.in England. Actions in North Africa and Sicily follow the 1st Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery’s attachment to the 1st Airborne Division. It is in fact the first unit to have its guns transported to the battlefield by glider. After returning to England the 1st Anti-Tank Battery is attached to the 1st Parachute Brigade. In September 1944 they take part in the Battle of Arnhem, where they suffer heavy casualties. The last operation in which they are involved is the liberation of Norway.
‘Point Blank, Open Sights’ comprises 118 pages, is illustrated with photos and maps and contains a list of names and a ‘Roll of Honour’. It is published by Hough Publishing, 16 Merrick House, Reigate Road, Reigate RH2 0QH, Surrey. In the Netherlands it costs 35 guilders and can be ordered from Eugene Wijnhoud, Bernhardlaan 41-1, 6824 LE, Arnhem, telephone 026-3513100.
(Eugene Wijnhoud)

Final part of ‘Blik Omhoog’ published
The fourth book in the series ‘Blik Omhoog’ about the wartime history of Wolfheze and the South Vein we and written by our member Cor Janse appeared on 17 September this year. Besides a comprehensive register of 3,100 people and more than 900 placenames, this Supplement (‘S’) contains all manner of additions and explanations relating to the previously published volumes. One of the subjects dealt with is the role of the Dutch SS during the Battle of Arnhem.
Book ‘S’ contains 144 pages and costs 25 guilders. It is available from the Airborne Museum and from the Oosterbeek bookshops.

Decoration for Gerrit Pijpers
On 19 September, Gerrit Pijpers, board member of the Airborne Museum Foundation, was awarded the Order of Oranje Nassau with Swords. Gerrit Pijpers, a major in the Netherlands Royal Air Force, has been involved since 1975 in the organisation of countless activities within the cadre of the Battle of Arnhem commemorations. Since 1994 he has organised the memorial service at the Airborne Cemetery in his capacity as Dutch representative of the Airborne Forces Security Fund. The Friends’ Society board warmly congratulates Gerrit on this well-deserved decoration.
Philip Reinders honorary member of the ‘Arnhem 1944 Veteran’s Club’
At the AGM of the Arnhem 1944 Veteran’s Club held on 16 September, Society member Philip Reinders from Rlieden was nominated honorary member of the Club. He received this award for the huge amount of historical research he has carried out on subjects relating to the Battle of Arnhem.

Download nieuwsbrief

FRIENDS OF THE AIRBORNE MUSEUM

Editors: Drs. R.P.G.A. Voskuil C. van Roekel G.H. Maassen jr.
Representative in Great Britain: Niall Cherry, 3 Church Road, Warton, Lancs, PR4 1BD Tel. home 0177-2632764
Newsletter No. 78, May 2000 Translated by Cathrien and Peter Clark

 

Mr M. Kremer of the Dutch Air Mobile Brigade, and Mr J. Elliott, the youngest British Air Despatcher, press the button simultaneously, to open the ‘Green On’ exhibition in the Airborne Museum ‘Hartenstein’ on 19 April 2000.
(Photo: Berry de Reus)

‘Green On’ exhibition opened
The exhibition ‘”Green On’, Air Despatchers, the forgotten heroes of Arnhem” opened in the Airborne Museum ‘Hartenstein’ on Wednesday 19 April last. The opening ceremony was performed by J. Elliot, the youngest member of the 47th Air Despatch Squadron from England, and M. Kremer, the youngest member of the Dutch Air Mobile Brigade. Although ground units were supplied from the air in a rough and ready manner during the First World War, it was not until the Second World War that this system was applied on a large scale. Weapons and explosives were already being dropped to resistance groups in occupied territory from the very beginning of the war. This early experience showed that the packing of equipment and its dropping from aircraft was a job for specialists, and in order to fulfil this task men of the Royal Army Service Corps were trained to become so-called Air Despatchers.
During the Battle of Arnhem, 600 re-supply sorties were flown by Stirlings and Dakotas between 18 and 25 September. 426 Air Despatchers were involved in these operations, some of them making more than one flight. Eighty-four aircraft were lost and, as far as is known, 78 Air Despatchers were killed. Fifteen hundred tons of material were dropped, with just 7.4 % falling into British hands. Poor communications with Britain meant that the authorities there could not be informed on time that the supply dropping zones were in German hands. After the war much attention was paid to the airmen who risked their lives, but the men who actually had to eject the supplies from the aircraft were virtually overlooked. It was not until 1994 that a monument to the Air Despatchers who died at Arnhem was raised in Oosterbeek.
The history of the British Air Despatchers, including their more recent role in humanitarian operations, is brought to life in this exhibition by means of a diorama, various objects and artefacts, photographs and documents. The ‘Green On’ exhibition continues until 5 November 2000.

Management changes: ‘A time to come and a time go’.
At the AGM held on 15 April last we had to say out- fond farewells to three people who have meant an awful lot to the society for a very long time: Mrs Mieke de Langen, Mr Wim de Ruijter and Mr Ted Shaw.

Mieke de Langen became our secretary in 1982, a role she fulfilled enthusiastically and meticulously. On top of this she had the job of managing our stocks. On countless occasions, such as Army and Air Force open days and organised walks, she managed to present these wares to the attending public. In her Ex management board members Mieke de Langen, Rinke Fennema and Wim de Ruijter were made Members of Merit during the AGM on 15 April last. Chairman Chris van Roekel presents each of them with a Pegasus statuette as a token of appreciation for their efforts.
(Photo: Mrs H. Kolster)

own inimitable style she earned many a remarkable sum of money for our society. Without this it would have been impossible for us to maintain our contributions at their present level, contributions that go mainly to the museum and the Newsletter.
She made her views known with verve at numerous meetings, and her business acumen and wisdom enabled her to contribute to the decision-making process on several occasions. Over the years all this effort involved a fair few car trips from Hoevelaken. Wim de Ruijter has been of inestimable value to our museum and society. Hundreds of high -quality photographs decorate the walls of the ‘Hartenstein’ and have appeared in our Newsletters. He assisted in the compiling and preparation for posting of thousands of school projects and Newsletters.
Nothing was ever too much for him. In 1984 he became a management board member, and he still travels every Tuesday from Duiven to the museum to carry out odd jobs about the place.
Both board members have been of immense worth to the museum and society, and it was with great pleasure that they were unanimously nominated ‘Member of Merit’ during our 20th AGM. Fortunately, despite the fact that they intend taking things easier, they agreed with our proposal that Mieke should continue to man the ‘shop’ at meetings and on theme days, and that Wim would continue to look after the photographic work.
The third person to whom we say farewell is Mr Ted Shaw, MC. As a lieutenant and troop commander with the 1st Anti-Tank Battery, he won the Military Cross at Arnhem. After the war he remained closely involved with the commemorations in Oosterbeek. For nine years he has represented our society for the British members in his modest but secure manner, but now, at the age of 82, he is handing this job over to Niall Cherry, one of our younger UK members. Niall is the author of the recently published book about the medical service of the 1st British Airborne Division, ‘Red Berets and Red Crosses’.
During the AGM we also had the pleasure of welcoming two new members to the management team. Gerard Gijsberts and Ben Kolster were appointed secretary and board member (duties to include public relations) respectively. We have great confidence in their abilities and wish them an enjoyable time as board members.
It was decided during the 1999 AGM to introduce the title ‘Member of Merit’ for those who have been of particularly special significance to the society. Our retiring chairman Mr Jan Smits was the first to receive this honourable title. However, during the same AGM the board proposed that Mr Rinke Fennema, our treasurer for many years, should still be made ‘Member of Merit’.
(C. van Roekel)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ben Kolster and Gerard Gijsberts were appointed members of the board of management at the AGM of 15 April 2000. (Photos: Mrs H. Kolster and, through, G. Gijsberts)

New British representative
The Society’s new UK representative is Mr Niall M.G. Cherry, 3 Church Road, Warton, Lancs PR4 1BD, UK. Telephone (home) 01772632764, (work) 0177284593, e-mail address; Niall.Cherry@bae.co.uk. Our British members are requested to direct all correspondence, orders of goods and payments to him.

