Britain at War - 09.2019

ABOVE

Major Freddie

Gough MC, seated

centre, with his

officers. Gough, the

oldest officer in the

squadron, celebrated

his 43rd birthday the

day before Operation

Market Garden.

VIA AUTHOR

BELOW

Gough MC reprised

his role at Arnhem

for the 1946

film ‘Theirs Is

The Glory'

AIRBORNE

ASSAULT

MUSEUM

ARCHIVES

BASH ON! GOUGH'S RECCE MEN|ARNHEM

armoured – had a recce corps regiment

on strength.

In the planning for Operation

Market Garden, Arnhem Bridge – the

objective assigned to 1st Airborne

Division – was the farthest crossing of

the Neder Rijn (Lower Rhine) to be

seized. Considering the large distance

between the drop zones (DZs) and

landing zones (LZs) in relation to the

main objective,

Divisional HQ

decided the Recce

Squadron should

take the bridge

in a coup de main,

holding it until

2 nd Parachute

Battalion arrived

on foot. It was not

unusual for Recce

Corps units to be

used in this way;

the combination

of high mobility,

deployability and heavy firepower

not only suited its main role of

reconnaissance, but also often saw the

corps’ assets function as an attack force

or high-readiness reserve. They were

the tip of the spear in infantry divisions

and, while perhaps lacking the staying

power of an infantry battalion or the

punch of armoured and tank brigades,

the armoured cars, lorried infantry

and occasional heavy mortar battery

or Cromwell squadron gave Recce

regiments extreme flexibility.

SEIZE AND HOLD

However, Gough, from an Anglo-Irish

military family with three Victoria

Cross recipients, considered the

plan flawed. It was a ‘seize and hold’

operation and, although his squadron

could perform the all-out dash, Gough

believed his three troops would be

better employed leading the way for

the elements of 1st Parachute Brigade

en route from their DZs to the bridge.

That, after all, was the primary role of

any recce unit.

While more lightly equipped than

other recce corps units, the speed and

relative firepower of Gough’s men

persuaded planners

to employ it in

the race for the

objective. Brigadier

Gerald Lathbury,

commanding 1st

Parachute Brigade,

was convinced of

the efficacy of the

plan. He failed to

see that using the

squadron in its

true role might

have provided his

battalions with

valuable information that could have

helped compensate for the breakdown

in communications 1st Airborne

Division suffered.

Gough prepared as best he could. His

major concern was that his squadron

operated Willys Jeeps which, being

open, were vulnerable and relied

only on speed for protection. The

Horsa glider could carry a jeep and

trailer, but not an armoured car,

so Gough’s squadron was

restricted to using

the former. Gough

had already

equipped his

jeeps with

either .50

Browning

or .303

Vickers

K machine guns, the calibre .50 being

a punchy, heavy machine gun, and the

latter being fast-firing weapons (more

than 1,000 rpm) designed for aircraft

service. No longer required by the

RAF, the K Guns had been allocated

to the army and were fitted to Gough’s

jeeps on tubular steel mounts.

Vickers Ks, also known as VGOs

(Vickers Gas Operated) had been

used by the LRDG and the SAS in

North Africa, often in twin-mount

configuration. For the task at Arnhem,

Gough felt that his jeeps should have

twin VGOs, but his request was turned

down on the questionable grounds

it would create a problem with

ammunition supply – questionable

because VGO used the same rounds as

the Lee-Enfield and Bren. Denied this

first request, Gough made another:

three Hamilcar gliders and a troop

from the 6th Airborne Armoured

Reconnaissance Regiment.

This unit, another Recce Corps

asset, had dropped into Normandy

with Tetrarch light tanks armed with

howitzers or modified 2Pdr guns.

These vehicles had shortcomings

against heavier tanks, but were

effective in supporting airborne

infantry against pillboxes, light armour

and machine guns. After Normandy,

the unit began conversion to the

http://www.britainatwar.com^43



"“At Divisional HQ it

was decided the Recce

Squadron should take

the bridge in a coup

de main, holding it

until 2nd Parachute

Battalion arrived.”"

42-49 BASH_ON_GOUGHS_RECCE_MEN_ARNHEM BAW SEPT2019.indd 43 8/14/2019 5:22:09 PM