Veterans jump to remember Arnhem

yasin_khan

New Member
A group of British World War II veterans have staged a parachute jump over Arnhem, 60 years after they were sent into battle there.
The 10 former paratroopers, aged between 79 and 85, landed at Grinkel Heath, near Arnhem, in the Netherlands.

Three of the men jumped solo from a height of about 3,500ft. The others jumped in tandem with the Army Parachute Regiment's Red Devils team.

They were followed by about 600 present-day paratroopers.

After landing safely veteran Harry Herbert, 80, who was a pilot with the 10th Battalion during the battle, said Saturday's jump was a "doddle" by comparison.

"This grass was alight 60 years ago and we had a lot of people trying to shoot us down," said Mr Herbert, from Gillingham, Kent.
Tom Hicks, of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, said of his tandem jump: "The thrill is that all our friends are here watching us. They are so welcoming when we come down it makes it all worthwhile.

Mr Hicks, formerly of the 1st Para Royal Engineers, said: "I'm only 85 so I've got a long way to go yet."

Solo jumper Tom Smithson, 80, from Sutton Coldfield said he landed in a tree, but just had scratches and grazes.

"It was very windy and I couldn't get back onto the dropping zone but it is wonderful down here," he said.
All 10 of the veterans taking part in Saturday's jump were among the 16,500 paratroops and 3,500 troops in gliders who were dropped into Arnhem for the operation in 1944.

The British-led and ultimately failed effort to push through enemy lines was immortalised in A Bridge Too Far.

Field Marshal Montgomery's ill-fated Market Garden campaign was conceived to try to shorten the war by taking control of eight bridges along the German-Dutch border.

British paratroopers were deliberately dropped eight miles from the bridges, but it was impossible for them to reach their target before the Germans were tipped off.
Nearly 6,000 from the 1st Airborne Division were captured after Arnhem and 1,174 killed. Almost 1,900 men escaped.

General Sir Mike Jackson, the UK's chief of general staff, said after watching Saturday's jump that Arnhem's victory could be found in "the courage, the determination and the sheer unwillingness to concede" of those who took part.

"It might have brought the war to an end six months early, it could have saved an awful lot of lives," he said.

"I think any serving soldier regards these great old gentlemen with veneration - they did remarkable things."

He added that it was very humbling that the bonds between the veterans and the people of Arnhem had seen 100,000 people turn up to watch the event.
 
Top