Our new UK representative is Niall Cherry, also known for his book about the medical services of the 1st British Airborne Division, that was published last year, ‘Red Berets and Red Crosses’. (Photo: R. Voskuil, September 1999)

‘Silent Invader’
On a recent visit to the Museum of Army Flying in Middle Wallop I came across a remarkable book entitled ‘Silent Invader’. It was written by Captain J.A. Morrison, commander of No. 5 Flight The Glider Pilot Regiment, at the Battle of Arnhem. He came to this regiment as a volunteer, having first served with me Honourable Artillery Company and The Royal Fusiliers Regiment. In a racy manner, and in fewer than thirty pages, he describes his prior history and his training in Horsa gliders. On June 6 1944 he lands in Normandy with a unit of the Ox & Bucks (The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry). Because glider pilots are not expected to take part in the fighting for any length of time, Morrison is back in England by 11 June. He subsequently lands with a unit of an Anti-Tank Battery on landing zone ‘Z’ at Wolfheze on 18 September 1944.
Next day he and a number of other pilots lose contact with the rest of the division. After a few days being hidden by civilians he nevertheless ends up in a German POW camp. Via Stalag 12A and interrogation by the Gestapo he eventually arrives at Stalag Luft 1. More than half of the book is given over to describing life in this camp, full of officers from various countries. With the approach of the Russians the detainees free themselves, even taking over a nearby airfield with the intention of liberating a few more camps.
All in all an exceptional book which shows yet another side of the Battle of Arnhem, and especially what happened afterwards. As the 1998 exhibition ‘Liberators behind Barbed Wire’ said:
6500 prisoners-of-war means 6500 different stories. Without doubt, this is a story worth reading.
‘Silent Invader, A glider pilot’s story of the invasion of Europe in World War IT by Alexander Morrison is published by Airlift Publishing Ltd., 101 Longden Road, Shrewsbury SY3 9EB, England. The book is illustrated with photographs, comprises 160 pages, costs 19 pounds 95p, and the ISBN no. is 1 84037 058 0. (W. Boersma)

Ordering Newsletter back issues
We regularly receive requests from many members in the Netherlands for back issues of the Newsletter and Ministory. Up until now we have maintained a fixed price of 50 guilders per complete set. Having in the meantime reached numbers 78 and 66 respectively, we consider it time for a price review, partially due to increased printing costs. Therefore, from now on a Newsletter plus Ministory will cost 1 guilder 50. You can indicate the issue number(s) required and fill in the necessary amount on your cheque. An extra 5 guilders should be added to cover postage and packing.
If the Dutch edition of a specific issue is no longer available we reserve the right to send you the English version.
(C. van Roekel)

Subscription to ‘ The Eagle’
For many years the Glider Pilot Regimental Association has published its own magazine, ‘The Eagle’. Till now this periodical was only sent to ex-glider pilots and those having a special link with this regiment.
However, since 1 January this year anyone with an interest in this subject can take out a subscription to
‘The Eagle’. A subscriber in the Netherlands will pay 18 pound per annum, and for this he/she will receive three copies per year of this excellent magazine, each containing articles on the use of gliders both during and shortly after the Second World War. Each copy pays great attention to the landings in Normandy, Arnhem and Hamminkeln. The history of pilot training also receives extensive cover. The magazine is printed on glossy paper, is beautifully presented and well illustrated with photographs, maps and drawings.
If you are interested in a subscription to ‘The Eagle’, send a cheque for 18 pounds (British currency please!) to Mr David Brook, Birds Hill, Gt. Bealings, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP13 6NR, England. Tel. 01394 382285.

In memoriam: Corporal Tom Italiaander
Tom Italiaander passed away at his home in Bilthoven on 28 March 2000. Tom was born in Rotterdam on 29 April 1914. He is working for BPM in South America at the outbreak of the Second World War, and after terminating his contract volunteers for service with the Dutch army in Canada on 29 October 1941. He eventually joins No.
2 (Dutch) Troop No. 10 (Inter Allied) Commando via the Prinses Irene Brigade. Following training in Scotland, Port Madog in Wales and Eastborne in South England, he and No. 2 Troop leave for India. By August 1944 he is again back in England. Along with twelve other Dutch commandos he is attached to the 1st British Airborne Division.
On 17 September 1944 he lands at Wolfheze with the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron. Next day, he and fellow commando Van der Meer are photographed by AFPU photographer Dennis Smith meeting two Wolfheze ladies in Duitsekampweg. This photo has been used many times in publications about the Battle of Arnhem. (Editor’s note: most recently in ‘Blik Omhoog IT by Cor Janse, page 798). During the battle Italiaander acts mainly as courier between the various British units. One of his jobs is the daily passing on of radio frequencies. When the evacuation takes place he manages to cross back over the Rhine along with the remnants of the division.
He takes part in the Walcheren landings in November 1944, and leaves military service in 1945 with the rank of sergeant. For his part in these two actions in the Netherlands he receives the decoration of the Bronze Lion.
Tom Italiaander visited the Airborne Museum on numerous occasions. Last year he and his wife were guests of the museum on our society’s boat trip. The management of the Airborne Museum Foundation and Friends’ Society wish his wife, children and granddaughter much strength and courage on the sad loss of a husband, father and grandfather.
(W. Boersma)

Workgroup ‘ Westgruppe’
Because, compared to the allied side, there is still very little known about the history of the German army units that were involved in the Battle of Arnhem under General Von Tettau, Geert Maassen, Hans Timmerman and Peter Vrolijk have decided to work together on a research project into the so-called ‘Von Tettau Division’, also known as the ‘Westgruppe’. Their eventual aim is to publish their findings in book form.
The Von Tettau Division consisted of all the German units that attacked the British and Polish positions from the west, while the remainder of 9th SS Panzer Division, plus a large number of other units that had been placed under its command, attacked from the east and north.
Anyone who may be able and willing to provide information on this subject, such as stories, documents, eye-witness accounts, newspaper reports, magazine articles, photographs or books are kindly asked to contact Geert Maassen during office hours on 026 3348303. You can also write to: The Renkum Municipal Archives, f.a.o. G.H. Maassen, PO Box 9100, 6860 HA, Oosterbeek.
(Peter Vrolijk)

Comment on: ‘ From the archives (2)’
In the previous Newsletter Mr A. Groeneweg, BA, the Airborne Museum archivist, wrote an article which included a piece about Corporal Arthur Maybury (89th Parachute Security Section, Intelligence Corps), who was killed on 17 September 1944. The following comments might be worth noting.
Among other things, Groeneweg states that, according to the Roll of Honour, Maybury’s field grave was found in 1945 “‘in the garden of a bungalow on Utrechtseweg, Oosterbeek.’ This probably refers to the garden of the Berghege family, where the ABN-AMRO bank now stands”. In addition he recalls an interview with Miss Wilhelmina Schouten, deputy headmistress of the Domestic Science School on Rijnkade in Arnhem in 1944. She says that Maybury was buried in the back garden of the school. Archivist Groeneweg then asks himself: ‘Why would people from Arnhem or Oosterbeek exhume the remains of a British soldier originally buried in a garden on Rijnkade and re¬bury them in a garden in Oosterbeek?’ Mr Groeneweg is on the wrong track.
In the first place, the latest edition of the Roll of Honour has the following to say about Maybury: “‘The original FB was in the garden of the Huishoudschool, Rijnkade, Arnhem, map 40-23-6. His body was removed later by the Germans and taken to an undisclosed location. The CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) registers read ‘in garden of bungalow along Utrechtseweg'”. This information comes from the following sources. The Arnhemse Koerier of 8 May 1996 says about Maybury: ‘German SS demand the body of the dead
British soldier buried in the school garden . The Arnhemse Courant (19 September 1998) also reports: ‘The Germans arrived later and demanded that the body be handed over’. Miss Schouten herself says (in the magazine ‘De Tweede Wereldoorlog – Met eigen ogen’, 1996 [The Second World War – With my own eyes]) that there was a loud hammering on the back door of the school on Monday 18 September, and that there stood a German who asked if there was a dead Englishman in the school. Wilhelmina denied that there was, but her story makes it clear that the enemy was probably well aware of Maybury’s death. The CWGC made available copies of the relevant Graves Registration Report Form and the Graves Concentration Report Form. From these it would appear that Maybury’s remains were exhumed from his field grave on 10 September 1945, and re-interred in the Oosterbeek war cemetery. The field grave location is given as: Tn garden of bungalow’, with 693783 as the associated map co-ordinates. The names of Gunner W.N. Howard, Lieutenant C.E.P. Sankey, Private A.H.A. Boland and Private W.H. Reeve are noted on the above form at the same field grave location and map co-ordinates.
A problem now arises because the map co-ordinates point to a house along Utrechtseweg in Oosterbeek, near the Hartenstein estate. And we know that Private Reeve fought at the bridge in Arnhem (see photo on page 65 of the Roll of Honour). There is also a photo of Sankey’s grave (page 17 of the Roll), and this location can be found in the front garden of the Berghege house mentioned by Groeneweg. Are you still with me?
In any case, based on the above, and as co-producer of the new Roll, I came to the conclusion that Maybury was originally buried in the back garden of the Huishoudschool, and that the Germans exhumed the body and took it elsewhere. Where exactly is not known, since according to me the CWGC forms contain errors in this case, and are unreliable.
On top of this, Groeneweg’s article states that Maybury belonged to the 89th Field Security Section. The Roll of Honour talks of the 89th Parachute Security Section (page 53) and the 89 Parachute Field Security Section (page 3). Finally, the ‘Who was Who’ mentions the 89th Parachute Field Security Section as well. Which is correct?
(Geert Maassen)

Correction
Mr Groeneweg informs us that, contrary to that written in his article ‘From the Archives (2)’, Sir John Killick is, happily, not dead. A report from England tells us that he is very much alive, albeit in poor health.

