Operation Market Garden: 2nd Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment Defend Arnhem Bridge

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The time was 0430 on September 19, 1944. The men of D Company of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, lurked in the early morning shadows and nervously awaited the word to lead the advance into Arnhem, Holland, and relieve the surrounded paratroopers defending the bridge. Bleary-eyed and exhausted after a 14-hour forced march, they viewed the scene before them with alarm and trepidation.

Ahead, Arnhem was convulsed in battle. The sky overhead glowed from tracer fire and the harsh light emitted from the embers of burning buildings. Smoke and haze drifted over the British positions and obscured the broad hill leading up to their first objective, the municipal museum 700 yards ahead. Immediately to the left, in stark contrast, towered the gothic bulk of St. Elisabeth’s Hospital.

In forward positions in the houses and streets west of St. Elisabeth’s, most men snatched a little sleep or choked down one last bite to eat. Their officers and NCOs earnestly scurried about, making last-minute preparations for the attack, ever mindful to keep clear of the open spaces to avoid being hit by the long bursts of German fixed-line machine gun fire that regularly searched the cobblestone streets.

A little after 0400 hours D Company emerged from the darkness and attacked up the hill to its front. After they passed through the open space east of the hospital the night erupted into an incredible cacophony of machine gun fire, exploding grenades and shouted commands. When it was over the survivors knew that they could not reach the bridge and reinforce their hard-pressed comrades.

Two days earlier, on September 17, the British 1st Airborne Division was the northernmost of three Allied airborne divisions supporting the airborne phase of Operation Market-Garden. Its mission was to seize the city of Arnhem and hold the bridges over the Lower Rhine until relieved by ground forces. The troops of the 1st Parachute Brigade and the 1st Airlanding Brigade were allocated landing zones (LZs) about six miles northwest of downtown Arnhem. The paratroopers planned to capture the primary objectives in the city, while the South Staffords, the 1st Battalion of the Border Regiment and the 7th Battalion of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers secured the LZs for future troop lifts and supply drops. The 4th Parachute Brigade and the Polish Parachute Brigade would arrive beginning the next day to support the units already on the ground in Arnhem. The division expected relief in two to four days from the British Second Army advancing north from Nijmegen, whose bridge across the Waal River would — it was hoped — be secured by the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.

The South Staffords, commanded by Lt. Col. W.D.H. McCardie, were flown to the battlefield in two lifts on successive days beginning September 17. The first glider lift landed on the east side of LZ S at 1330. It consisted of some 420 men from Major R.H. Cain’s B Company, Major J.E. Phillip’s D Company, Battalion HQ commanded by Major J.M. Simonds, one platoon of mortars and one platoon of medium machine guns. The remainder of the battalion, commanded by Major J.C. Commings, arrived with the second lift on the following day. This group consisted of Major T.B. Lane’s A Company, Major P.R.T. Wright’s C Company and the remaining battalion heavy weapons and transport in the Support Company led by Major J.S.A. Buchanan. All but two of the gliders arrived at their destinations.

The 1st Parachute Brigade, commanded by Brigadier G.W. Lathbury, landed within the first hour. With little fanfare the three parachute battalions formed up and disappeared into the thickly wooded Dutch countryside while the airlanding brigade, commanded by Brigadier P.H.W. Hicks, remained behind to secure the LZs. By 1500, two platoons of the ‘South Staffs’ in company with a section of glider pilots cleared the shattered bedroom community of Wolfheze, while the remainder of the lift assumed defensive positions on the perimeter of the LZ.

Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Airborne Operations, Historical Conflicts, World War II

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