4th Para Brigade Memorial Plaque

Last year I was approached by my good friend Philip Reinders with a request to design a memorial plaque to mark the unearthed 4th Para Brigade slit trenches located around Papendal near Oosterbeek in Holland.

Philip, along with his colleague Jeroen Niels, started the clearing project after locating what remained of the slit trenches back in 2004 and made it a mission to keep the area clear as much as possible over the years until they were finally given permission to place a memorial plaque next to the trenches. They organised this themselves and many enthusiasts and historians were kind enough to donate money towards having the plaque made, I was honoured to donate the design and artwork of the plaque itself.

I'm sure you'll agree that this has been a worthy effort on the part of all involved. Please see pics of the plaque and slit trenches below.

Thank you.

S.Sgt Jim Wallwork DFM

It is with regret that I must inform you of the passing of Jim Wallwork DFM on 24th January 2013. Rest in Peace Jim.

S.Sgt Sydney Knox

I was recently contacted by Colin Knox, the son of S/Sgt Sydney Knox GPR. Colin has been kind enough to allow us to use some photographs of his father (along with other GP's), he's also provided me with what information he's been able to gather over the years. If any of you can provide us with more details then please do so.

My records show Staff Sergeant Sydney Knox (No.820096) of 'C' Squadron flew from Tarrant Rushton in chalk number 371, a Horsa, carrying Jeeps and/or other equipment of the Reconnaissance Sqdn into LZ 'Z' on 17th Sept 1944. Colin has been able to add; after the heavy fighting in and around Oosterbeek, Sydney escaped by swimming across the Rhine in the early hours of Tuesday 26th September, walked to Driel and then on to Nijmegen.

His co-pilot was S/Sgt D E Baker (No.4979177). However, he's listed as PoW held at Stalag 11B (Fallingbostel).

If any of the information above is in error or incomplete please don't hesitate to contact me with corrections. Likewise, if anybody has a detailed load list for chalk 371 we'd be very interested to see it.

Colin has given me permission to show the following photographs, please do not reproduce without permission. Thank you.

Sydney Knox - No. 64 Glider Pilot Conversion Course 'A' flight

Newspaper cutting of those who represented the GPR, June 1946

S/Sgt. Sydney Knox with his dog 'Flack' in the cockpit of a Horsa glider

Flight with Horsa Glider

Flight with the giant Hamilcar Glider

Merville Battery Glider Pilots

Shortly after midnight on June 6th 1944 men of 9th Battalion the Parachute Regiment along with section of sappers from the Royal Engineers and Glider Pilots undertook a daring operation; to take and eliminate German guns in four casemates to prevent them firing onto the beaches planned for the seaborne element of Operation Overlord later that same morning. Eight Horsa's would carry in stores including Jeeps ammunition etc. 

The Author of 'The Day the Devils Dropped in' Neil Barber has developed an extremely interesting Facebook page in order to take the the story further and to a wider audience.

The following photographs of four of the Glider Pilots caught my eye the other day and so, after contacting Neil, I'd like to share them with you, as well as a link to Neil's FB page which is well worth a visit... as is his book itself, wink, wink.

Link: The Day the Devil Dropped In

Notes relating to S/Sgt. Baldwin: S/Sgt. Arnold Baldwin and his co-pilot Sgt Joe Michie flew one of the Horsa's on the night of 5th/6th June, however the tow rope broke over the English coast. With luck and superb flying they got the glider back to RAF Odiham in the dark.

Notes relating to S/Sgt. Dean: S/Sgt. Dean and his co-pilot Sgt Stan Bone flew another of the Horsa's in the assault on the Merville Battery carrying, among others, Capt. Gordon Brown. It was Capt. Brown who had the idea of marking the Glider Borne forces with the skull and crossbones which were then painted on the the Denison smocks.

Notes relating to Sgt. Michie: Sgt. Joe Michie was the Glider Pilot responsible for actually painting the skull and crossbones on the smocks as he was an artist in civilian life. As an aside detail, many felt that the painting was too bright and dulled them down by rubbing dirt into them.

Notes relating to S/Sgt. Kerr: S/Sgt. Dickie Kerr landed his glider his Horsa just to the East of the Battery and the men on board were able to attack and halt a German patrol which would've been hot on the heels of 9th Battalion as they were making their assault on the Merville Battery.

Photographs and notes are courtesy of Neil Barber.

S/Sgt. Baldwin Glider Pilot Regiment

Sgt. Dean Glider Pilot Regiment

Sgt. Michie Glider Pilot Regiment

Sgt. Kerr Glider Pilot Regiment

RAF Glider Pilots

Chalk has now been running as a Living History Group for just over eighteen months. In that time, we have attended several events solely portraying the Glider Pilot Regiment, we have been received extremely well by members of the public, museum and event organisers as well as serving and ex-members of the Armed Forces.

Now that we feel established, and more confident with our display of GPR uniforms, equipment and general gliderborne information, we feel it is time to also represent those Glider Pilots who's numbers were drawn directly from the RAF in late 1944/45. Up until now, we haven't had any uniforms relating to the RAF Glider Pilots - mainly because accurate photographic evidence is so thin on the ground, but also because the sheer expense of putting together everything needed to portray Army GP's has been extremely prohibitive.

However, as we now have almost everything required for our Army GP display (except, of course, we don't have any gliders!) then we feel it only right to put together a decent, and accurate, RAF Glider Pilot section.

