.......
An interview with Thomas Pitt
S-1, Third Battalion,
504th Parachute Regiment
Problems began to develop when elements of the 505th could not seize the bridge across the Waal River in the town of Nijmegen. At that point meanwhile, the British finally came up there. They attempted a frontal assault a couple of times and couldn’t get it. Anyway the plan was thought up then, by someone to send the troops across the river down from the bridge. There was a factory about a mile from where the bridge was and they were gonna have boats and go across in the boats and come up the other side and take the bridge from both sides at once. Then they would have the Krauts trapped between the two forces and they would probably surrender.
The 3rd Battalion of the 504, (our outfit) was selected to be the guinea pigs. So the first thing that was to occur prior to the actual crossing was that we were to get some air cover. British Spitfires (typhoons) that had long range capability were operating (I believe) out of somewhere in France. Finally after some delay, two spitfires came over and started to strafe the opposite banks and on the opposite dike where the Krauts were dug in and all. About the second pass, they (the Germans) got one of the Spitfires and the other one went home. So that was the end of the air cover.
The British had these large tanks; I forget the name of it (Shermans). They were going to give us some artillery fire and first laid down some fire. There were about some eight or ten of them (tanks) that dug in up closer to the bridge from us. They opened fire and they put a lot of iron down in a short period, but in a couple of minutes the (German) counter battery came. I think about four or five of the tanks got hit and the others pulled out.
They then told us to get the boats and go across the river. The boat was like a canvass material with a wood frame to it and it held about twelve men in a boat. We had to paddle to get it across. We took the boats and came from behind the factory (where the Krauts I don’t think knew we were there). We started down across the sandy shore which was maybe 50 yards long till we got to the water. We were running with these boats and our weapons and what not. In addition to all that crap the old man (Major Cook) said you lay a telephone line across the river so when we can talk back to them, if we need support fire or something. We weren’t sure that the radios would work that distance with the one's we had. So I had a kid from the communications section join us with a roll of wire on a spindle-like thing.
We got into the damn boats and thought it at first it looked like rain in the water. Then we realized it was lead coming from the Krauts on the other side. And away we went. I’ll tell you we were paddling like mad to get across. Quite a few of the boats were overturned; guys in a lot of them were killed in the getting across the thing.
When we got over to the other side to the other bank of the water I don’t know how many boats we had lost in the river. It was a hell of a wide river. We got out of the boats. The two guys that where with us, (the two engineers) had to go back to the other side to get some more people. They had a hell of a time getting them back. By then the Krauts weren’t too worried about them. They were more worried about us. We were coming across another beach-like area (200 to 800 yards wide) before the final dike. They were dug in some on the beach and then back in the dike. We were running by them practically and they were just shooting. The only thing to do was to head for the dike because there wasn’t a Goddamed bit of cover anywhere else or anything. So we finally got about half way back to the dike and this kid whose is peeling off this wire and he says "I ran out of wire should I set the phone up here?" I said "hell with it kid just take it easy now and get to the dike. We will talk to them some other day."
So we finally got over to the dike. The Krauts on the other side. The dike must have been maybe ten yards or so wide at the top and they were on the backside. We spent a little time tossing grenades from one side or the other that was fun and games. They were there with their potato mashers and we had fragmentation grenades. So my job was to hold this left flank so as we moved down towards the bridge the Krauts wouldn’t turn and come behind us. So we proceeded to hold it (the dike). The Krauts tried to come across (the dike) a couple times and we discouraged them enough with what lead we gave them. They stayed there. It got a little later on and the first battalion guys came across. We had cleaned out what was on the beach. By then it started getting dark. It was getting late in the day. They (1st Battalion) came over and said they would take the left flank.
Well, I got my guys and we started down around the dike and towards the bridges. Needless to say the sun was coming down. We came to the first bridge and were crossing under was the railroad bridge. Platoon Sergeant Grouse was with me. When I looked up, I could see these guys and I yelled "Hay what outfit are you with?", figuring which company or what outfit was that. Oh man their was a couple of machine guns opened fire on us and we hit the sand and rolled over under the bridge. Grouse looked over at me and said "Lieutenant, I think they might have been from one of the panzer divisions, why did you want to know that?" He got me good on that one. The Krauts where still up on that bridge.