A German photo
Some years ago one of our members began researching details on the German war photographer Oberscharfiihrer Peter Josef Adendorf. The investigation led to many places, including the Frihedsmuseet in Copenhagen. One of the photos sent to the Netherlands from Denmark is printed here. The original caption reads:
Der deutsche Widerstand im Westen verstarkt. Die entschlossene Gegenwehr der deutschen im Westen eingesetzten Truppen, hat die von den Anglo-Amerikanern unternommene Offensive, die zur schnellen Eroberung Deutschlands fuhren sollte, zum Stehen gebracht. Selbst nach eigenen Aussagen des Feindes sind seine Verluste uber Erwarten hoch. Die Enttausschung von Arnheim. Grenadiere des Heeres marschieren als Verstarkung nach vorn, wahrend gefangene Briten die Strassen von den Trummern voraufgegangener Kampfe saubem.
SS-PK-Adendorf – 3482 Orbis 1 E.M.

[The determined resistance of the Germans deployed in the West brought to a halt the Anglo-American offensive that should have led to the rapid defeat of Germany. Even according to the enemy’s own reports, their losses were higher than e,xpected..
The setback of Arnhem. Army grenadier reinforcements advance while captured British clear the streets of the aftermath (rubbish/rubble) of battle.

SS-PK-Adendorf – 3482 Orbis 1 E.M.] Assuming that the photograph was indeed taken in the Arnhem/Oosterbeek area, we would like to know precisely where. Does anyone recognise something or somebody? And what does 3482 Orbis 1 E.M. mean?

Your reactions would be received with interest by the editors via Geert Maassen (c/o Gemeentearchief Renkum, PO Box 9100, 6860 HA, Oosterbeek; tel 026 3348303).

In Memoriam: Mr P.R.A. van Iddekinge BA
News has reached us that Mr P.R.A. van Iddekinge BA passed away on 29 April last at the age of 66. Piet van Iddekinge started work in the Arnhem Municipal Archives in 1959. Thirty years later he became municipal archivist, a position he held up to his retirement in May 1999.
Piet was a great expert on the history of the Second World War, and in particular the Battle of Arnhem. He wrote various publications on this subject including the well-known books ‘Arnhem, September 1944’ (1969) and ‘Arnhem 44/45, evacuatie, verwoesting, plundering, bevrijding, terugkeer’ [Arnhem 44/45, evacuation, destruction, plundering, liberation, return] (1981). Last year, to mark his farewell, the booklet ‘Arnhem Sextet, opstellen voor drs P.R.A. van Iddekinge’ (Arnhem)
Sextet, essays for drs P.R.A. van Iddekinge) was published. At the back is a list of no less than 52 titles of publications that he wrote.
The archivist was greatly interested in the Airborne Museum and the Friend’s Society. We made many appeals to him over the years, appeals that were never refused. The last time was in August last year. Then he wrote the chapter, ‘German war photographers in September 1944’ in Ministory No. 63 (appendix to Newsletter No. 75).
It is difficult to believe that Piet van Iddekinge is no more. We shall miss him, and we wish his family the strength to cope with their tragic loss.
(Robert Voskuil)

De Tafelberg (conclusion?)
Since 1998 we have been keeping an eye on the developments that could lead to the complete demolition of Huize ‘de Tafelberg’, and the building in its place of luxury apartments.
The management strongly advocated that an historic part of the original building should be retained, namely the part that still recalls the Battle of Arnhem, when it served as an emergency hospital. In common with the Airborne Museum Foundation, the ‘Stichting voor Heemkunde’ and the ‘Vereniging Vijf Dorpen in ’t Groen’, we wrote to the local authority in January 1998 requesting that the building be placed on the municipal monuments list. Three months later, and as a result of this request, the Municipal Monuments Commission recommended to the B&W (Burgomaster and Aidermen) college that the front elevation and hall should be declared monuments.
After an extremely long period, during which time much was discussed and written about this internationally famous site, also partly due to the film ‘Theirs is the Glory’ (1946), the local authority decided on 16 February 2000 to accept this recommendation. Since that day, the front section of the building (the front elevation, hall, staircase and wainscoting) have been protected. This will include the windows in the front elevation, which will be restored to their 1944 state.
The terrazzo floor which, because of the still-visible bloodstains it bears, is of tremendous emotional value, resulted for a while in a difference of opinion between the project developer and the Friends. The authorities had understanding for our viewpoint on this as well, but from the ‘building-technical’ aspect, following consultation with national experts, the cracks and other damage could not be repaired to the satisfaction of the present owner. A compromise was arrived at regarding the retention of this historical artefact. A reasonable part of the floor, 2 m x 1.5 m, bearing the characteristic marks about which we are talking, will therefore be included in the wall next to the staircase.
Confronted with the facts, we had no alternative but to go along with this. At the same time we offered to put forward proposals for highlighting the historical significance of De Tafelberg when it is furnished. Everything considered, and taking into account the much time and energy it cost, we think we achieved an acceptable result.
C. van Roekel)

Keevil Website
The village of Keevil in Wiltshire, England, now has its own internet website. It is from Keevil Airfield that many gliders left to take part in operation Market on September 1944, and numerous re-supply missions were flown from Keevil to the Arnhem area during the course of the operation. Keevil was also one of the airfields used for operation Overlord in June 1944.
Although the site principally features the village, one of the prettiest in the region, it also contains a detailed section on the airfield itself, from its construction to its present day use.
Keevil can be found on:http: /1 www.rward.clara.net/index.htm.
(P. Clark)

‘ White Raven’ sought
In our operating account for 1999 you will have come across the heading ‘diverse incomes’. As you will have been able to see, this relates to a not inconsiderable part of the society’s income. Actually, it is the sum that allows us to achieve a healthy-running business. Much of the sum is earned by the sales stands that we have at various events. A few examples are: the Airborne and Pegasus Walks, Resistance Day and the various armed forces Open Days. We then sell our goods, and those of the museum, in our ‘little shop’, and provide information about both concerns.
Up until now, Mieke de Langen, till recently our secretary, has run these activities with great elan, ably assisted by a lady friend and with help from Friends and the Museum. Sadly she is no longer able to carry on doing this due to health reasons.
We are therefore looking for volunteers who are willing and able to man our little shop. It mainly involves selling and accurate keeping of the financial accounts. It is thus responsible and, to be honest, somewhat tiring work, and requires men and women on whom we can rely. But it is also nice work, and gives a lot of satisfaction.
This year we would like to be present at the Resistance Day (at the Oranje Barracks in Schaarsbergen on 31. August), the Airborne Walk (2 September in Oosterbeek), The Royal Dutch Air Force Open Day (at Volkel, also on 2 September) and at the Pegasus Walk in Lunteren (on 28 October). We ask you, kindly but urgently, to consider taking part in these activities in which enthusiasm counts more than experience. If you feel you would like to help our and your society on one or more of the above occasions, don’t hesitate, and get in touch with C. van Roekel (026 3333261 or e-mail to: chris.van.roekel@12move.nl).
I am certain that helping in this project will offer you a great deal of satisfaction.
(C. van Roekel)

Birthday we drank a festive cup of surrogate tea by candlelight. My Father sat at his desk. Suddenly, an enormous bang. A shell fired from the Betuwe had exploded nearby. Shrapnel flew about my Father’s head, into his desk, onto the floor, but he was unhurt. From that moment we took to living in the north side of the house.

