http://www.britainatwar.com^49Saturday brought more mortar
and shellfire with German armour
“systematically destroying every house
which might give shelter”. Tiredness,
hunger and thirst meant many were
losing track of time. Temporary respite
came on September 24, when RAF
aircraft strafed and bombed German
artillery and mortar positions, but it
was not long-lived.FIRST TO MOVE
Food was becoming even scarcer, the
troop subsisting on fruit. On Monday
the RAF came back, but that afternoon
the mortaring intensified to the point
that withdrawal to positions near
divisional HQ was ordered. Caught
in the open by SPGs, the recce men
managed to reach their new positions
at about 5pm. There, they learned a
withdrawal was being planned witha crossing point on the Neder Rijn
secured by 43rd (Wessex) Division,
and that 1stAirborne Reconnaissance
Squadron would be among the first
to move.
Under harassing fire from mortars,
artillery and machine guns, the
evacuation began. John Stevenson
was lifted off his feet by “the blast
of one bomb and came-to laying
against the foot of a tree”. Even in
the boats there were casualties: some
overturned, drowning soldiers. Other
men opted to swim, which was fine
unless a man kept on his uniform,
equipment and boots.
Machine guns swept the river, each
crossing took only a few minutes,
but to those in the boats it seemed
much longer. Evacuees continued
to cross into the early hours of
Tuesday, to be met by soldiers of
43 rd (Wessex) Division who had
BASH ON! GOUGH'S RECCE MEN|ARNHEM
ABOVE
Men of the 1st
Parachute Battalion
occupy a shellhole.
TOPFOTOLEFT
German soldiers
clear the streets of
captured equipment,
including an airborne
jeep. TOPFOTOBELOW
German troops make
use of a 2cm Flak
mounted to a Sd.Kfz
10 halftrack against
the Paras. TOPFOTOsecured the riverbank. For at least
one airborne reconnoitrer there was
the pleasant surprise of being assisted
ashore by men of 43rd Recce, who
had previously been members of the
Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron.
On formation, the Reconnaissance
Corps was given the joint tasks of
reconnoitring and defence. Many
recce units demonstrated the strength
and quality of such operations, but
Major Freddie Gough’s Airborne
Reconnaissance Squadron at Arnhem
was exceptional; one man in every
five was killed. To borrow President
Eisenhower’s words on 1st Airborne
Division generally, “they never
flinched, never wavered. They held
steadfastly”.42-49 BASH_ON_GOUGHS_RECCE_MEN_ARNHEM BAW SEPT2019.indd 49 8/14/2019 5:23:39 PM