We went on along the dike-like thing, which really was under the bridge and along the other side. In the dark they didn’t bother us. By the time we got to the other side, I guess they didn’t see us or could care less. I think they had their own problems. We got down it must have been another third of a mile or so and came up where the Highway Bridge was across the river. By the time we got there Cook, who was the Battalion Commander was there. And then the first British tanks came roaring across the bridge. They cleaned it out there. Most of H Company (my old company) and G Company and what not came a little shortly afterwards. I don’t know how many of them.
Then came a couple of jeeps and what not and there was (General) Gavin, the Division Commander and his radio man. They came over in the jeep and came in this house and we had taken over like the command post that was right by the edge of the bridge. They had come in there to get the information and how we were and how the situation was and things like that. We had begun to take some probes out to see what was out in front of us there as from Arnhem. By then, it was dark practically and there came a British staff car along and out got the British commander. He was, I guess. the corp commander. I’m not sure who he was. But one of the wheels and he came on in with his folks with him and what not. (Col.) Tucker was there and (General) Gavin was there and (Major) Cook was there, myself(Lieutenant Pitt) and one of the communications officers. We were sort of in the back ground when you get wheels like that around.
Gavin said "We will put some men up on the tanks and in front of the tanks and lets head for Arnhem." I think it was 20 some miles or so it wasn’t far, you know. This British commander said "We don’t move our tanks at night." Gavin said "You don’t move them at night? Well if we wait till day light then they (the Germans) will move some stuff in." The Brit said "Well we can’t move tanks at night." Gavin said something to him, he said "If they were my men in Arnhem we would move tanks at night. We would move anything at night to get there." This guy said "We are not. We will move them in the morning."*
So we had a front out there oh, 500 yards to 1000 yards or more perimeter. Then morning came and that road to Arnhem was nothing but German armor and what not and everything. We got no more got started half way up the road. We didn’t get a couple of miles outside the place and that was it.
But final comments, … I don’t think that any man that went across that river that day in a boat and were fortunate enough to make the other side will ever in his life forget it. There is no way you can visualize what the devil it was like. I will never forget it and I have had dreams that I am back in the boat and I am paddling like mad.
Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:
www.pointvista.com/WW2GliderPilots/holland.htm
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Waal River Crossing - Sep. 20th, 1944 - Feb. 10th, 2003
............
An Interview with John Holabird,
307th Engineers,
504 RCT
On September 20, 1944 the war in the West depended on whether American Paratroopers could seize the Nijmegen Bridge before the Germans could destroy it. The fate of Operation Market Garden and 10,000 beleaguered British paratroopers trapped in Arnhem rested on the capture of the bridge. A daring daylight crossing of the Waal river was planned to capture the bridge.
Since our phone call of last week, I have been devling into my past – searching for – who knows what . . . . But you called me – and asked questions that no one has ever asked before – how I felt? What was it like? Before? After? During? And I gave you pretty trite answers. But our discussion has reopened all kinds of pores in my mind – I lie awake at night living or trying to relive – the Waal Crossing . . . .
Wednesday, September 20, 1944: Before the Crossing.
C Company, 307th Engineers had moved closer to the river -- I don’t remember if it was the night before or early in the morning. (I think the latter). Captain "Spike" Harris called me -- and together we walked up the power station on the Waal River with other C Company officers and platoon sergeants. I had no idea why we were going. I don’t think Spike knew much more. We met with Colonel Tucker (CO 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment), Major Cook and other field grade officers. I was sure something BIG was going on because ordinarily we wouldn’t have been party to all those upper ranks of officers. We walked upstairs in the empty power station -- as I recall very clean and modern. Got to the second floor or so and looked out over the river -- it was broad --couldn’t see much current but couldn’t tell from where we were. About then I began to understand what was up -- we were going to cross it - and the Engineers in the U.S. Army were the customary boatmen. Ergo, we were there to plot a night crossing. "Where were the boats?," we asked -- "Coming," they replied. "What kind of boats?" -- "Press out, British canvas assault boats." -- "How soon?" -- "Afternoon."
And then I began to understand that they were really serious about a daylight crossing. Wow! "Who’s going to protect us? That is one wide river" -- "We’ll lay in British armor to hit the other side and to lay down a smoke barrage so no one will be able to see."
It began to dawn on me that this was one rash daredevil idea -- and we engineers were going to be a big part of it.
I guess Spike and the rest of us went back to the company and we moved up in enfilade to the east of the power station on the down side of the levee or embankment. Spike said I was to take a squad of my platoon over first. Do what I could about miners and support infantry etc. etc. etc. I am not sure why he chose me -- but we were not accustomed to question such decisions.
