Britain at War - 09.2019

42 http://www.britainatwar.com

THE STORY OF ARNHEM IS A FAMILIAR ONE. NOT SO FAMILIAR IS THE STORY OF

MAJOR ‘FREDDIE’ GOUGH’S 1ST AIRBORNE RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRON. RICHARD

DOHERTY DESCRIBES HOW THE EMBATTLED UNIT DOGGEDLY FOUGHT ON AND ON.

BELOW British

troops in a rear

area near the Grave

Bridge. To relieve

the men dropped

into Arnhem, XXX

Corps had to

advance quickly.

COURTESY NATIONAL

ARMY MUSEUM

O

BASH ON! GOUGH'S RECCE MEN|ARNHEM

Market

Garden

BASH ON!

GOUGH'S

RECCE MEN

riginally 1st Airlanding Reconnaissance Squadron, Major

Charles Frederick ‘Freddie’ Gough’s men were part of

Reconnaissance Corps, a formation much-lauded by the

media and resultantly, in the eyes of the contemporary

public akin to commando and airborne forces. The

Airlanding Squadron had fought in the early phase of

the Italian campaign, where Freddie Gough had earned

the Military Cross and, returning to the UK, personnel

were trained in parachuting with the squadron’s title

amended to reflect that.

The men of the corps had all passed

intelligence tests with many being

specialists in multiple roles. The corps’

‘by-words’ were speed, aggression

and initiative and its many regiments

operated in support of any unit –

including the airborne – from the

Chindits to the Royal Armoured Corps

(which the recce corps eventually fell

under). Most divisions – infantry and

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