VVAM Newsletter 28 – 1988

Editor: Drs.R.P.G.A.Voskuil
Translation:Mrs.A.G.Meeuwsen

Special-subject afternoon on Saturday.November 28th,1987.
On Saturday.November 28th, our Society organizes another afternoon meeting dedicated to a special subject.We will again be the guests of the ELEKTRUM at Arnhem.
The programme is as follows:
13.10- 14.00 hrs – arrival of members
14.00-15.00 hrs – Lecture by Mr.Troost from Andelst on aeroplanes which were shot down during the Battle Of Arnhem.
During these last ten years,Mr.Troost has studied the history of Allied planes which crashed or were shot down during the Battle of Arnhem,and of the fate of their crews. He did this in conjunction with the working-group Air Warfare of the History Circle Kesteren. He has paid special attention to the history of planes which came down in the area of the Midden-Betuwe,between September 17th and 25th,1944. The planes consisted of fighters,transport planes and gliders. In the Betuwe region alone these losses amounted to more than twenty.
Some planes succeeded in making a forced landing,while the crew could save them¬selves.Often the members of such a crew were rescued by members of the local underground organisation,which then tried to keep the crew out of the hands of the Germans.
Mr.Troost also includes the history of the crews of glider-planes which did not reach their destination near Wolfheze,and which had to make an emergency landing in the Betuwe.
During the past years Mr.Troost has managed to build a unique collection of photographs,which will be shown during the lecture in the form of slides.
15.00-15.30 hrs – interval.The book-service will be present with a large collec¬tion of books.
15.10- 16.00 hrs – continuation of Mr.Troost’s lecture.He will be very pleased to answer any questions.
16.00-16.30 hrs – showing of two films made by amateursabout British troops en¬tering Oosterbeek on Monday,September 18th,1944.
Mr.Clous,the dentist,made his film for the larger part from his garden at the corner of Lebretweg-Utrechtseweg. In 1967,some parts of his film were used in a scientific documentary about the Battle of Arnhem,made by the Society for Film and Science in Utrecht. This afternoon will be the first time that the film will be shown in its entirity.
Two hundred metres further West, on the Utrechtseweg, Mr. Quarles van Ufford also filmed British troops on their way to Arnhem.
It is interesting to observe how the same troops,mostly in jeeps of the RECCE- Squadron,first appear on the film of Mr.Quarles van Ufford,and afterwards on that of Mr.Clous.
These valuable 8 mm films have now been copied on 16 mm films,so that they can be more easily shown to a larger public.
This will be the first time that these films are shown together,the showing of Mr.Quarles van Ufford’s film is even a real “premiere”!
16.30 hrs – end of the afternoon.
The ELEKTRUM is situated on the Klingelbeekseweg in Arnhem,some hundred metres West of the road junction Onderlangs-Bovenover.Tel.no. 085-56 80 20.

Information from the treasurer.
Enclosed with this newsletter you will find the giro-card for the payment of your contribution for 1988.The amount is f 20,- for a single person,/ 30,- for a family.
If payment is received before November 28th,members will receive their membership card from the treasurer during the meeting on November 28th.

Booklet “the Tommies are coming!” :English translation.
This booklet,which was presented to the schoolchildren who took part in this year’s commemoration on the Airborne Cemetery,will be translated into English. This will certainly please the many people who asked for an English version. It will be published in a limited edition.Further details about the sale of this booklet will appear in the next newsletter.

The Chair Project.
Since the appearance of our last newsletter,another five chairs have been donated to the Airborne Museum. On August 28th, Captain Richard Bingley,Mr. Oudendal and Mr.and Mrs. Vissers-van de Kaay each presented a chair to Mr. Verlinden,Chairman of the Foundation. The chair donated by Richard Bingley has been dedicated to: “6th Platoon S Cy 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment”; Mr.Oudendal’s chair to “Dr.Francois Louis Oudendal,former Medical Superintendent of Oranje-Nassau’s Oord near Renkum.1891-1953.”
During a meeting with the Thanet Branch on September 16th, two chairs were donated. One chair is dedicated to:”All members 156 Battalion The Parachute Regiment”, and the other to: “All members 1st Airborne Divisional Signal Regiment” We have also received a promise for a chair dedicated to the 10th Para Battalion, while several gifts of money have already been designated for the purchase of a table.
It must be noted that,contrary to what was written in our newsletter no.26, The Association for Geography and History do not want their chairs and table back for their own use.They will be very welcome for use in some of the rooms of the Museum.

