Keith Winning
Arnhem 80th Anniversary Parachute Jump, 20th of September 2024
My jump into Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day was an incredible experience being my first military jump in 37 years. However, for me to be able to jump onto Drop Zone (DZ) X at Arnhem for the 80th anniversary enabled me to pay a very personal tribute to one of the 10,000 who dropped at Arnhem on the 17th of September 1944. This is Peter’s story.
Peter’s Story
Following on from the breakout from Normandy, by August 1944 the allies were advancing at a rate of 50 miles a day. This rate of advance was not sustainable given the need for supplies to be brought up from the Normandy beaches some 300 miles to the rear. On the 4th of September the Second Army’s advance ground to a halt at Antwerp.
Field Marshall Montgomery persuaded General Eisenhower to get the Second Army moving again by inserting three airborne divisions behind enemy lines to seize a number of vital bridges in the Netherlands over which the Second Army would advance: the American 101st Airborne Division (‘Screaming Eagles’) around Eindhoven; the American 82nd Airborne Division (‘All American’) around Nijmegen; and the British 1st Airborne Division with the attached 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade around Arnhem. The aim was to pave the way for the capture of the Ruhr, Germany’s industrial heartland, and to end the war in Europe in just a few months. Planning started on the 10th of September for Operation Market Garden; the operation was to take place just seven days later.
At 10:00 on the 17th of September 186 men of the 21st Independent Parachute Company took off from Fairford in 12 Stirlings as the pathfinder force for the 1st Airborne Division. No.1 Platoon were directed to DZ Z, No.2 Platoon to DZ X, No.3 Platoon and H.Q. to DZ S.
They dropped at 13:00 and having secured the Drop Zones set up the navigational aids to guide the main force of the First Airborne Division.
In No 2 Platoon, was Private Peter Holt, my mother’s cousin. Peter landed on the edge of DZ X in a tree.
On the 18th and 19th Peter’s platoon continued to hold the Drop Zones and Landing Zones (LZ) from the advancing German forces, enabling the subsequent drops of men and equipment. The fighting intensified on the 20th and by the 21st Peter’s platoon was holding the area just north of the Hartestein Hotel (now the airborne museum).
On the 22nd at 16:00 two patrols were sent out, one from No.3 Platoon and one from No.2 Platoon. The object being to try and contact the 10th Parachute Battalion. Both patrols came under heavy machine gun fire and contact could not be made with the 10th Parachute Battalion. It was during this patrol that Peter was wounded and taken prisoner by the Germans. Before the Germans could move their prisoners to the rear, Peter managed to escape and rejoin his unit.
Throughout the 23rd and 24th Peter’s platoon was holding the northern perimeter of the Hartestein Hotel under increasingly heavy fire. With food, water, and ammunition becoming increasingly scarce, they fought on.
On the night of the 25th with heavy rain falling, the 21st Independent Parachute Company led the remnants of the 1st Airborne Division out of Oosterbeek south towards the Rhine. It was here that Peter crossed the Rhine and was transported to Nijmegen. On the 28th they were flown to Saltby Airdrome near Grantham and returned to their barracks at Newark.
Three-quarters of the division were missing when it returned to England, including two of the three brigade commanders, eight of the nine battalion commanders and 26 of the 30 infantry company commanders.
if in the years to come, you meet a man who says, ‘I was at Arnhem’, raise your hat and buy him a drink.
Alan Wood, War Correspondent for the Daily Express
(Landed by glider with the 1st Airborne Division)
Theirs is the Glory
In 1945 the 21st Independent Parachute Company was in Norway taking the German surrender. It was from here that members of the unit, including Peter were flown back to Arnhem to make the film, Theirs is the Glory. The film was directed by Brian Hurst and released on the 15th of August 1946.
Peter plays a prominent role in the film. In the opening sequence you are introduced to 10 men, one of them Peter. In the closing scene you see Peter and one other return to their Nissan hut, representing the 2,000 who returned from the 10,000 that dropped on the 17th of September. No actors or studio sets were used in the film, making it a unique piece of cinematic history and is well worth watching. All the soldiers who took part in the film were paid three pounds a day, a big rise from the army pay of two shillings.
Still from the film showing Peter Holt in the centre. The colourised version of the film 'Theirs is the Glory' is available on YouTube. Click here to open the film in a new window.
The Jump
The aircraft for the jump was the Douglas Dakota C47 Skytrain N473DC ‘Drag Em Oot’. ‘Drag Em Oot’ dropped troops of the 101st American Airborne on D-Day. After D-Day she recovered gliders from Normandy for later operations, hence her name. It was transferred to the Royal Air Force in September 1944 and took part in Operation Market Garden.
Our group, one of many, were dropping over 100 veterans to commemorate and pay tribute to those who dropped in 1944. I was in Chalk 2, starboard stick No. 11. We were privileged to have Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison, DSO, MBE, the Colonel Commandant of the Parachute Regiment, jumping with us. The day after our jump, there was a mass drop of 1,000 paras from several NATO countries, where he made the main speech to an estimated 100,000 people who had come to Ginkel Heath to honour the Men of Arnhem.
Due to the twists in my rigging lines, I was losing height fast. By the time that I had kicked out the twists and gained control of the canopy I was now some distance from the DZ with not much height left.
With the winds gusting at 20mph and a very tight DZ, I was not sure if I would make it. As well as descending at 12mph, I was also going backwards at about 10mph, I glanced over my shoulder to see an eight feet high electric fence on the edge of the DZ. I remember thinking, ‘am I get over and onto the DZ, or am I going to hit it.’ I lifted my feet (not the prescribed procedure when coming into land) and as the fence flashed pass under my boots, I started to extend my legs just as I hit the ground and rolled. I had made the DZ by about 10 feet. Not all had been so fortunate, including the General, who landed in a tree on the edge of the DZ. I imagine that Peter would have been delighted.
After the jump at the DZ X Memorial
Postscript
For all past and present members of the British Airborne Forces, Arnhem has become synonymous with courage, tenacity, and daring. The Dutch who suffered so cruelly after the battle, harbour no animosity for the grief that we brought. In fact, they honour and revere our fallen, and every year the maroon flags bearing Pegasus are to be seen everywhere in Arnhem and Oosterbeek, while the children lay fresh flowers on all the graves.
To be able to jump from an aircraft that saw action at Arnhem onto the DZ where my mother’s cousin landed in 1944, was perhaps the most humbling and moving experience of my life and one that I will certainly never forget.
In the closing words of his address, Harrison said:
They knew there was no glory in war, that victory is a passing chimera. But they dared to dream.
And in dreaming they gave hope to the downtrodden.
In the crucible of battle, Arnhem cast a reputation of indefatigable courage.
Farewell my gallant friends. Rest easy, your duty done, your legend forged.
You fought on.
Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison
Colonel Commandant of the Parachute Regiment
21st Independent Parachute Company Memorial, Oosterbeek