The Heijbroek family, 25 June 1943 (the parents’ 26th wedding anniversary), in the garden of ‘Valkenburg’. Left to right: Father, Daan, Netje, Flans, Mother and Noor. (Mrs J.T. Carp-Heijbroek collection)

Our cross-roads appeared to be of strategic importance. There was a lot of German military traffic, and it was shelled regularly from the Betuwe. Many Germans were stationed at the Westerbouwing and Duno which often came under fire, especially at night. We could see the tracers to the south.
The plan was for the ‘Jans’ to try and swim across the Rhine near Driel on 20 October. My brother would accompany them to the river foreshores. First he carried out a reconnaissance.
He went through Hemelse Berg where he discovered the Beelaerts family in the catacombs; Mr Beelaerts was wounded and being cared for by his son and daughter. They could provide lots of information about the conditions in the woods. My brother returned via Oorsprong where the stream was hard to find because of the destruction in the woods.
On 20 October the ‘Jans’ had their last dinner with us and three cigarettes. They were given razors in order to shave. They wrote a letter for us, and signed their names on two bank notes.
They left at 00.30 am on a dark and rainy night. I now hand over to my brother for his recollections.
Daan’s story.
‘Next day I went up on the roof with Tall Jan to spy out the terrain and mark out the route. He agreed to head directly south through the valley of the Oorsprong stream, to follow the stream and, at Benedendorpsweg, to continue through the brook on their own.
They make swimming trunks from parachute silk and take their uniforms wrapped in gas capes.
We will travel with a distance of 10 metres between each man; Tall Jan, who is a good swimmer, takes the lead. They decide to cross the Rhine roped together. I strongly advise them not to swim against the current but to make their way nice and steadily to the other side.
It was terrible, raw weather that night. We wait until half past twelve at night, and then we leave.
We are not yet out of the back door when things go wrong. I have gone but 10 metres when 1 hear a noise and a suppressed curse. 1 turn around and see a luminous compass. 1 hear a hiss on the other side and see the luminous dial of a watch; both should have been covered. The ‘Jails’ have bumped into a cart and lost their direction. The idea of keeping 10 metres apart is obviously impossible. J take Tall Jan by the hand and the four of us creep on through the garden. We agree in a whisper that each will squeeze the other’s hand in the event of danger. Once through the garden we climb over a broken hedge and descend into the stream valley. It rains and blows and there are the continual flashes of exploding shells, just like thunder and lightning, repeatedly lighting our way. There is a small path running alongside the stream. I try to follow it. A huge beech lies across the path. We have to go around it and end up in the stream itself. We slosh on downstream. Then I bump into a small footbridge and am able to get back onto the little path.
We creep on and suddenly I squeeze the hand I’m holding. We stop. I see a dark shape sitting there in silence, seemingly crouched on the ground with a rifle between his knees. We stand dead still and our doubled up position begins to get painful. Therefore something has to be done, so 1 stretch out my hand And touch a metal container
that is held upright by its parachute tangled in the trees. We continue.
The stream valley broadens out and there are a couple of large ponds that we have to go around. Once more we lose the way, consult the compass and stumble on further, until 1 recognise a point where the path exits the wood and gently meanders between a meadow and a hedge with lots of tall weeds before coming out on Benedendorps-weg.
Tall Jan has decided to wade through the tunnel under the road and to follow the stream until it enters the Rhine. I hope this works. We shake hands, wish each other ‘Good luck’, and I go, alone now, back through the dark wood. Once again a fearful journey. I continually lost the way, fell in slit trenches full of unexploded ammunition. Eventually I arrived back in our garden. 1 tapped on the shutters. ‘It’s me’. My sisters opened them and my mother stood sobbing in the passage. A half-hour journey had taken me four hours.’
Next day it dawned on us that we no longer needed to worry about the ‘Jans’. Calm returned to our lives. We began to think of our own situation. We began to consider the possibility of evacuation. Oosterbeek had become a ‘Forbidden Area’; the people had to leave. Because we lived on the outskirts we had heard nothing official.
There were still people in Oosterbeek who were able to continue living in their houses. Because of this, neighbourhoods grew up. One of these people was the baker, Mr Riksen, in Mariaweg. We could take flour to him (wheat milled in an old coffee grinder) and have bread baked. He taught us how to bake bread ourselves, but it didn’t work very well because the little oven in the stove flue was never hot enough. One night the artist Anton Markus and his wife stayed overnight with us and were picked up next day by their daughter Aline. The Beelaerts family came past our house, the injured in a wheel barrow. The Frowein family brought us a small dog that they were unable to take with them. A kitten turned up, and we had a goat again.
We hid everything of value. We buried the remaining porcelain in a slit trench in the garden. My Mother and sister went to Mr van Leeuwen’s house in Van Lennepweg and buried the majority of the old glass collection, which was later recovered.
We experienced one more tense moment. There was a knocked out Renault tank at the cross roads (we thought it was a Tiger tank).
Later, my Father wrote this about it. ’30 metres from my house was a tank that had been knocked out by the English. It was covered with an orange parachute. The English Major MacNeil told us later that he had destroyed it with a PIAT from behind the large plane tree in my garden. The tank was still able to get off one shot which hit the tree, wounding the major and killing two of his men. Some time after, they were buried in my garden and eventually transferred to the Airborne cemetery. The tank was later used for target practice with a so-called “Panzerschreck”‘.
My diary describes it as follows:
At one point we were on our way out of Oosterbeek when we saw a group of German soldiers under the command of a sergeant. They stood at our front door practising firing at the tank with repaired Panzerfausts. They put the broken ones in our hall. We were all ordered to go to the cellar, which of course we didn’t, but just looked on in secret.
Another time it became evident that 13 Germans were buried just outside our front door. My brother buried the body of Lieutenant Kiaer, a close friend of Tall Jan, and placed a wooden cross over his grave. On Friday 27 October we took some flour to baker Riksen, and picked up 13 loaves of bread in the evening. The rye bread would be ready on Monday, but we never got it. Saturday afternoon the ‘Feldgendarmerie’ (Field Police) arrived. We had to be out of our beloved house by 4 pm. The house that, according to the Germans, was a fortress whose thick walls had afforded us such protection.
With a little wicker cart, a small English handcart and a big three-wheeled cart we left for Ede. Accompanied by goat, cat and little dog, and with hearts heavy with disappointment, we went forward into the long hunger winter.
It is now 55 years ago.
As I write it down it is as if all this happened yesterday.
It was a time of dreadful deep points and enormous highs – a time of unexpected potential in people – also a time of horror and sorrow – a time of courage and fear – of friendship and solidarity – a time of living and of dying.
But it was also a time we had to get through in order finally to regain our freedom. A freedom for which I have been grateful every day of those 55 years.
NB. Older inhabitants of Oosterbeek will recall ‘De Valkenburg’.
One might wonder why the Englishmen remained in our cellar. We do not know either, and we never asked them why.
Twice the two medical corps soldiers took away wounded, returning both times.
We met the officer during the conference with other officers in our cellar. He was the only one who stayed behind; perhaps he had a special mission. He eventually became separated from his regiment. According to me he indeed took part in the fighting. His sten gun had come apart, and he had set about repairing it. I heard later that he had fought at our coach house.
All three were overwhelmed by the influx of civilians and the sudden German attack.
They could not risk the entire cellar-full of people by revealing themselves.
These are questions we no longer ask ourselves. We were overtaken by the situation, and the main tiling was to save as many lives as possible.
In the end we didn’t succeed. After the war we were informed that Tall Jan and Medium Jan had been listed as missing, presumed drowned. Little Jan was washed up on the river bank unconscious, and taken prisoner. He survived the war.
It was only years later that he talked about it with my parents.
The three English soldiers in our cellar were: Lieutenant John Howard (Tall Jan), 10th Battalion The Parachute Regiment, and two men of the Royal Army Medical Corps, Private R. Pitcher (Little Jan) and Private James O. McLean (Medium Jan).
Editor’s notes
]) This was Private August M. Bakhuis Roozeboom, a Dutch commando who was killed on 19 September 1944.
2) General Miles C. Dempsey was commander of the British 2nd Army.
3) This would appear to be Arie van Veelen, a brother of Mr H. van Veelen, the author of Ministory No. 64.
4) Paulus Johannes Ooms lived at Bilderberg 1 at the time (now Sportlaan 1). Pie died on 9 October 1944, aged 53 years.

