I have not ended the story of the Squadron following Arnhem. Many of the men from 4 Parachute Squadron went into 1 Parachute Squadron and also went to Norway to oversee the surrender of the German forces and to help clear the country of the deadly German mines. Though the war in Europe was finished there was still great risk to those involved in clearing up of the debris and destruction of war.
As 1945 began 1 Para Sqn RE continued to receive re-enforcements and trained over the
coming months as before.
The Division were not to be selected for the final crossing of the Rhine in March and by May the Squadron were in new billets in and around the magnificent Stoke Rochford Hall near Grantham. In March they were re-designated 1 Airborne Squadron.
Extract of 1 Airborne Sqn War Diary May 1945
May 1 Exercise Amber
May 5 All Troops recalled for impending ops
May 8 VE Day. Squadron briefed for Operation "Doomsday"
May 9 1 Officer & 3 ORs to Stavanger Norway. Operation postponed
May 10 0615 hrs HQ & 2 Troop to RAF Barkston Heath en-route to Sola airfield Norway. No opposition. 1030 hrs OC with Brig Loder-Symonds RA to Stavanger for conference with German Area Commander. 1500 hrs HQ & 2 Troop move into billets in town.
May 11 1 Troop arrive from the UK. 2 Troop remain in Stavanger. HQ & 1 Troop to Kristiansand. 3 Troop arrive from Oslo
May 12 HQ & 1 Troop arrive at Kristiansand.
May 13 German forces disarmed and moved into concentration areas. Germans commence mine clearance at Randaberg
May 15 SAS troops arrive and relieve 2 Troop
May 17 Norwegian National Day
May 18 10 Germans killed by mine
May 19 6 Germans killed by mine
May 20 3 Troop form Oslo to Kristiansand by Road. Mine clearance continues
May 26 Advance Party to Bergen
May 28 HQ Troop to Stavanger. 3 Troop by Sea to Bergen
May 30 HQ Troop to Bergen by sea
Squadron involved in Exercise "Amber" commencing on the 1st.
On the 5th the Squadron were recalled for an impending operation and confined to camp.
On VE
Day, the 8th the day of the German surrender in Europe the Squadron were briefed for
operation "Doomsday" the liberation of Norway.
One Officer and three men had
already left for Stavanger on the 9th when the operation was postponed for twenty-four
hours. But on the 10th at 0615hrs HQ Troop and 2 Troop set off from RAF
Barkston Heath. They landed at 0915hrs at Sola airfield to find no
German opposition and the Norwegian underground in total control of the area.
On the 11th 1 Troop arrived from the UK having flown in. 2 Troop remained
behind when HQ & 1 Troop left by rail at 1530hrs for Kristiansand to take
over from the German troops there. It had originally been planned for SAS
troops to go with 1 Troop but they were late arriving. Despite the German
surrender in Europe L/Corporal Joe McLaughlin remembered having thoughts of the overwhelming number
of Germans in Norway and the result if they decided to fight on.
On their arrival at Kristiansand on the 12th the men were billeted in the luxury
of the Astoria Hotel. A conference took place with the German Commander at
the Ernst Hotel and plans for the surrender of the German forces made.
Next day on the 13th the disarming of the Germans began, followed by them being
moved into concentration areas. There were still relatively few allied
forces in Norway so the Germans were left in charge of guarding the ammunition
dumps but men of the Squadron were responsible for the main river bridge.
Maps of installations, minefields, airfields and prepared demolitions were
gathered from the Germans. The Germans were given the task of lifting
their own mines and removing demolitions at Randaberg 20km north-west of
Stavanger. Some mines that had been reported at Vaulen turned out to be
torpedo heads.
On the 15th the SAS troops arrived at Kristiansand and soon after relieved HQ
Troop.
The 17th was Norwegian National Day that heralded celebrations and
parades. The Norwegians had suffered many hardships
under the Germans and fearful of reprisals all Germans were confined to their
barracks. At Kristiansand HQ & 1 Troop savoured the glory of
liberators as they took part in a parade along with the SAS,
Recce Corps, the
RAF and Naval Personnel. 2 Troop also took part in a ceremonial parade at
Stavanger and afterwards two teams of them played football against local
teams. The SAS meanwhile took over responsibility for the disarmament and
for German Naval Officers.
