Page 45 - MERCIAN Eagle 2017

Ex ARNHEM EAGLE
On 2 May 2017, Grenadier Company hopped on the bus for a four day battlefield study to Arnhem, the location of one of the largest airborne operations of the Second World War; Operation MARKET GARDEN.
MARKET GARDEN, immortalised in the film ‘A Bridge Too Far’, was a daring allied push to seize the crossings over the Rhine at Nijmegen, Eindhoven, and Arnhem. The plan was to subvert the strong German defences on the French/Belgian border
by flanking through the Netherlands and into the heart of Germany. Airborne forces from the US 101st and 82nd Airborne,
and British 1st Airborne were to secure the bridges before XXX Corps relived them,
one by one as they advanced. Sadly, the advance, beset by problems, left the 1st Airborne isolated in Arnhem, fighting off two German Armoured Panzer Divisions with minimal equipment, ammunition or rations. The Operation was a resounding failure.
It is a common misconception that all the British forces taking part in the action were members of the Parachute Battalions,
A Coy outside Oosterbeek Airborne Museum / Arnhem / May 2017
wearing their distinctive maroon berets. The 2nd South Stafford’s, antecedent regiment of The Mercian Regiment, were a glider borne battalion dropped into Holland. Unlike their maroon beret colleagues, the glider troops didn’t get any extra parachute pay, but still had to endure landing in a wooden “coffin with wings” that often broke apart on landing.
The Company had the opportunity to visit a number of sites around Arnhem, and its suburb Oosterbeek, where we heard about the situations our ancestors found themselves in. Our guide, Maj (Retd) John Cotterill, formerly of the Mercian Regiment, withheld certain details and outcomes so that the troops had the chance to decide how they would deal with the situation, before revealing what really happened. The sheer numbers of combatants during those days was staggering, whole battalions were swallowed up in small blocks of houses.
The Grenadiers had the privilege to visit the sites of Major Cain VC, who single handily destroyed multiple German tanks
with a PIAT, a small anti-tank weapon,
and Lance Sergeant Baskeyfield VC, who, whilst gravely injured, manned his pair of 8 pounder guns during an armoured assault from two sides. Our visit was concluded with a poignant service at Oosterbeek Commonwealth War Grave, where
the Company laid a wreath and observed a minutes silence for the fallen.
A Coy / Glider Landing site / North West of Oosterbeek / Holland / May 2017
The Lance Sergeant Baskeyfield memorial / Arnhem / May 2017
The John Frost Bridge ‘the bridge too far’ / Arnhem / Holland / May 2017
Wreath Laid by 2 Platoon at Commonwealth War Grave Commission / Arnhem / May 17
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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