Wednesday, September 20, 1944, 3 p.m.: The Crossing
I recall chaos around 3 p.m. The 3rd Battalion of the 504, some 500 men, were charging about. Officers yelling and what not -- plus our C Company of the 307 – about 100 or so men. I can’t remember being anything but numb -- not quite sure what was happening or what was about to happen.
At some point British tanks lined up behind the levee embankment with cannons heading up -- to send smoke -- plus shells across the Waal River. Finally some British Army "lorries" [trucks] arrived with the assault boats packed on -- I think there were two trucks, maybe more.
We sprang into action. After all, we were the so-called "river crossing experts." We hauled the boats down one by one. Did we figure out to press them out, or did some Brit show us? Who knows? Anyhow, we got one opened up, and I knew this was mine -- was there a command to move out? I can’t remember. I just knew we were supposed to crack this boat down the embankment across the sandy shore and across the fucking river. How did I feel? I was numb and frozen. If I really considered going across in daylight after all that creeping around behind the power station -- knowing what was probably waiting for us -- I suppose I would have crapped out. But I figured that if Spike and the big shots thought we could make it, why not?
So I rallied my squad; grabbed the boat and headed down the embankment about 15 feet. I think the canvas boat was heavier than it looked - then across sandy mud to the river’s edge and into the water. We pushed the boat out to where we could all step in. All hell was breaking loose. Tanks firing, smoke appearing and lots of small arms fire. I had lots of experience with canoes and row boats, plus a period on a freshman crew at Harvard. So I took the stern and shouted, "stroke!" - "stroke!" - "stroke!" as we wallowed across the Waal. I think we were eleven engineers and all had paddles -- five to a side and across we went. There was a whistling of bullets all around us but for some reason, no one was injured. We hit the other bank and took off like cowboys and Indians up the bank. Three of our guys were left to ferry the boat back to pick up another load. (I think they had the toughest job of all!).
Wednesday, September 20, 1944, 3:30 p.m.: After the Crossing
When we hit the shore we were elated! Intoxicated! We had somehow made it across that "broadside" of fire without a scratch. We scampered out of the boats and up the beach to higher ground and took off gradually east where we knew the highway bridge to be.
We didn’t find any mines -- we just ran and ran. We were eight young men, 19 to 23 years old, who had just won a new life and we dashed like a cavalry squadron. Nothing could stop us now! I think there were eight of us - me and seven of the squad -- we didn’t wait for the 504. Forward we ran. There was a pillbox in front of us -- who knows if there were any defenders. We tossed in grenades and shot ahead -- there were two houses. I think uninhabited but we tossed grenades there too and romped on. At some point I bethought me of duties as an officer -- wrote a brief note to Capt. Spike and sent it back by one of my engineers.
We spread out -- from here on I get hazy. I was down to six and we were hooping and hollering all over the place. We sounded to ourselves as if were single handedly to save the Bridge.
Like a bad officer, I got ahead of the group. I remember running through a large pasture; was surprised by the whistling of bullets going by; surprised by seeing dead cows up-ended; wondering of someone was really truing to shoot at me -- me -- the victorious crosser of the Waal. Finally, after and hour and a half, my euphoria began to wane. I found a little 6x6 house -- probably a farm implement storage. Took off my helmet and looked around. It must have been 5 or 5:30 by this time. Bullets still whistling around - but presumably not at me (I hoped) - I wondered what in the world I should be doing? No men, no mission, not really an infantry man conqueror. Two of my men arrived -- we took council -- wondered whether to proceed or get back to the beachhead.
At this point we discovered Major Cook and elements of the 3rd Battalion coming towards us in a ditch. I reported in to Major Cook, told him that everything was OK this far and since I had only two of my squad left I probably should see what I could do at the landing. And we three crawled over the top of some 20 504 men and gradually returned to the beach which was empty but for some battered boats and six dead troopers - not a very brilliant ending for our crossing.
Wednesday, September 20, 1944: Evening
Two of my squad and I remained at the beachhead overnight and made our way across the Waal when a boat came from the other side. My other three joined the 3rd Battalion, 504 moving forward. Sgt. Kero was killed firing a bazooka at a German Panzer (He was awarded a posthumous DSC). The other two returned safely.
I believe the company lost 4 of 5 KIA and about 12 WIA ( I have just found my "diary") of the Holland campaign and I notice that I hardly mention the river-crossing - I guess I was still stunned!).