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FRIENDS OF THE AIRBORNE MUSEUM
Editors: Drs. R.P.G.A. Voskuil
C. van Roekel
G.H. Maassen jr.
Newsletter No. 80, November 2000
Translated by Cathrien and Peter Clark
Representative in Great Britain: Niall Cherry, 3 Church Road, Warton, Lancs, PR4 1BD Tel. home 0177-2632764

three clergy in attendance. The Reverend R.A.W. Boyce from Britain is flanked by two female Dutch colleagues: Domina M.M. van Zoest and Pastor M.H.A. Wiendels- Neijenhuis.
(photo; Berry de Rens)

 

Schools Project website
For more than 15 years schoolchildren have been able to make use of a work project during their visit to the Airborne Museum, serving as a supplement to senior primary education classes and a foundation to junior secondary education classes. The aim of this project is to give structure to the impressions gained during their visit.
Hundreds of schools, Dutch and British, and many thousands of pupils have made use of the Schools Project over this period, and next year we could be welcoming our 50,000th participant.
However, changes, be they temporary or permanent, are constantly being made in the make up of the exhibits. In this way the museum collection is regularly enhanced with acquisitions, and large and small theme-exhibitions are organised annually. Because of all this the exhibits and the Schools Project often get out of phase. In such cases changes to the printed project material is extremely labour intensive and, in particular, very costly.
Not only that, from time to time it becomes necessary to make changes in the didactic and organisational areas. To this end group assignments were introduced, whereby small work groups are assigned to study certain aspects of the events of September 1944 in detail, and then to engage in information-exchange forums with other groups. A rich variety of questions and tasks demands extra effort from the participant.
Up to now the printed Schools Project has been sent by post to the schools who have made it known they intend visiting the Airborne Museum. When the stock of printed material ran out it was decided to follow a different route and to utilise the new communication techniques that have arisen over recent years, in this case the Internet.
The latest editions of both the Dutch and English versions of the Schools Project have recently been added in their entirety to the Airborne Museum website. Now, any school with access to the Internet, wherever in the world, can download the Schools Project free of charge. This is a unique way of working in the Netherlands, one in which we are fulfilling a pioneering role, even at European level. The technical side of the project was excellently formulated and realised by the De Kleuver company from VeenendaaL
Friday 15 September 2000 arrived. After Wybo Boersma’s investiture ceremony (see below), the Friends’ Society board handed the Schools Project ‘new style’ over to the Airborne Museum Foundation. You can find it on www.airbornemuseum.com.

Decoration for Wybo Boersma
On Friday 15 September, during a slightly disorganised, improvised but extraordinarily cosy and relaxed get together in Huize Hartenstein, Wybo Boersma, director of the Airborne Museum and advisor to the Friends’ Society, was made Companion in the Order of Oranje Nassau in a ceremony carried out by the burgomaster of Renkum Municipality, Mr J.W.A.M. Verlinden BA. In his  speech the burgomaster expressed his appreciation for all the work Wybo does for the museum. He has been a Foundation board member since 1974 and, following the completion of his military career in 1991, he has focused entirely on the organisation and advancement of the museum. Wybo Boersma is responsible for the management of the collection, educational initiatives, public relations, and the annual exhibitions and book fairs. In addition he organises battlefield tours and gives lectures. Since 1986 he has acted as advisor to the Society of Friends.
And on top of all this, he is deeply involved in the Pieter Maritz Scout Group, the Signals Museum of the Royal Netherlands Army in Ede, and as chairman of the Documentation Group ’40-’45.
The Friends’ Society board was of the opinion that his exceptional services and our appreciation of His work were sufficient reasons for proposing him for Royal recognition with, as you see, a wonderful result.
After the burgomaster had presented the decoration to Wybo, Chris van Roekel said a word on behalf of the Society of Friends. To underline his laudatory and appreciative words he clicked on a special page of the Schools Project website that was being demonstrated on a nearby video screen. The page read: ‘Wybo, sincere congratulations on behalf of…. Mrs Nanna Boersma was presented with a beautiful bouquet.
Then, as representative of the Foundation board, Mr Duyts surprised the recently honoured party with the associated medal.
That it was a successful, happy and relaxed evening can be seen from the fact that it was almost midnight before anyone thought about making his/her way home, feeling good.
Sir Wybo, congratulations. You earned it! (Chris van Roekel)

15 September 2000; the Airborne Museum ‘Hartenstein’. Wybo Boersma receives the decoration ‘Companion in the Order of Oranje Nassau’ from Renkum Burgomaster Verlinden.
(photo; Berry de Reus)

Commemorative envelope
The Airborne Museum again published a commemorative envelope during the recent commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem. It is the fifth in the series with ‘Monuments of the Battle of Arnhem’ as subject. The envelope shows the monument to the Royal Army Service Corps Air Despatchers who died during the Battle of Arnhem. The monument was raised in 1994 and is located to the north of the Airborne Cemetery, close to one of the former dropping zones.
The envelope bears a 100-cent Rembrandt postage stamp and this edition consists of 500 numbered copies. They are franked with the philatelists’ stamp by Oosterbeek post office. As in previous years, envelope No. 001 was presented to the ‘Leader of the Pilgrimage’, this year being Brigadier General M.D.K. Dauncey, section commander of G Squadron, The Glider Pilot Regiment, during the Battle of Arnhem.
The envelopes are on sale in the Airborne Museum, price f 7,-.

Melksham glider ”revisited7
We received the following from Peter Clark in Deurne in response to the piece by Niall Cherry in Newsletter No. 79 about the glider that landed near Melksham in Wiltshire, England.
“I grew up in Melksham, a small market town some seven or eight miles from Keevil airfield. I knew nothing of that particular glider until a few years ago, when I read an article in the ‘Melksham News’, a newspaper we receive regularly from friends in England.
The special constable mentioned in Niall’s article was a certain Mr Coleman. After the war he kept a small shop, coincidentally not far from where the ‘Melksham glider’ came down.
I don’t know if the glider was recovered later, but I do remember that, for many years after the war, a farmer used a four or five metre long section of a Horsa fuselage as a chicken coop. It had a doorway but no door, and bench seats down each side. The perspex windows were still intact. This fuselage section was in a part of Melksham known as Lower Forest, close to where I lived and also near the spot where the above-mentioned glider landed on 17 September 1944.”

Appeal
For a number of years I have been engaged in compiling a list of names of all servicemen of the 1st British Airborne Division who took part in the fighting at Arnhem in September 1944. Also included are men of the Glider Pilot Regiment and Polish servicemen. So far I have assembled .11,000 names, including rank, unit, age, KIA/POW etc.. I would like to know if any members would be interested in such a list, which, if there is sufficient interest, could possibly be published. If you are interested in this list of names please notify Philip Reinders, Margrietstraat 4, 6991 XH, Rheden; e-mail address, abrg.reinders@12move.nl.
(Philip Reinders)

Request for information about photograph
We have received a photograph from member Bert Hougardy that he came across on the Internet. The explanation with the picture states that it shows men of the 2nd Parachute Battalion during their advance through the village of Heelsum. No further information on the photo could be obtained because it seems that the website, www.21para.freeserve.co.uk/airborne.htm, is no longer accessible.
Therefore this appeal to our readers. Was this photo (see print) actually taken in Heelsum on 17 September 1944? If so, where exactly was it taken, who was the photographer and who has the original print? Anyone who can provide information is kindly asked to contact Geert Maassen, Renkum Municipal Archivist, General Urquhartlaan 4, 6861 GG, Oosterbeek; tel. 026 3348303.

This picture was discovered thanks to the Internet. Who knows where and when it was (photo; via Bert Hougardy)

CDs about /Arnhem/ and ‘Varsity’
Recently, on the initiative of Lt. Col. D.A. Armitage, Curator of the Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop, a huge amount of original archive material from the museum’s collection has been put on CD- ROM. Two of these contain documents about the Battle of Arnhem.
The CD-ROM ‘Operation Market Garden, Arnhem, Volume 1’ comprises just over 550 pages, including Intelligence Reports, Operational Instructions for HQ 9th Troop Carrier Command, 52nd Troop Carrier Wing, Glider Pilots, 4th Parachute Brigade and 1st Airlanding Brigade. In addition, there are Operation Reports and War Diaries of 1st Airborne Division, 1st Airlanding Brigade, 1st Parachute Brigade, 7 KOSB and the Recce Squadron. Also included is an English translation of the entire Krafft report.
CD-ROM Volume II includes reports from the South Staffords, 9th Field Company Royal Engineers, REME, and some accounts from soldiers who managed to escape after the battle. A large part of this CD-ROM is given over to uncaptioned ground and aerial photos.
The CD-ROM about Operation Varsity is based on the book ‘Battlefield Tour Operation Varsity’, published by the British Army on the Rhine in 1947. These Battlefield Tours came into being just after the war and were intended for officers wishing to visit the former battlefields. Only a limited edition was produced and they are therefore very rare. The entire contents of ‘Operation Varsity’, comprising more than 100 pages plus maps and photos, have been put on CD-ROM. This is an indispensable source of information for anyone interested in the Rhine Crossing operations in March 1945.
One small comment: it states on the CD-ROMs that the copyright rests with the Museum of Army Flying. However, some of the original documents and photos come from the Public Records Office and the Imperial War Museum in London.
The three CD-ROMs are from the series ‘Archive Britain Campaign’, produced by Real vision Imaging Solutions Ltd, Suite 407 Victoria House, Somers Road North, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 1PJ, England. Tel (in England) 023 9257 6275. E-mail, request@arclaivebritain.com. Each CD-ROM costs £ 9.95.
(Robert Voskuil)

Identification of a fallen German serviceman
Through his research into German servicemen who were killed in Oosterbeek and surroundings, member Hans Timmerman has succeeded in making an important contribution to the positive identification of a German soldier. Until recently, the man in question was listed as missing, but appeared to be buried in the German Military Cemetery at Ysselsteyn (Limburg) under an incorrect name.
It concerns Bootsmann Alfred Steckhan, who died on September 20 1944 while serving with Marine Auffanglager Zwolle. This Auffanglager was raised shortly after the allied landings in Normandy in June 1944 to gather naval personnel withdrawing from France and Belgium. Following the start of Operation Market Garden, a battle unit was formed in the Auffanglager under the name Marine Schiitzen Bataillon 250. This unit, also known as Kampfgruppe 642, was deployed against the British Airborne troops in Oosterbeek and surrounding area from 19 September 1944 onwards. Alfred Steckhan was probably attached to this unit. After the fighting the battalion returned to Zwolle, possibly to serve as reserve personnel.
Alfred’s field grave was discovered in 1945 alongside Valkenburglaan in Oosterbeek and his remains were transferred to the ‘Ehrenfriedhof Zypendaal’ German military cemetery in Arnhem.

