Extract of  4th Para Sqn War Diary September 1944

September 18  0900 hrs, Sqn moved to Spanhoe airfield.  1210 hrs, Sqn took off for operation 'Market'.  1420 hrs, parachute element dropped on DZ west of Arnhem.  OC injured, 6 ORs casualties.  Capt Thomas assumes command.  Slight opposition from enemy, no casualties.  Advance Pty rejoin Sqn.  Majority of containers lost on DZ.  1700 hrs, Sqn move off DZ to RV south on railway line.  Defensive positions prepared for night.  1 Troop move off in support of 156th Btn east in direction of Arnhem.  Glider element rejoin Sqn 1 OR casualty
 
This story begins on the morning of Monday the 18^th when the convoy of vehicles formed up on the drive of Bisbrooke Hall.  The Squadron created less than two years before, having seen action in North Africa and Italy and spent the long summer in England waited to show what they could do in their full airborne role.  At last they were being allowed to play their part in the final battles against Germany.

The Diary records that the aircraft took off at 1210hrs.  This was later than the planned original time but word had come in the night that fog across the country would mean delays.  They set off for the airfield at about 0900hrs and emplaned at 1100hrs.  Arthur Ayers remembers the arrival at Spanhoe "We lowered ourselves from the trucks in our heavy and bulky equipment and stood by our aircraft waiting for orders.  A Jeep pulled up and Lieutenant Thomas the Officer in charge of our stick jumped out, he told us to relax as there was going to be a delay before take-off,  Most of us were raring to go and so up-tight it was going to be difficult to relax!  A truck arrived and each of us were served with a steaming hot cup of tea which was most appreciated and after what seemed like an endless period of tedious waiting and aimless talk we were told to prepare to emplane.  Rising to our feet we adjusted our equipment and parachute fastenings and before entering the plane were inspected by Lieutenant Thomas.  Once inside we divided into two rows and sat down on the metal seats which lined each side of the fuselage.  Jumping number two after the Lieutenant I was seated near the door, we sat facing each other in the narrow plane, not a word was spoken.  Suddenly the aircraft began to shake as the engines revved up and soon we were taxying along the perimeter track to the take-off runway"

The men loaded into the aircraft weighed down by every conceivable piece of airborne and sapper equipment.  The first four men in each stick had kitbags with PIATs, Brens, wireless sets ammunition and explosives.  All those carrying rifles had either a pick or shovel strapped to their felt valises.

After taking off the aircraft circled the airfield once to formate and then set off .  The flight was largely uneventful.  The men in 1 Troop in the  C-47 with Captain Thomas recalled that he gave a running commentary in a calm and reassuring manner as he stood in the door looking at the ground below.  He is remembered with great pride for his coolness, efficiency and confidence as if it were a regular occurrence for him.
In another aircraft Major Perkins remembers the men singing and talking as if they were off on exercise.  "Suddenly there was a commotion at the forward end of the fuselage. The SSM had been sick, much to the pleasure of the other troops.  However all was well and he had used the paper bag provided by the thoughtful Air Force"
As they passed over the enemy coastline a few black puffs of flak began to appear around the aircraft, although it was very desultory and remained so throughout the rest of the journey.  Major Perkins takes up the story "With fifteen minutes to go the men checked their equipment, kitbags and valises.  One of the aircrew came back to act as dispatcher.  He tested the intercom which proved ok.  By now the faces of the men showed signs of tension,  and one could almost hear the sounds of jaw movement.  Chewing gum is useful stuff on these occasions.  We were passing over the southern waterways where the Americans had been ordered to seize the bridges, but there were few signs of battle, although as we were flying low I thought I could hear the sounds of small arms fire at one village, which we passed over"
With five minutes to go everything had been checked and Major Perkins was standing at the door of the aircraft trying to memorize the air photos that he had studied so hard in England.  "The red light came on - yes!  There was the Neder Rijn!  We were approaching the railway line and in the distance I could see the new concrete highway, which was under construction and beyond that an open scrubby heath surrounded on all sides by trees - the DZ"
First out went the two folding bicycles and the men followed.  Beneath them was the sound of gunfire and the occasional burst of staccato fire from Bren or MMG.

