John Nichol - Arnhem

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Bentley, Stewart W. Jr, Orange Blood, Silver Wings , AuthorHouse, 2007

Buist, Luuk, Reinders, Philip and Maassen, Geert, The Royal Air Force at Arnhem , Airborne Museum, Oosterbeek, 2005

Cherry, Niall, Red Berets and Red Crosses , R. N. Sigmund, 1998

Cholewczynski, George, Poles Apart – Polish Airborne at the Battle of Arnhem , Greenhill Books, 1993

Churchill, Winston, Triumph and Tragedy , Penguin, 2005

Clark, Lloyd, Arnhem: Jumping the Rhine , Headline, 2009

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Gibson, Ronald, Nine Days , Arthur Stockwell, 1956

Hamilton, Nigel, Monty: The Field-Marshal , Sceptre, 1986

Kershaw, Robert, It Never Snows in September , Ian Allan, 2009

Mackie, Alastair, Some of the People All of the Time , Book Guild Publishing, 2006

Middlebrook, Martin, Arnhem 1944: The Airborne Battle , Penguin, 1995

Milbourne, Andrew, Lease of Life , Transworld, 1955

Montgomery, Field Marshal, Memoirs , Pen & Sword Military, 2010

Morrison, Alexander, Silent Invader , Airlife Classic, 1999

O’Reilly, John, From Delhi to Arnhem , Thornton Publishing, 2009

Peters, Mike and Buist, Luuk, Glider Pilots at Arnhem , Pen & Sword Military, 2009

Ryan, Cornelius, A Bridge Too Far , Hodder, 2007

Sidnell, Peter (ed.), Tribute – Combat Experiences of the Military and Aviation Book Society , Military and Aviation Book Society, 2002

Sims, James, Arnhem Spearhead , Imperial War Museum, 1978, and Sphere Books, 1989

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There are many people who willingly gave us their time and expertise while we wrote this book. It is impossible to mention every individual, but we are truly grateful to them all. Our heartfelt thanks also go to:

Major Mike Peters of the Army Air Corps, who sourced countless accounts and pictures and proofread the manuscript.

Mr Jonathan Baker, Curator of Airborne Assault at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford. Jon also proofread the manuscript, and he and Becks Skinner provided unstinting assistance during our visits to the museum’s incredible archive.

Sarah Standeven at OfficeOffice, who transcribed our countless interviews with amazing skill and speed.

Our agent, Mark Lucas, and everyone at Penguin who edits, produces and markets our books.

Mike Collins, National Secretary of the Parachute Regimental Association; Alan Hartley, Chairman of the RAF Down Ampney Association; Lieutenant Colonel David Reynolds, editor of Pegasus magazine; Niall Cherry of the Society of Friends of the Airborne Museum; Mark Hickman, creator of www.pegasusarchive.org; Cathy Pugh of the Second World War Experience Centre; Martin Mace, editor of Britain at War magazine; Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork of the Aircrew Association; and Peter Elliot from the Royal Air Force Museum.

Countless authors and researchers with an unparalleled knowledge of Arnhem contacted us offering their assistance. Again, it is impossible to name them all, but the following went ‘above and beyond’ in their efforts to help us: Derek Armitage, David Blake, David Brook, Luuk Buist, Tom Buttress, Philip Chinnery, George F. Cholewczynski, Derek Duncan, Bob Gerritsen, Chris Gryzelka, John Howes, Dick Jansen, John Jolly, Gary Jucha, Steve McLoughlin, John O’Reilly, Mark Pitt, Paul Reed, Mark Roberts, James Semple, Roger Stanton, Graham Stow, Andrzej Szmid, Arie-Jan van Hees and Steve Wright.

Our wives, Suzannah and Sarah, for their unconditional love, support and advice.

Finally, to the many Arnhem veterans and their families who related their personal accounts of the battle, often reliving traumatic events long since buried; we are incredibly grateful. Sadly, we could only use a fraction of the stories we read and heard, but we hope we have done justice to you all.

Published by the Penguin Group

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First published 2011

Copyright © John Nichol and Tony Rennell, 2011

The moral right of the authors has been asserted

Front cover image © The Art Archive / Alamy

Design by Estuary English

All rights reserved

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book

Typeset by Palimpsest Book Production Limited, Falkirk, Stirlingshire

ISBN: 978-0-141-95910-8

Private memoir and JN interview, 2010.

Anje van Maanen – private diary, and JN interview, 2010. This day-by-day account was written in September 1945, exactly a year after the events she described, as a way of trying to come to terms with the horrors she had experienced and which still haunted her dreams.

Private memoir by Heleen Kernkamp-Biegel. Airborne Assault, Imperial War Museum, Duxford, and JN interview with her daughter Marga, 2010.

The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces, only two of which are known as Holland (north and south), the name by which the whole country is often erroneously called. Arnhem was in Gelderland. Ironically, the city of Geldern, from which the province took its name, was (and is) in Germany.

Sir Alistair Horne in Monty, the Lonely Leader . Macmillan, 1994.

The Tommies are Coming. Diary of an Oosterbeek Girl . Surname unknown. Airborne Museum, Oosterbeek. Copy lodged at Airborne Assault, Imperial War Museum, Duxford.

Arnhem Spearhead , by James Sims. Imperial War Museum, 1978, and Sphere Books, 1989.

The use (or misuse) of the words ‘paras’ and ‘paratroopers’ can still cause fighting to break out in the ranks. In the text, we have opted for the generic definition where necessary, for ease of reading.