Despite a letter from his wife to Arnhem council in 1947 in the hope of finding her husband’s last resting-place, no one seemed to make the connection at the time between the name of the missing man and an ‘Alfred Sterkhan’, whose name was on the list of disinterred German servicemen in the Renkum municipality.
This ‘Sterkhan’ was transferred to the German Military Cemetery at Ysselsteyn in 1948, where attempts were still being made in the early sixties to establish his true identity. It would appear that even then doubts were being expressed over the validity of the name. Due to the failure of these efforts, he has lain buried there, until recently, under the name Alfred Sterkhan, without further personal details.
Because Hans Timmerman came across the above- mentioned letter in the Arnhem municipal archives in 1999,52 years on it was still possible to associate the relevant information with the incorrect name on the Renkum council list. Close co-operation between the various German authorities led to the positive identification, and they even managed to trace Alfred Steckhan’s daughter.
Alfred’s grave can be found in the cemetery at Ysselsteyn, block BM, row 12, grave number 283. Some time this year the correct details will be engraved on his headstone.
(Hans Timmerman/Geert Maassen)

Bootsmann Alfred Steckhan.
(photo; via Mrs Anneliese Bauer)

Heinz Harmel dies
Notice has reached us of the death in Germany on 2 September 2000 of Heinz Harmel.
During the Battle of Arnhem, Major General Harmel commanded the 10th SS Panzer Division ‘Frundsberg’. In September 1944 tliis division operated mainly near the Rhine Bridge in the capital of Gelderland and in the Betuwe, where it tried to prevent the breakthrough of British XXX Corps. Harmel’s decorations included ‘Trager des Eichenlaubes mit Schwertern zum Ritterkreuz des eisernen Kreuzes’.
With his death the last general from the Battle of Arnhem is gone.

‘For No Apparent Reason’
The book ‘For No Apparent Reason, The Shooting of Captain Brian Brownscombe GM, R.A.M.C.’ would never have been written but for member Bob Gerritsen’s inquisitive nature. After reading Chris van Roekel’s book ‘Verscheurde Horizon’ (Torn Horizon) and ‘Red Berets and Red Crosses’ by Niall Cherry, Bob was left struggling with the question of the circumstances surrounding Captain Brownscombe’s death. Accurate research has produced a book about a minor fact in the wider context of the Battle of Arnhem, but indeed a fact which has to do with one of the few war crimes perpetrated during the battle. I have read Bob’s book with interest and admiration.
The book describes Brownscombe’s life in concise chapters. His medical studies and entry into service with the Royal Army Medical Corps lead to us meeting him again, first with the 2nd Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment in Sicily and later as Regimental Medical Officer at Arnhem. He was captured and set to work in Arnhem Municipal Hospital, treating both German and British casualties.
Brownscombe was talking to a Danish Waffen SS soldier at the hospital entrance when he was shot dead by a German SS sergeant. Both SS men belonged to the SS-Kriegsberichter-Abteilung 5, the unit possibly responsible for the propaganda broadcasts near the Hartenstein using a loudspeaker truck.
The book looks at the lives of the Dane Helwig- Larsen and the murderer Lerche, and closes – via a number of eyewitness accounts from other British officers – with Lerche’s trial. His reasons for murdering Brownscombe were never made entirely clear at the trial. Was Lerche simply drunk, was he working to orders, or did he think Brownscombe was attempting to escape?
Despite a few unfortunate irregularities in the text it is an extremely readable book and one which can be recommended. It comprises 32 pages and is published by member Robert Sigmond at f 15,-. It can be purchased at the Airborne Museum ‘Hartenstein’.
(Okko Luursema)

Society member Bob Gerritsen, author of the booklet ‘For No Apparent Reason’, at the grave of Doctor Brownscombe in the Airborne Cemetery, Oosterbeek. (photo; Robert Sigmond)

‘Tugs and Gliders to Arnhem’
This book, written by member Arie-Jan van Hees and published by himself, has the sub-title ‘A detailed survey of the British glider towing operations during operation Market Garden 17,18 and 19 September 1944.’ This indicates immediately what this book is: a reference work for anyone interested in the role played by gliders in the landings around Arnhem, and the British part in the landings at Groesbeek. Nos. 38 and 46 Groups RAF provided the towing aircraft for the gliders.
The flights are described per day, split up per Group and per airfield. The book also provides extensive information on the gliders that never reached Arnhem but were forced to make emergency landings, or crashed, on the way. No dry summation, but details supplemented with eyewitness accounts. Where possible the names of the pilots have been given. In the final chapter (19), the various loads are described, illustrated with photos, which gives one an idea of how the diverse items were transported. An overview of the equipment that eventually arrived in Arnhem is also included.
Although the book does not set out to describe the eventual fate of the crews or loads, this has in fact been done in the case of the lesser-known units, such as the US Air Support Signal Teams and the RAF Light Warning Units. Those who are more conversant with the subject will recognise some of the stories because they have already been published in part, or have been taken from known documents. However, taking the book as a whole this is no drawback. The amount of information is so enormous that it is impossible to check that all details are correct. In a work of this scope it is inevitable that some tilings slip through the net. For example, on page 212 the rank of Dutch commando Sergeant Luitwieler is given as Lieutenant.
The book is well illustrated with many, some hitherto unknown, photographs. The source indication with the photos is alas somewhat haphazard. This means that some photos, unmistakably originating from the Imperial War Museum collection, or are at least Crown Copyright, are given as coming from other archives or from private sources. Regarding the IWM, it would have been more correct if the archive number had also been indicated.
The book lacks an index, a serious omission in a publication purporting to be a work of reference. However, this is to be published separately.
The fact that the book is written in English will present no difficulties to most Dutch people. All in all, it is a must for anyone interested in the Battle of Arnhem, a book of which the author can be proud and which, for the buyer, is a fine addition to his/her Arnhem library.
‘Tugs and Gliders to Arnhem. A detailed survey of the British glider towing operations during operation Market Garden 17,18 and 19 September 1944’ by Arie-Jan van Hees comprises 288 pages and includes many photographs and maps. It costs f 69,75 and has no ISBN number.
(Wybo Boersma)

‘From Pacifist to Glider Pilot’
This intriguingly titled book by Alec Waldron recently appeared on the market. In it the author, born in 1920, describes the first 26 years of his life with emphasis on the period 1937 to 1946.
Alec Waldron grew up in a deeply religious community with harsh rules, one of these being a ban on joining the armed forces. After a difficult process he finally broke free from this dogmatic religious environment by joining the Royal Corps of Signals in November 1940. In January 1942 he transferred to the Glider Pilot Regiment. After successfully completing his training on Horsa gliders he was attached to the Intelligence Section of the HQ of No. 1 Batallion, The Glider Pilot Regiment. He took part in the Sicily landings in July 1943, where his glider landed in the sea. He returned to England in January 1944, whereupon No. 1 Batallion GPR was re-formed into No. 2 Wing GPR.
On 17 September 1944 Waldron landed with his glider on agricultural land near Wolfheze, and next day he was involved in the fighting in Oosterbeek. He operated out of No. 2 Wing HQ, situated in a house in Hartensteinlaan. At the end of the battle he succeeded in escaping across the Rhine along with the remnants of the division. After the Battle of Arnhem he remained in the Glider Pilot Regiment until his demobilisation in 1946. In fact, the chapters on Sicily and Arnhem form just a modest part of the book. Much more attention is paid to the training, flying training and life in the Glider Pilot Regiment. Everything is written in a pacey and humorous style.
Not many glider pilots’ personal accounts have ever been produced, and that is why this book comes as a welcome addition to the list of publications about British Airborne forces during World War II.
The book has 194 pages and is illustrated with dozens of photos, including three large folds-outs at the back. One of these is a beautiful mosaic of American aerial photographs taken on 18 September 1944, showing the hundreds of gliders on landing zones ‘S’ and ‘Z’.
‘From Pacifist to Glider Pilot’ by Alec Waldron (ISBN 1-873203-53-5) is published by Woodfield Publishing, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England and costs £ 9.95. (Robert Voskuil)