I've recently started the ball rolling with a good reproduction 2nd pattern Denison smock, a BD blouse, RAF wings, RAF Sgt stripes and an RAF beret (see image below).

What I really need are more accurate photographs of RAF GP's in Battledress (or HDD as the RAF refer to BD's), or in Denison smocks, plus any images of the pilot's on the ground or in flight during Operation Varsity (the airborne element of the Rhine crossing in March 1945).

I have a copy of the book 'Wot? No Engines?' by Alan Cooper which is superb with quite a few decent photo's but in order to get the uniforms looking absolutely right, I really need more! If any readers of this blog have anything they think might be of interest; photo's of family members serving as RAF GP's or any photos in a private collection... please do let me know.

Once the uniforms are badged up I'll be sure to share some photographs. Thank you.

The Eagle Magazine

For some time now I've been meaning to show my small collection of 'The Eagle' the magazine of the Glider Pilot Regimental Association. At the moment I only have nine of the original A5 format magazines, running from 1950 through to 1982. However, as I'm a Friend of The Eagle I also have a number the current A4 format magazines (not shown here). 

I'm very proud of my limited collection, they're mainly picked up from Ebay but I'm always looking for donations if anyone has any they'd like to pass on? (nudge, nudge, wink, wink...). They're great to read through, especially the 1950's editions, with plenty of recollections and even advertisements for long passed products and services.

Anyone can become a 'Friend of The Eagle' (follow the link below and click on 'Association'), once you initial application has been accepted then you'll need to make a small annual donation and you'll receive The Eagle 2 - 3 times a year. Former GPR pilots can become Full Members of the GPRA (Glider Pilot Regimental Association) and blood relatives of former GPR members can become Associate Members.

Link: GPRA

Operation Gliderswine 2012

Operation Gliderswine was a night march and daytime living history display organised and carried out by a group of Dutch GPR enthusiasts to mark the 68th anniversary of the Glider Pilot Regiment's involvement in Operation Market Garden.

Group member Peter Vrolijk has very kindly supplied us with a background to his new group along with a report on Operation Gliderswine. Roels Manders also took part in the march and was able to take plenty of photos using his 1955 FED3 camera and his modern Canon Eos 350D colour camera, which I'm sure you'll agree look superb.

Group background:

Although the organisation of a GPR living history group was tried a few years ago, this group was only formed in the spring of 2012 after an appeal on our forum. Our reasons for wanting to depict the GPR are because they are one of the most unique Regiments from WW2 with numbers in excess of around 1200 men - almost brigade size - but now nearly forgotten.

All members are part of the VHM (Vereniging Historische Militaria). The VHM has several groups displaying Dutch, German, British, Canadian and US military forces along with a Group displaying as Dutch civilians during WW2 (some groups also depict pre-war and post-war military units). For more information please take a look at our webpage.

The foundation of this GPR group is largly made up of those who also depict WW2 Commando units including Dutch, British and French Commando (No.10 & No.4 Commando).

Link: VHM Living History NL

Operation Gliderswine. September 21st - 22nd 2012

To commemorate the 68th anniversary of Operation Market Garden we decided to organise a night march from Oude Reemst to a point NW of the DZ at Ginkel Heath.

The group taking part in the commemorative night march (christened Operation Gliderswine due to the population of wild boar in the area) consisted of eight men. The CO. is Lt. Brian (Marcel van Sprongen) who also commands the Commando Group. Unfortunately he could not make it this time, but lucky enough for everyone involved he did all the organising and work prior to the event.

One of the group members Erik de Bruin organised the tactical night movement. This is to his credit. A lot of coordination with local authorities had to be made but permission was granted to move through the night across the woods with weapons and equipment.

At the last moment we heard that we were not permitted to dig in when we reached Ginkle Heath , so alternative arrangements had to be made regarding the display of ourselves and our kit once we had reached our final rendezvous point. Ultimately, as we could not dig trenches and only a small display ‘above ground’ was permitted, we made it look like of a group of tired GP’s after a few days battle were on the move towards Oosterbeek and had rested during one of the many hold-ups along the way.

Operational Report:

"We started at about 20.00 hours from Oude Reemst. Weather was good, dry, almost no wind. temparature a bit cold. First stage of 2 miles was a bit difficult as everyone had to get used to the dark, bergens were heavy so everyone started to sweat after a about mile. About 550 yards from our first goal some cars came by so we had to get into cover which went well. First stop of 45 minutes in the woods, 500 yards from the track.

Second stage of 4 miles went very smooth. No one was tired when we arrived at about midnight at the point were we wanted to spend the night. We had walked very fast, maybe too fast for a tactical move... again we had so dive into cover twice, but still no one saw us... Tried to sleep, but had only our gas-cape or groundsheet . No tents or sleeping bags. Started to drizzle a bit, not much, but still, very uncomfortable.

Stayed till 06.30 in this position with two men on guard, but no one could sleep as it was very uncomfortable and cold. We moved further at first light and arrived at our destination of Ginkel Heath at about 08.00 hours.

It was a very interesting experience. You can't see a thing at night, and our boots made a hell of a noise... I think that germans would have heard us from miles away.

The day at Ginkel Heath was very busy as there was a large crowd. The papers say that about 75,000 people were in attendance."

It’s our intention to work on a more permanent GPR group and first steps have already been taken to do so. We have no website as yet, but I am working on a small one myself and will let you know when it's online.

Words courtesy of Peter Vrolijk 2012. Images courtesy of Roels Manders 2012.