Arthur Ayers remembers his arrival over the DZ, "My God I thought, how can they miss us, flying so low?  As I watched a small black cloud appeared below one of the adjacent aircraft, followed by a bright flash.  The other plane seemed to shudder and then slowly started to bank out of formation, I watched through the open door as yellow flames and dirty black smoke trailed  from one of the engines.  Another aircraft came into view with both its engines on fire, flaming like two comets and I felt a desperate urgency to get out of this death trap, I could see the other men had the same desire as their faces looked strained and taut.  When the red light came on the men behind started to push forward and Lieutenant Thomas in the doorway had to shout above the noise of the aircraft 'Steady there chaps, stand steady'  We didn't have long to wait, the green light came on and the dispatcher shouted 'Go!'"

In one of the gliders were Sapper Don Stevens, Driver Stan Bower, nineteen year old Sapper Phillip Epps, their Jeep and trailer loaded with explosives and flamethrowers.  Don Stevens "We were fired on by Flak guns and the pilot had to take evasive action, Epps said 'I hope nothing hits this trailer or we will never make it to Arnhem!'  We eventually crash landed in a potato field at Wolfheze"

Lieutenant Ken Evans who had landed the day before with the first lift at about 1400hrs was waiting on the DZ.  He too had an uneventful flight with his two man team.  He recalled that just before setting off for Barkston Heath airfield  a decision was made by Major Perkins to use a 2 inch mortar and parachute flares as the means of signalling their position at the RV point on the drop zone (Hurried tests had been carried out in the local quarry and proved extremely successful).  This meant there was extra weight to carry so they had to leave behind some of the normal load of mines and explosives.  But they still had to handle the lightweight two stroke motorcycle which they had been allocated.

His party landed on the 17^th to the sound of intermittent gunfire from the woods.  Sapper Sands met up with him, dazed and with his rifle bent from a heavy landing.  L/Corporal Johanson had set off on a personal recce with the radio.  The finely tuned Squadron motorcycle they had carried was nowhere to be seen and they had to commandeer an alternative, which would not start until two young Dutchmen gave a push!
They finally arrived at the 4th Brigade Headquarters advance party position just south of the next days DZ at Ginkel Heath, north of the railway.  A small perimeter was formed facing into the woods.  There they spent a cold and uncomfortable night often disturbed by roaming German patrols.  Ken Evans also remembers that he was interested in two rather mysterious men who were nearby.  “They carried powerful 'suitcase' radio sets with very long antennae”  It later transpired that one was a BBC reporter and the other a 'Phantom' operator.
“The nerve racking business continued next morning.  Shortly before 1100hrs we were straffed by ME 109’s.  This was disconcerting as we believed the Luftwaffe were finished? After nearly four more hours of growing tension and concern about the delay and some very near visits by enemy patrols, we finally heard the unmistakable sound of Dakotas.  We rapidly dispersed to our DZ RV positions, covering the 1km distance as rapidly as possible, encouraged by intermittent bursts of enemy fire from the adjoining woods.”
Jo Johanson remembered clearly that first night in the woods.  "The enemy were superior in numbers to us so we couldn't push them off the DZs, it wasn't a very pleasant night, it was pretty cold and the wood was so dark that the enemy could have sneaked up within a few yards without being seen.  Every now and then we could here a small battle going on near us but we were never called upon to fire.  The next morning the Germans put in a few attacks and were getting very close, I could hear the bullets whistling and the Germans shouting to one another but couldn't see a thing in front of me, except trees and bushes.  About 9.30 a platoon of KOSB went out and drove the enemy in our sector away, and for a while we had come peace"
When the Dakotas didn't arrive as planned Jo began thinking about the possibilities, that they had all been shot down or they had all had to turn back or, more likely that the Second Army had already crossed the Rhine and linked up with the 1st Brigade at the bridges, but all these thoughts passed when the enemy began attacking again.  "Lieutenant Evans, Sands and myself were sent out on the right flank as a listening post.  Our orders were not to fire unless it was absolutely essential.  We went out about one hundred and fifty yards along a path through the woods.  We lay there for a long while but although the enemy seemed to be getting nearer, we still couldn't see them.  Soon we began to hear them shouting to one another, then the crackle of twigs under their feet and then their talking.  Lieutenant Evans decided it was time to report back and a few minutes later we saw them crossing the path at the exact spot where we had been lying.  Then they saw us and after a short battle they disappeared into the woods again, we had no casualties but they left two dead behind.  We went back to the others and dug in deeper when we were told the enemy were building up for a big attack.  It started about 13.30hrs, we heard the rattle of MG's getting nearer, then some KOSBs who had been  out on patrol told us they were coming and there were no more of our men between us and Jerry.  We heard them coming through the woods again, as they got closer the bullets started whistling around my head but still I couldn't see anything, a Sergeant on my right started firing at movement.  It was getting very nasty indeed when suddenly there was a lull, everyone stopped firing to listen, it was the unmistakable drone of planes in the distance, someone shouted 'It's the 4th Brigade' and we let out a cheer.  The infantry put in a counter attack and the battle opened up again"
At about 1420hrs the aircraft containing 4th Squadron arrived overhead and dropped the men and equipment on DZ-Y the most northerly DZ.
Much of the Heath was ablaze from the firefight that was taking place as the Germans opposed the drop.  The Advance Party headed for the RV point driving the Germans back into the woods as they went.  They fired the coloured mortar parachute flares which worked well, rising above the smoke.  But things began to go wrong, Major Perkins landed badly after his parachute rigging lines became twisted and he dislocated his shoulder. Six other men became casualties during the drop, one was Sergeant McGowan who broke his ankle. Another was Sapper George Reid of 1 Troop, a Bren gunner.  He landed heavily after struggling to sort out the twists in his parachute rigging lines and he dislocated his shoulder.  So heavy was his landing that the Bren gun in the bag that he dropped below him on a rope, shattered at the wooden butt and was completely useless, George in a great deal of pain and was told to report to a dressing station.  Stan Holden received a rope burn across his hand when he released his kit bag on his descent and Sapper Bull had a bullet slice across his chin.
Lieutenant 'Toby' Thomas recalls his jump "The green light came on and I jumped, strangely as I was going through the door I heard Sapper Wilson shout 'He's gone'.  I landed heavily but a Padre from the 10th Battalion sorted me out, I gathered my stick and reported to the RV"