‘Arnhem – The Fight to Sustain’
Descriptions of the Battle of Arnhem focus mainly on the combat units. As with all armed forces, the Airborne division contained units whose job it was to enable these combat units to do battle. The stories of many of these emits at Arnhem have already been told. For example, the story of the signals in ‘Echoes from Arnhem’ by Lewis Golden, the medical troops in ‘Red Berets and Red Crosses’ by Niall Cherry, the technicians in ‘With Spanners Descending’ by Joe Roberts, and the military police in ‘The Pegasus Patrol’ by J. Turnbull and J. Hamblet. Up until now not much has been known about other, especially smaller, units.
In the book ‘Arnhem – The Fight to Sustain’ by Brigadier Frank Steer and published in September, the history of the supporting units, since amalgamated under the Royal Logistics Corps, has been extensively described. The units involved are the former Royal Army Service Corps, the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, the Army Catering Corps, the Pioneer Corps and the Royal Postal Section. Reports by these units after the battle are few and far between, therefore the available information is incomplete. It is not even known precisely which soldiers were at Arnhem.
With this limited information from England and the Netherlands plus interviews with veterans as sources, Frank Steer has finally written a good, cohesive book; no easy job. Firstly, the make up and task of these units within the Airborne division’s organisation is gone into in a very systematic way. Then come the planning, the journey, the landing and the progress of the fighting per unit. The last mentioned is put within the framework of the overall course of the battle. Because the operation failed to go as planned, the actual tasks of the logistics units were not entirely fulfilled. Some soldiers from these units were sometimes given totally different assignments. In the end, most were deployed as infantry, an eventuality that was also catered for in their training. Frank Steer shows that the concept of the logistical organisation for an Airborne division was indeed sound, and as such is still being used.
The part of tlie division’s ‘Seaborne Tail’ that never reached Arnhem does not go unmentioned in the book. He also covers the Airborne Forward Delivery Airfield Group (AFDAG), which landed near Grave on 26 September.
The whole is interspersed with short eyewitness accounts, to the benefit of readability. A dry compilation of units and facts is thus avoided. The author indicates the various places where complete information proved impossible to obtain. Footnotes at the end of each chapter show the sources or indicate if the information given is dubious.
There are few known photographs of the support units during the battle. However, the author has solved tlris by including many previously unpublished pictures of the preparations in England and many portrait photos of servicemen. It is a shame though that the layout designer has placed the majority of the illustrations at the edge of the pages. Those nearest the spine of the book require the reader to force the book really wide open.
Unfortunately, it would again seem that the correct recording of Dutch names is occasionally difficult. What, for instance, are we to make of a re-supply drop at Van Lehnehopweg? And in the description of the Air Despatch monument, incidentally in Oosterbeek, not Arnhem as written, 47 Air Despatch Squadron The Royal Logistic Corps, who allegedly erected the made-in-England monument in Oosterbeek, are named, while the members of the Society of Friends of the Airborne Museum who did the bulk of the work voluntarily get no mention.
But these are minor imperfections, and I read the book from cover to cover in one sitting. Essential reading for serious students of the Battle of Arnhem. Despite the hefty price, £ 25, it is certain to find its way to members of the SFAM. An idea for Christmas perhaps? The author has also decided that all profits from the book will go to the RLC Benevolent Fund and to the Airborne Museum.
‘Arnhem – The Fight To Sustain, The Untold Story of the Airborne Logisticians’ by Frank Steer is published by Leo Cooper, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS, Great Britain.
The book was published in September 2000, the ISBN number is 0 85052 770 8, it contains 176 pages, is illustrated and is in the English language.
In the Netherlands it can be purchased at the Airborne Museum ‘Hartenstein’. It is available in England from, the Corps Adjutant RLC, RHQ The RLC, Dettingen House, Deepcut, Camberley, Surrey, tel. 01252-340864. It can also be ordered on the Internet through Amazon, perhaps an easier option for those not living in Britain or the Netherlands. (Wybo Boersma)

Men of the Royal Army Service Corps load a supply pannier into a Dakota. A roller track is visible in the floor in the foreground over which the panniers could be slid. This simplified and speeded up the loading and ejection of supplies by the Air Despatchers. The photograph conies from Frank Steer’s book ‘Arnhem, The Fight to Sustain’.

English edition of ‘Over & Over’
An English version of the booklet ‘Over & Over – Ooggetuigeverslagen van de slag om Arnhem’ (English title, ‘Over & Over – Eyewitness Accounts of the Battle of Arnhem’), has now been published. As reported in Newsletter No. 77 the booklet was compiled by Peter-Alexander van Teeseling from Oosterbeek. It comprises 96 pages and is illustrated with 120 photographs. Kitty Brongers did the translation.
At the same time, a revised edition of the Dutch version has been issued.
‘Over & Over’ is published by ‘Kontrast’ in Oosterbeek and costs f 25,-.

‘Blik Omhoog 1940-1945’ completed
We made brief mention of the fourth and last book in this series, sub-titled ‘Wolfheze en de Zuid-Veluwe in oorlogstijd’ (Wolfheze and the South Veluwe in wartime) in the October 1999 issue of the Newsletter, but because it represents the rounding off of a memorable series we return to it in more detail.
The index in tills Volume S, containing some 3,100 names of people and 900 place names, illustrates the character of ‘Blik Omhoog’: naming names in detailed descriptions of wartime episodes. It is the region between Arnhem and Wageningen/Ede that
is so extensively covered, viewed from the central point of the area, Wolfheze, the author’s birthplace. Besides registers, this volume provides additions to and information on previously published volumes. Although it comprises ‘just’ 144 pages, it contains many interesting subjects. The backgrounds of the 48 people freed from Arnhem gaol (following a raid by the KP on 11 June 1944) is researched step by step and described in 25 pages. Fifteen pages deal with the air war, V weapons, and war victims in the region.
Besides additional information (40 pages) on all other volumes of the book, there are chapters with new facts on: the razzia at Buunderkamp, a follow up to the chapter ‘Joodse Lotgevallen’ (The Fate of the Jews), ‘Mata Hari’ Bintje Vos who stayed in the area, the history of’t Wijde Veld at Ginkel, and the Dutch SS during the Battle of Arnhem. The book is available from bookshops in the Zuidveluwezoom area and the Airborne Museum, price f 25,-.
Our member and author Cor Janse worked for more than ten years gathering historic material on the course of the wartime period 1940-1945 in the Renkum municipality, namely in Wolfheze and surroundings. He sought, and found, hundreds of (former) inhabitants and other involved parties whom he interviewed or with whom he corresponded, and he consulted archives, libraries and documentation collections both here and abroad. In this way the author built up such a treasure of data that it was considered necessary to issue the publication in four volumes. It eventually amounted to 1388 illustrated pages in a sound work of 19,5 x 26,5 cm format.
Volume 1 of the book was presented five years ago and dealt with the period from 1939 up to 17 September 1944. The publisher no longer has any copies in stock and it is only available here and there. The second member of the family, about the Battle of Arnhem, saw the light of day in 1997. Book III appeared last year and deals exclusively, in text and pictures, with the period after the Battle of Arnhem. In this volume, in depth treatment is given to subjects such as the evacuation of the population, the Rotterdam entrenchment workers, the liberation, the return, retribution and rebuilding. Both these editions are still for sale in the bookshops.
Stop press! We are pleased to tell you that it has been decided to re-print Book I. Fortunately there is still enough demand, and through this new edition the complete series will again be available for the time being. It is expected that, as you read this, Volume I will be back on sale in the regional bookshops and at the Airborne Museum ‘Hartenstein’.
Further information on the series ‘Blik Omhoog’ can be obtained from the author and publisher Cor Janse from Rheden (026 4951033).
(Geert Maassen)

