OPERATION BERLIN-
THE RECOVERY OF THE 1ST BRITISH AIRBORNE DIVISION
ARNHEM 25/26 SEPTEMBER 1944
By
WO (at the time) Old fart....
Of the many war memorials, one in particular stands on the bank of a windswept dyke overlooking the River NEDER RIJN, south of Oosterbeek, in the Netherlands. This memorial exclusively commemorates the British and Canadian sappers who gave their lives, participating in a little known operation called Operation BERLIN. The operation involved the evacuation of the remnants of British and Polish paratroopers back across the lower reaches of the RHINE on the night of 25/26 September 1944. Four field companies were tasked, the British 260th and the 553rd Field Companies and two Canadian, 20th and the 23rd Field Companies. By virtue of their position at the crossing site 23rd Field Company recovered the majority of the besieged paratroopers, figures vary but the lowest available number is 2138 of the some 2500 paratroopers (1). The 20th Field Company who were located down upstream (west) of the 23rd recovered a total of 48 men, the remaining few by the British sappers.
Operation Berlin was initiated as a result of the failure of Operation MARKET-GARDEN. By way of background Operation MARKET-GARDEN consisted of two parts, “MARKET” was to capture the bridges between Eindhoven & Arnhem, by British, American and Polish Airborne Forces. GARDEN was a simultaneous advance of ground troops. Britain’s 30 Corps was then to advance from Belgium and gain a foothold over the Rhine prior to the final push to Berlin, shortening the war by many months, saving many lives. The 101st (US) Airborne Division would seize Eindoven and the canal crossings to the north, the 82nd (US) Airborne Division would take the bridges across the MAAS at Grave and the WAAL at Nijmegen, while the 1st British Airborne Division would capture the most northerly bridges over the NEDER RIJN at Arnhem. The complete plan was the brainchild of Field Marshall B. Montgomery, and is known in perpetuity as: A BRIDGE TOO FAR.
1300 hrs on the 17 Sep 1944 the British 1st Airborne Division began dropping on Arnhem. Almost 11,000 troops were involved and were supposed to hold the Arnhem Bridge for a maximum of 2 days until the arrival of 30 Corps. In the end they held for 10 days with only 2000 of the 11,000 men actually making it to the objective. The remainder of the division consolidated holding onto a small perimeter in Oosterbeek, unable to reach the Arnhem bridge. The perimeter is referred too by all present as the Cauldron, a name given by the Germans. Chance had placed the 9th & 10th SS Panzer Divisions, who were not known to be in the area, in the way.
At about 2000 hrs on the 22 Sep 44, 30 Corps reached the Driel area (south bank of the British perimeter across the Rhine) near Oosterbeek and linked up with the Polish Brigade who were dug in there. They were already 72 hours behind schedule. Following a fierce move along what was aptly named Hells Highway, the ground operation was ordered by Field Marshall Montgomery to be rapid and violent. Violent against 30 Corps it was, but rapid for the besieged paratroopers, unfortunately it was not.
Attempts to reinforce the British in the perimeter were suicidal, although numerous attempts were made. Montgomery realised that the only option was to evacuate the remnants of the proud 1st British Airborne Division. This evacuation was named Operation BERLIN. On the 25 Sep, General Urquart, Comd of the 1st AB Div, was informed that no further attempts would be made to form a bridgehead. With only a quarter of his original strength left, and acute shortages of not only ammunition, but all of the barest necessities of life and knowing his men were at the limit of their endurance, was left with no alternative. General Urquart did not hesitate making the final decision and issued his last order in the operation: OPERATION BERLIN MUST BE TONIGHT.
2200hrs on the 25 Sep was the starting time for the operation (3), the engineer field companies had left many hours earlier with their boat laden trucks moving through enemy positions along Hells Highway to Driel, and the south bank of the Neder Rijn. 23rd Field Company was directly opposite the British position on the Oosterbeek perimeter. In dismal weather, over difficult terrain the sappers brought their craft forward to the rivers edge. Through the night the boats shuttled back and forth across the wide swift river, bringing exhausted survivors to safety under constant German machine gun, mortar and 88mm fire. Many lives were lost but the evacuation went on throughout.
When daylight came the operation was forced to cease, the machine guns, on the high ground (Westerbouwring) above the bridgehead rained a murderous hail of bullets on the boats that were still operating. Paratroopers left on the enemy side tried to swim. Many men although extremely fit were drowned. The 23rd field Company had traversed the river with approximately 150 boatloads, with as many as 36 men per boat, (the boats were originally intended to hold a maximum of 16). The official death toll 1755 Allied soldiers were killed, in excess of 3000 men were wounded and subsequently became prisoners of war, am few hundred escaped on their own aided by the Dutch resistance in the weeks that followed.
One quiet look out across the crossing site today, puts the whole event in perspective. The distance alone, that had to be covered on the friendly side is in excess of 500m, all of it flat open terrain (4). The monument for the men who died during "Operation BERLIN" was unveiled on the 44th anniversary in 1989. Previously, a British paratrooper had remembered the sappers this way, "They were just whispers and shadows in the night". This is the inscription on he monument to the British and Canadian Engineers on the dyke at Driel. 23rd Field Company, for its nights work lost seven killed and 14 wounded. The Roll of Honour for that night's action reads as follows:
KILLED AT ARNHEM
LIEUTENANT J.R. MARTIN
LANCE CORPORAL W.D. RYAN
SAPPER D.L.G. HOPE
SAPPER H.C. MAGNUSSON
SAPPER R.T. McKEE
SAPPER T.J. ROHERTY
SAPPER N.A. THOMPSON
WOUNDED AT ARNHEM
CAPTAIN D.J. McINTYRE
SERGEANT D.E. BARNES
L/SERGEANT H.H. ROBERTS
LANCE CORPORAL G.B. PERKINS
SAPPER J.P. LETOQUE
SAPPER D.J. McCREADY
SAPPER C.T. NOGUERIA
SAPPER S.M. STRYNADKA
DECORATIONS AWARDED
MAJOR M. L. TUCKER Distinguished Service Order
LIEUTENANT R.J. KENNEDY Military Cross
SAPPER H.D. THICKE Military Medal
SAPPER D.J. McCREADY Military Medal
SAPPER R. LEBOUTHILLIER Military Medal
We the sappers of today benefit from a tremendous reputation, a legacy earned in blood by sappers such as those present at Arnhem. The 23rd was the regarded as the "hottest" engr assault unit in the Allied Armies (5). Something to remember....
(1) The war diary of the 23rd Field Company.
(2) The report on the evacuation of the Dorset Regt and Airborne troops 25/26 September 1944 by 20th Field Company.
(3) The Grey Goose of Arnhem by Lec Heaps
(4) Extract from First Canadian Army Engineer Intelligence summary No 26.
(5) Conversation with Lt Russ Kennedy and Mr Henk Duinhoven 26 Sep 1997
Other conversation with actual participants/historians are also utilised in the preparation of this essay.
PS..Chimo gald you like the display!!!...sounds like it is still in good shape...CHIMO-AIRBORNE-UBIQUE