The Major also in great pain had to leave the Squadron to go and seek medical attention .  He left Captain Thomas in command and Captain Smith became 2 I/C.  There was slight opposition from the enemy at the RV and the advance party re-joined the Squadron.  The majority of the Squadron containers were lost on the DZ so Captain Thomas ordered the men to go back onto the DZ to try to find them.

Arthur Ayers again, "I looked down to find the ground rushing up at me and had a feeling that every German in the vicinity had his gun trained on me.  I became absorbed in making a good landing but unfortunately hit the ground on a backward swing striking the back of my head with a stunning force on the ground and lay dazed for a couple of seconds.  After getting rid of my parachute I rose to my feet and took stock of the situation, a pall of smoke hung over the DZ and I could smell the acrid tang of cordite and burning vegetation.  I untied my kitbag and extracted the items I thought I would need, then picking up my Sten Gun I discovered it was useless, the barrel had been bent into a figure U"  Upon his arrival at the RV Arthur was given a replacement weapon and told by his Troop Sergeant to take a young German prisoner to Brigade HQ, "As we walked towards HQ through the trees the prisoner started sobbing and shaking, he turned towards me and began saying 'Nein comrade, Nein!  I was puzzled and it wasn't until later I realised he must have thought I was taking him away to be shot.  I got him moving again and left him with a group of other prisoners who were being guarded, he was only a boy of about sixteen"  

At Landing Zone Z the gliders containing the Squadron transport were coming in to land, Eric McCoy of HQ Troop was aboard one of them and remembers the experience well.  "We bounced as we hit the ground and made a heavy landing, the floor of the glider collapsed and the whole thing spun around causing the tail to break off killing two men at that end, the pilots thought it a successful landing!  My Jeep was loaded with petrol supplies and when I got it out of the glider I went looking for Lieutenant Eden"
In another glider Sapper Ken Coley was nursing a shrapnel wound he received in his hand over the LZ,  "On landing the glider crashed into a ditch causing the tail to break off, my foot was smashed which effectively put me out of action.  I was taken to a Casualty Clearing Station which eventually fell into German hands" 