‘Everywhere where fate and fame take us’
‘Quo fast et gloria ducunt’ is the motto on the badge of the Royal Artillery that for the last year has appeared on the Newsletter envelopes. The envelope in which this Newsletter reaches you will be the last bearing this particular emblem. Next year it will be the turn of the Royal Engineers, who will be celebrating their 150th anniversary.
From now on, and at the request of members who collect the envelopes and are gradually building up a nice collection of regimental emblems, we shall be including information on the units concerned.
The ‘Royal Regiment of Artillery’, to give its official title, is one of the oldest British regiments. Although not then ‘Royal’, in the reign of Henry VIII (1509- 1547) there was already talk of a 13-man artillery detachment stationed at the Tower of London. During the internal struggles for the British Crown between the houses of Stuart and Hannover, it was deemed necessary to expand the strength of this small unit to two companies, and the name ‘Royal Artillery’ dates from 1722.
When the struggle for power in Europe erupted into a number of wars, of which the nine-years war (1739- 1748) and the seven-years war (1756-1763) are the most well-known, and the overseas territories (the future Commonwealth) were fought over with the French and Spaniards, artillery units played a major role.
During the siege of San Sebastian in 1813 in the war with France, for the first time there was suggestion of tactical artillery support for infantry units. These tactics were further developed in the Crimean War, where the efforts of the Royal Artillery were rewarded with no less than nine Victoria Crosses. The importance of artillery units increased still more during the Boer War in South Africa. But it was particularly in World War I that both firepower and mobility made tremendous advances, and co-operation between artillery and infantry scaled new heights.
In World War II draught horses were replaced with motorised vehicles, and firepower and accuracy increased, the latter being partly due to the use of radar and aerial artillery observation. At one point it could be said that 40% of the British army consisted of gunners.
There was not an area of conflict in which the Royal Artillery was not deployed, and the inscription ‘Ubique’ (‘everywhere’, ‘wherever’) embellishes the badge with justification.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the regiment’s Colonel in Chief.
(Chris van Roekel)

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SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OF THE AIRBORNE MUSEUM OOSTERBEEK
Utrechtseweg 232, 6862 AZ OOSTERBEEK, The Netherlands
Representative in Great Britain: Mr. F.M.Young, 6,
Kildown Gardens, Cliftonville.Kent CT 9 3EG
Editor: Drs. R.P.G.A.Voskuil Translation:Mrs.A.Meeuwsen

9th General Annual Meeting.

You are invited to attend the 9th General Annual Meeting of the Society,on SATURDAY.MARCH llth,1989,in the Concerthall.Benedendorpsweg at Oosterbeek (oppo site the Old Church), telephone 085-332046). TIME : 14.00 hrs.
The AGENDA of the meeting is as follows.:

Mr.R.Fennema (treasurer) is due to retire from the committee.He is elegible for re-election.According to article 8 of the regulations,members can propose other candidates. Proposals should be sent in writing to the secretary of the Society, ten days before the day of the meeting.They must be signed by at least ten members and be accompanied by a written agreement of the proposed members,who must be of age and members of the Society.
Thirty minutes before the start of the meeting, the financial papers and the report of the Auditing Committee will be available for inspection by the members. The Financial Report 1988 and the budget 1989 will be sent to our members with the next Newsletter.
After the Annual Meeting two short video-films will be shown.The first is an impression of the walking-excursion which took place on June 18th of last year and was made by our member,Mr.Feenstra of Hilversum. The second film was made in September 1984 for the TV programr.ie “Van Gewest tot Gewest” on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem.
Special-subject afternoon very well attended!
No less than 225 members of our Society attended the special-subject afternoon on Saturday.November 26th,1988,in the ELEKTRUM at Arnhem. They listened attenti- vely to Mr. Duinhoven’s lecture about “Operation Berlin” and after the interval watched the scientific documentary about the Battle of Arnhem.
Duririg the interval a surprise event took place:the presentation of a book “Oosterbeek-September 1944”.written by Mr. J.Lammerts and published by our Society. The books had arrived from the printer somewhat sooner than expected.so this was a nice opportunity for Mr.Lammerts to present his book in person at the Saturday afternoon. A large number of the members present took the opportunity to buy a copy and to have it signed by the author. About half of the edition of 50 books were sold that afternoon and some weeks af ter the books were sold out.
The second edition has now arrived,most books of this edition will be put apart for those members who have not yet been able to obtain it.A short description of the book can be found on page 3.
Flame-thrower obtained for the Museum.
For many years people have been trying to find an original flame-thrower as used by the British Airborne troops in September 1944. Thanks to efforts of Mr.C.van Roekel, the Museum now possesses a flame-thrower which is still in perfect con- dition. It will be shown in one of the diorama’s in the basement of the Museum and is a welcome addition to the Museum’s collection.
Request from the treasurer:Members who have not yet paid their subscription for 1989,are kindly requested to do so as soon as possible!

“Oosterbeek-September 1944.”
In this book,which was presented during the special-subject afternoon in Novem¬ber, Mr.Lammerts describes the events he experienced in September 1944,when he was 23. He wrote it during the first months of 1945,when his memory was still fresh, in a couple of exercise-books. Now,forty~four years later, it has been printed and published by the Society. In order not to detract from the authen- ticity of the story,the original text has for the larger part been left un- changed.
The book describes the events in and around Mr.Lammerts’s home on the Paasberg in Oosterbeek, in the British Tafelberg Hotel hospital and in the Paasberg school which was used as a dressing-station.
The book gives a very detailed and penetrating description of the atmosphere of those dramatic days.In order to make things even clearer.a number of maps have been added.
The book contains 116 pages and also some photographs. It costs ƒ 15,- .
If you want to receive it by post,the costs are ƒ 20,-.It can be ordered from the Society,giro no. 4403641, mention “book Oosterbeek”.
Annual Report 1988.
In spite of the fact that 24 members had to be expelled from the Society because of non-payment of their subscription,the number of members of the Society did increase to 937.compared to 866 at the end of 1987.
Sadly.five members died in 1988:our Honorary Member General R.E.Urquhart and our members J.H.Cobussen.E.J.A.Geurs,J.Fox and J.Holcombe.

Four Newsletters were published in 1988. The special-subject days were very well attended. The sale of articles and souvenirs went very well.both in the Museum shop and during outside occasions.A considerable sum could be handed over to BLESMA.
The English translation appeared of “The Tommies are Coming , and Mr.Lammerts s book “Oosterbeek-September 1944” was published in December.
The “Chair-project” was rounded off very succesfully in 1988.
Furthermore,our Society organized the renovation of the SHERMAN—tank and assisted in obtaining a complete set of the “PEGASUS JOURNAL”.
The Society also offered assistance regarding the visit of ten handicapped veterans, by courtesy of the “Zilveren Kruis ” Health Insurance Company.

Donations to the Museum consisted,among other things,of a modern typewriter and a projector for the audiovisual presentation. (M. de Langen)
Donation of set of RAF medals.
In September 1944,Flying Officer Douglas H.Over was an RAF pilot with No.74 Squadron. During the Battle of Arnhem he was engaged in several missions over the battlefield. After the Battle he continued to fly “fighter sweeps” in the area.
On December llth,1944,his Spitfire was shot down West of the Apeldoornseweg. Douglas Over did not survive the crash.
On December llth,1988,exactly 44 years later,his sister and brother visited Oosterbeek and the Museum in order to donate their brother’s set of medals to the Museum. The set contains the 39-45 Star,the France and Germany Star,the Defence Medal and the War Medal 39-45.Flying Officer Douglas Over was also “Mentioned in Despatches.” His is the first set of medals belonging to an RAF pilot which the Museum has received.
Exhibition about the Resistance Movement.
The Board of the Museum is planning to organize an exhibition about the role played by the Netherlands Resistance Movement during the Battle of Arnhem.Plans are for this exhibition to take place in May of this year.
As the Museum does not possess much Information about this subject,it asks the assistance of those who possess material about the role of the Resistance Move¬ment in September 1944. So,if you still have articles,photographs,maps,etc. relating to this subject,please contact the Museum. General information about this period is also very welcome.
Memorial booklet 40th Anniversary Museum.
This year sees the 40th anniversary of both the Airborne Museum and the Society for Geography and History of Renkum Municipality. Till 1978, the Airborne Museum was part of the latter Society,but when the Museum moved to Hartenstein House, it got its own Board of Trustees.
There are plans to celebrate these anniversaries by publishing a joint booklet. Still needed are old photographs and press-cuttings,especially about the first Airborne Museum which was situated in a small wooden hut in the inner court-yard of Doorwerth Castle.
When you do possess this kind of material and are willing to lend it for a short time to the compilers of the booklet,please contact Mr.G.H.Maassen.archivist of Renkum Municipality,tel. 085-348111 (daytime) or 085-337515 (evening).You can also contact the Museum.
New texts for the photo’s in the Museum.
During the winter months a large part of the captions with the photo’s in the Museum will be renewed. All additions and corrections which have been received over the last years,will be incorporated.

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