German rocket detonated.
On Wednesday.September 16th,a German rocket (Wurfgranat) was discovered in the verge of a field of maize near the Oranjeweg,opposite the Airborne Museum.lt contained a bursting-charge of 70 kilogrammes of TNT.As transportation of this rocket proved to be difficult and dangerous,the Bomb Detonation Squad decided to detonate it in its original situation. At about 7 o’clock that night all roads in a wide vicinity were closed for all traffic,while the public had been advised to stay well away.
It so happened that General Urquhart,who had shortly before arrived at the Bilderberg Hotel, was taking a stroll with his wife in the neighbourhood of the Oranjeweg,when he was stopped by the police. Police-officer van 0osten,who recognized the general,asked him kindly not to walk any further.”Sir” he said “in 1944 you survived the battle here in Oosterbeek.When you stay out’of the way of this rocket now,you may survive another visit to Oosterbeek!” No need to say that the General followed his advice.
The detonation of the rocket caused a crater in the field of some metres deep, the shock could be felt inside the Museum.

General Urquhart re-visits No.14.Zwarteweg,in Arnhem.
On September 17th, the Committee “Arnhem-West” organized a meeting in the “Lombok’
quarter of the town,General Urquhart,who attended this meeting,took the opportunity to visit the house on No.14.Zwarteweg. During the Battle of Arnhem he had to hide himself in this house for 36 hours, in order not to fall into German hands.

Concrete socle for SHERMAN tank.
In our last newsletter we wrote about the plans for a concrete socle for the SHERMAN tank near the Museum. We are glad that we can tell you that these plans are going ahead well. A request for approval by the municipallity has been sent off by the Board. Calculations and budgets have beeen received.If all goes well,the Board plans to ask members of the Society for their assistance, so that the project may be finished with a maximum of dedication and a minimum of costs!

Visit of disabled veterans to the Commemoration events.
Together with the Health Insurance Company “Het Zilveren Kruis”, our Society was this year again able to invite eleven disabled veterans to come and attend the Commemorations in Oosterbeek and Arnhem.
Because of their physical conditions,our special guests needed much extra care. One of them even had to spend some time in hospital because of breathing prob¬lems . Fortunately everything went well and he could return to England with the others.
Afterwards these guests were full of praise for the way in which it had been made possible for them to be flown to Holland,to be transported to Oosterbeek and to stay here.
This time the veterans belonged to the 1st and 2nd Para Battalions; next year we hope that we can invite members of other units. They are selected with the help of British organisations of ex-Servicemen. These organisations know best the names of those people who,because of ill-health and/or lack of means,have not been able to come to Oosterbeek before.

New commemorative envelope.
True to tradition,the Museum has again this year issued a commemorative envelope. The subject chosen for this year is the 1st Airlanding Brigade.The envelope is stamped on September 17th and shows a photograph of Brigadier-General P.H.W.
Hicks,who was commander of the 1st Airlanding Brigade. The envelope also shows the emblems of the three Battalions of the Brigade: The King’s Own Scottish Borderers, the South Staffordshires and the Border Regiment.
The envelopes are numbered.Price:f 5,- .

Service of Remembrance on video.
The Oosterbeek firm of Messrs.J.Bal have made a video recording of the Service of Remembrance which took place at the Airborne Cemetery on September 20th of this year.It can be obtained at the Museum.The price is f 35,- for VHS and Betamax, f 40,- for V2000.

“Theirs is the glory” on video.
Also available at the Museum is a video recording of the original,unabridged, version of the film “Theirs is the Glory”,as it was first shown in 1946.The film has no sub-titles.
A booklet has been added which tells the story of the making of the film in August and September 1945.
The price is f 87,50.

Mosaic of aerial photographs.
During the Commemorations of 1984,the then present veterans received a mosaic of aerial photographs of the battlefields near Arnhem.The mosaic has been com¬piled from original photographs,taken by Allied reconnaissance planes.
A limited number of this mosaic is still available and is sold at the Museum.
Price: f 2,50.

Dress of parachute silk.
Mr. Th.Peelen from Rheden has donated to the Museum a dress made of parachute silk. Immediately after the airlandings, the inhabitants of Wolfheze,Heelsum and Renkum took away large number of parachutes.They used them for the making of much needed clothes.
The dress donated by Mr.Peelen is one of the few that after all these years is still in a perfect state.

New issue of the Museum guide.
A new guide of the Airborne Museum has been issued.Apart from some small changes in the contents and the addition of a photo of the new diorama in the basement, the cover has also been changed. It now also shows a photograph of Hartenstein House as it was in 1945.

Donation of a special camera.
Mr.D.van Woerkom was one of the few inhabitants of Oosterbeek who in 1944 still possessed a film for his camera. He used it on September 18th,to take pictures of members of the RECCE Squadron in their jeep in the Backerstraat.
Both the camera and the original negatives survived. Together with other origi¬nal cameras and photographs they were exhibited in the Museum during the exhibition “Photography during the Battle of Arnhem”,which was held in the spring of 1985 .
Mr.van Woerkom has now donated both camera and negatives to the Airborne Museum.

No.14,Zwarteweg, Arnhem, September 17th,1987. General Urquhart tells Mrs.L.van Wordragen of the “Arnhem-West” committee about the window on the first floor,from where he could spot a German tank.

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