On the 18th ten Germans were killed while clearing mines in the Stavanger area. (The War Diary suggests this occurred because of outside interference by British and Norwegian personnel)
The very next day six more Germans were killed while clearing mines on an island off Stavanger. It seems that to prove the minefield after clearance the Germans were stood shoulder to shoulder and made to walk the area, which would explain the heavy casualties.
3 Troop moved from Oslo to Kristiansand by road and moved into billets at Kirkegaten on the 20th. Mine-lifting continued at Stavanger but an order came through from the Allied Commission via the Germans and confirmed by the CRE that shoulder to shoulder proving was no longer allowed and in future after an area was cleared warning signs and fences should be left in place. 1 Troop continued supervising the mine clearance of coastal batteries, radar stations and other installations.
The supervision of the clearance of munitions continued for the next week and on the 26th an advance party of the OC, an Officer and four men left Kristiansand by sea for Bergen.
On the 28th HQ Troop departed by rail for Stavanger and joined 2 Troop in their billets at the Valand School. 3 Troop left Kristiansand by sea to follow the Advance Party to Bergen.
On the 31st HQ Troop also left Stavanger by sea and headed for Bergen.
June, July August were spent carrying out the same duties. Bill Grantham, who had by now been promoted to Sergeant, remembers the days in Norway as a good time for him. "When we first arrived the Germans were still very heavily armed and we weren't sure of the reception we would receive. I was in charge of a small party of men and we travelled around in three Jeeps checking up on the Germans and arranging food supplies for them and us. We had to travel between Stavanger, Oslo and Kristiansand and all the time even as prisoners the Germans remained as arrogant as ever"
Some of the members of the Squadron had been selected to take part in the film 'Theirs is the Glory' that was being made among the actual ruins of Arnhem and Oosterbeek. One such man was Sapper Jack Standen. "They thought they were doing me a great favour sending me back to Oosterbeek but I was sorry to leave Norway. Some of us had built up a lucrative business in Norway, we were selling German military items as souvenirs to the Americans at a great profit. There was a warehouse full of confiscated German items that we had access to and the American GI's loved it, Lugers, bayonets, daggers, medals anything we could get our hands on they would buy. I wasn't happy leaving I can tell you"
Extract of 1
Airborne Sqn War August Diary 1945
August 5 Bergen, HQ Troop to Oslo to await air transport to UK
August 12 HQ Troop to UK, landed at Great Dunmow airfield
August 13 HQ Troop to Leave
August 26 Bergen, 3 Troop embark by sea to UK. Stavanger,1 & 2 Troop by sea to UK
August 30 Stoke Rochford, HQ Troop from disembarkation leave. 1 & 2 Troop arrive UK, to Leave. Bergen, Major Jack MC relinquishes appointment as OC. Captain H. Brown MC promoted to acting Major and assumes appointment as OC
On the 5th of August HQ Troop were the first to travel to Oslo
to await air transport for return to the UK, it was a full seven days before
they were finally allotted transport and flown back to Great Dunmow airfield on
the 12th. They were immediately given disembarkation leave.
On the 26th 3 Troop boarded a ship at Bergen to return home by
sea. 1
Troop travelled from Kristiansand to Stavanger by rail where they joined 2 Troop
and they too boarded a ship to the UK.
On the 30th at Stoke Rochford HQ Troop returned from their leave and the other
Troops then went on leave.
In Norway, at Bergen, Major AFM Jack MC relinquished his position as OC the
Squadron and Captain Harry Brown MC, ex 4 Para Sqn, was promoted to acting Major
and assumed command.
One who did not
return to the UK and who had been with the 4 Para Sqn from its early days was
Sergeant Edwin 'Ted' Greenwood (See photo)
aged 30. Ted was killed in a road
accident on the 20th of July when the Jeep he was driving left the road and fell down a
mountainside, he was popular among the men and having survived Arnhem his was a particularly
sad
loss. Sergeant Greenwood is buried in a small military plot at the
civil cemetery at Kristiansand.
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