There must have already been problems with the radios as Brigadier Hackett noted in his later report that, 'By 15.15 all Battalions were on the air, but not 4 Para Sqn RE and no contact with 133 Fb Ambulance.' The Brigadier was soon after informed that the Squadron had temporarily located in the nearby sanitorium  

The Squadron formed up and moved off from the DZ along with other units from the Brigade. They were ordered to the next RV point 2km south, on the Wolfheze-Arnhem railway line, where some time after 1700hrs they took up a defensive position for the night. Brigadier Hackett planned to move the Brigade, less 11Btn, towards the centre of the activity as quickly as possible. 4 Para Sqn were to consolidate in an infantry at the rear of the Brigade to the west.
The leading units of the Brigade were coming under desultory attacks but casualties were being suffered.

Stan Holden recalls the journey "I was number 2 on the Bren with Sapper McIntosh, a Londoner, as we slowly walked on the track into the pine woods making for the railway line leading to Wolfheze we appeared to be near the end of a long snake stretching into the distance and we seemed to be the tail end Charlie!  On the track appeared a German Officer who had been taken prisoner, he was a massive bloke who must have been almost seven feet tall. He was wearing a tin hat and striding up the middle of the track, he would have done well in the Brigade of Guards and it scared me just looking at him.  The journey towards Wolfheze was slow, it was stop go all the time and at no great speed or urgency.  Along the way the Dutch came out and greeted us and gave us water and we gave them our boiled sweets in return.  Up to now it been just a stroll in the sun, very pleasant and not too strenuous or frightening"   

At about this time the glider party rejoined the Squadron with the Jeeps and trailers, they too had had casualties.  At the railway line Stan Holden and Sapper McIntosh set up their Bren in a shallow slit trench dug between the lines facing west.  "The electricity pylons had been knocked down in the bombing raids and the cables were laying about, we hoped that this meant that there would be no trains hurtling down the track to disturb us!  The rest of the Squadron were spread about the rail line and in the woods.  Later on in the night when the battles at Johannahoeve were taking place we could hear the noise and see the fires, it was a hell of a battle with all types of gunfire"

156th Battalion passed through the Squadron position and 1 Troop, now under command of Lieutenant Ken Evans and Lieutenant Eden, moved off in support and to the rear of the Battalion.
The line of advance had been changed from the main Ede-Arnhem road to the railway line because of strong opposition and the lack of success of other units the day before.  Only a small part of the force that should by now have been at the Arnhem road bridge was in place and only the north side of the bridge was in control of the British.  The railway bridge had been blown the day before and the Germans were now putting up a strong and effective defence.  11th Battalion had been taken from 4th Brigade and been ordered to join the drive straight for Arnhem along a southerly route.  The rest of 4th Brigade were now to advance and attack along and to the north of the railway line.

Before long 1 Troop had become separated from the Battalion and become lost in the darkness, they found themselves on the wrong side of the railway track and east of Wolfheze.   Ken Evans recalled “The noise of battle was increasing and there were unpleasant fixed lines of enemy machine-guns firing along the railway line”
 1 Troop managed to cross the railway line safely in batches while Lieutenant Evans drove the Jeep and trailer west, back towards the Wolfheze rail crossing and there managed to cross after avoiding extensive bomb craters.  1 Troop then spent a cold but short night on the north side of the railway track.  Lieutenant Evans eventually managed to report to the CO of 156th Battalion.  This was after the failed and costly first attack by the battalion on the Dreijenesweg to the east.  Fortunately the CO did not avail himself of the offer of help from 1 Troop who were by now two Officers, forty-two Sappers and two Flame-throwers,  they were asked to wait back at the Battalion rear Headquarters.  While there they came under fire from a sniper and Bill Grantham was told to go and find him and silence him.  Much to Bill's relief the sniper went quiet and he was not required to go hunting. 

Three of the Squadron are listed as being killed on the 18^th  They are 29 year old Corporal John Cooper of 3 Troop (No grave), 25 year old Corporal Reg Taylor of 3 Troop (No grave) and 20 year old Driver Richard Walker. (It is believed that all of these men were killed later in the battle, the body of Driver Walker was found near the river and he was probably killed in the withdrawal.