Memories from World War II

 Alfred de Mello

 WAR EXPERIENCE - Personal Memoirs 1  

Our airborne Commando left Croydon on RAF airplanes at 2200 hrs on December 15, 1944. The objective was an airdrop at Maasbracht to secure the bridge over the river Maas, behind the enemy lines, as the Germans were still occupying that southern part of Holland, under the sway of Army Group B commanded by Field Marshall Walter Model. This Army Group B consisted of four Armies which controlled the front from Roermond to Echt, whereas the German Army Group H (2 armies) commanded by Col.General Kurt Student controlled the northern part of Holland down to Roermond.

 The British Second Army, spread over from Oud Turnhout in Belgium eastward and beyond the Dutch town of Weert in the Limburg province, was ready to spearhead an attack towards the Ruhr in Germany, together with the Canadian First Army advancing somewhat behind from Breda towards Eindhoven. To achieve this, the British, bivouacked eastward from Weert, were supposed to stage a major thrust towards Maasbracht just twelve kilometers to the southwest and the rendezvous with us in Maasbracht was scheduled for the 17th December, before sunset at 1645 hrs.

 The weather was beastly cold as we parachuted around midnight over Maasbracht in the midst of some sporadic anti-aircraft flak, which the Germans fired blindly through the dense fog on hearing the drone of the incoming planes. My landing startled a chicken coop in a small farm outside the town, waking up the Dutch owners who realised that the Allies had finally come to oust the Nazi invaders; they helped me dig the ground and bury my parachute. Once the task done, I was given a restorative draught of schnapps, the strong Holland gin, and they forced on me the bottle to fortify my soul in the coming hours. My immediate concern was to rejoin with my task force and Major Henderson. In the pitch darkness and fog, we had to find our way to the rendezvous points, which we had memorized in the previous hours. 

No German soldiers roamed at this hour within the perimeter of Maasbracht town, but only in the pillboxes on either end of the bridge. Judging from the firing of small arms, the enemy was mainly located on the western border of the river Maas. Anyhow, in order to recognize who were friends or foes, we sucked on two cigarettes, and the twin red beacons from the lips signaled the chaps of our commando. Soon Harkins, Donahue, McAuliffe, Reid and Gilbert met me, and we concluded that three of our men had landed on the western side of the river, and evidently one parachute failed to open causing our first fatal casualty. Sgt.Hayter with the "six pounder" antitank gun, had already mustered around him Cullen, Riley, Burton and Morris. Another group with Major Henderson headed towards the knoll near the bridge, in absolute silence. 

An ample supply of toilet paper was inside my helmet and my pockets were stuffed with "K" rations, grenades, candle stubs, and cigarettes. I had my good old rifle with the regulation belt load of 8 clips ball (ball ammunition for standard antipersonnel use) and 2 clips A.P. (armor piercing) four and one on each side, bayonet, canteen, first aid pouch, two extra bandoliers of ammunition, and three bazooka rounds. Each of us had to make do with this gear, as we could not expect air supplies for the next forty eight hours. Major Henderson was worried about the three chaps who had landed on the other side of the river: they would have to extricate themselves as best as they could, dodging the enemy in the dark, and head for the pillbox at the western end, or else become casualties or prisoners 

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