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on July 24:
1380 Giovanni da Capistrano Italian monk who liberated Belgrade from the heathen Turks. Later cannonized a saint as San Juan de Capistrano
1759 - Victor Emmanuel I King of Sardinia (1802-21)
1783: Simon Bolivar, freed 6 Latin American republics from Spanish rule
1796 John Middleton Clayton Delaware, (Sen-Del)/US Sec of State (1849-50)
1802 Alexandre Dumas Villes-Cotterêts France, author (3 Musketeers)
1803 Alexander Jackson Davis US, architect (gothic revivalist)
1827 Julius Adolph de Lagnel, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1912
1842 Ambrose Bierce Ohio, writer (Nuggets & Dust)
1878 Lord Dunsany(Edward JMD Plunkett) Ireland, dramatist/poet (Mirage Water)
1895 Robert Graves England, poet/historical novelist (I, Claudius)
1898 Amelia Earhart aviatrix Atchison, Kansas
1900 Zelda Fitzgerald 1st wife of F Scott
1902 Nora Swinburne England, actress (Quo Vardis, Dinner at Ritz, River)
1916 Bob Eberly Mechanicsville NY, singer (Jimmy Dorsey Band)
1916 John D MacDonald novelist (Deep Blue Goodbye)
1920 Alexander H Cohen NYC, Broadway producer (Beyond the Fringe)
1920 Bella Abzug (Rep-D-NY)
1932 William D Ruckelshaus headed Environmental Protection Agency
1934 Willie Davis NFL defensive end (Cleveland Browns, Green Bay)
1935 Adnan Khashnoggi Saudi businessman/financier
1936 Mark Goddard Lowell Mass, actor (Don West-Lost in Space)
1936 Ruth Buzzi Westerly RI, comedienne (Laugh-In, Margie-That Girl)
1939 Bob Lilly NFL defensive tackle (Dallas Cowboys)
1951 Lynda Carter Phoenix Az, Miss USA/actress (Wonder Woman, Billie Jo)
1953 Steve Grogan NFL QB (New England Patriots)
1958 Pam Tills, Country music artist
1964 Barry Bonds, Riverside CA, left fielder (Pirates, SF Giants, 3X MVP)
Deaths which occurred on July 24:
1842 John Sell Cotman, landscape painter, dies
1862 Martin Van Buren 8th pres, dies in Kinderhook NY
1883 Matthew Webb, English Channel swimmer, drowns above Niagara Falls
1900 Ferdinand Hamet, Dutch missionary in Mongolia, murdered at 59
1950 - Robert W Lehnhoff, [Executioner of Groningen], SS fuhrer, executed
1954 Mary Church Terrell educator/civil rights leader, dies at 90
1966 Montgomery Clift actor, dies at 45
1972 Bobby Ramirez drummer (White Trash), killed at 23 in bar brawl
1974 Chris Chubbock newscaster shoots self on air
1980 Peter Sellers dies at 54
1991 Isaac Bashevis Singer Nobel prize winning author, dies at 87
1997 William J Brennan, supreme court justice (1956-90), dies at 91
Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1965 FOBAIR ROSCOE H. OXNARD CA.
[TOLD DEAD BY VIETNAMESE]
1965 KEIRN RICHARD P. LORAIN OH.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, RIP 05/25/00]
1968 BUSH JOHN R. FORT WALTON BEACH FL.
1968 GREILING DAVID S. HILLSDALE MI.
1968 HACKETT HARLEY B. FLORENCE SC.
1970 BLOODWORTH DONALD B. SAN DIEGO CA.
[REMAINS RETURNED ID 02/04/98]
1970 REED JAMES W. CAMBRIDGE OH.
1971 ANTUNANO GREGORY A. SAN FRANCISCO CA.
1971 DALTON RANDALL D. COLLINSVILLE IL.
POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.
On this day...
1487 Citizens of Leeuwarden Neth rebel against ban on foreign beer
1505 On their way to India, a group of Portuguese explorers sack the city-state of Kilwa.
1534 Jacques Cartier lands in Canada claims it for France
1554 Queen Mary of England marries Philip II, king of Spain
1567 Mary, Queen of Scots, is imprisoned and forced to abdicate her throne to her 1-year-old son James VI.
1651 Anthony Johnson, a free black, receives grant of 250 acres in Va
1673 Edmund Halley enters Queen's College, Oxford, as an undergraduate
1679 New Hampshire became a royal colony of the British crown
1683 1st settlers from Germany to US, leave aboard the Concord
1701 Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac establishes Fort Ponchartrain for France at present-day Detroit, Michigan.
1704 Admiral George Rooke takes Gibraltar from the Spanish.
1758 George Washington admitted to Virginia House of Burgess
1783 Georgia becomes a protectorate of tsarist Russia
1799 William Clark (of Lewis & Clark) is willed the slave York
1791 Robespierre expels all Jacobins opposed to the principles of the French Revolution.
1824 Harrisburg Pennsylvanian newspaper publishes results of 1st public opinion poll. Clear lead for Andrew Jackson
1847 Brigham Young & his Mormon followers arrive at Salt Lake City, UT
1847 Rotary-type printing press patented by Richard March Hoe, NYC
1861 Skirmish at Taylor Mountain, (W)VA - CS Gen Wise retreats
1863 Battle at Battle Mountain, Virginia
1864 Battle of Winchester, VA US1200 CS600
1866 Tennessee becomes 1st Confederate state readmitted to Union
1870 1st trans-US rail service begins
1877 1st time federal troops are used to combat strikers
1897 African-American soldiers of the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps arrive in St. Louis, Mo., after completing a 40-day bike ride from Missoula, Montana.
1900 Race riot in New Orleans, 2 white policemen killed
1915 Excursion ship Eastland capsizes in Lake Michigan, 852 die
1919 Race Riot in Washington DC (6 killed, 100 wounded)
1923 Allied Powers & Turkey sign peace treaty, Lausanne
1925 Scopes guilty of teaching evolution in a Tn HS, fined $100 & costs
1929 NY to SF footrace ends (2« months) winner was 60 year old Monteverde
1929 Pres Hoover proclaims Kellogg-Briand Pact which renounces war (Great moment in diplomacy #937)
1933 K Reinmuth discovers asteroids #1645 Waterfield, #1668 Hanna, #1726 Hoffmeister, #2136 Jugta & #2158
1934 1st ptarmigan hatched & reared in captivity, Ithaca, NY
1936 118ø F (48ø C), Minden, Nebraska (state record)
1936 121ø F (49ø C), near Alton, Kansas (state record)
1937 Alabama drops charges against 5 blacks accused of rape in Scottsboro
1941 Nazi massacre entire Jewish population of Grodz Lithuania
1943 RAF bombs Hamburg (20,000 dead)
1944 Soviet forces liberate concentration camp Majdanek
1945 US destroyer Underhill torpedoed West of Guam
1948 4 Duluth Minn Dukes (St Louis Cards Class C farm team) die in crash
1948 Soviets blockades Berlin from the west
1950 V-2/WAC Corporal rocket launch; 1st launch from Cape Canaveral
1950 The U.S. Fifth Air Force relocates from Japan to Korea.
1952 112ø F (44ø C), Louisville, Georgia (state record)
1952 Pres Truman settles 53-day steel strike
1959 VP Nixon argued with Khrushchev, known as "Kitchen Debate"
1961 Roger Maris hits 4 home runs in a doubleheader
1961 1st US commercial plane is hijacked to Cuba
1965 Bob Dylan release "Like a Rolling Stone"
1965 Casey Stengel resigns as manager of the NY Mets
1967 Beatles sign a petition in The Times to legalize marijuana
1967 Charles de Gaulle says 'Vive le Qu‚bec libre! Long live free Quebec!'
1969 Apollo 11 returns to Earth
1969 Hoyt Wilhelm pitches in a record 907th major league game
1969 Muhammad Ali is convicted for refusing induction in US Army on appeal
1972 Jigme Singye Wangchuk becomes king of Bhutan at 16
1974 Supreme Court unanimously rules Nixon must turn over Watergate tapes
1975 Apollo 18 returns to Earth
1978 Billy Martin resigns as Yankee manager after "the one is a born liar the other a convicted one" comment about Steinbrenner & Jackson
1979 Red Sox Carl Yastrzemski hits his 400th HR
1982 E Bowell discovers asteroid #2763 Jeans
1983 Pine Tar Game, Brett's HR disallowed against Yanks (overturned)
1985 Gandhi signs peace contract with Sikh leader Harchand Singh Longowai
1986 SF Federal jury convicts navy radioman Jerry Whitworth of espionage
1987 IBM-PC DOS Version 3.3 (updated) released
1990 Ms. Magazine hits the newstands again after an 8 month haitus
1991 U of Manchester scientist announce finding a planet outside of the solar system
1994 Miguel Indurain wins Tour de France
1995 A suicide bomber set off an explosion in a crowded commuter bus in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing six people.
1996 Two bombs blamed on Tamil separatists ripped through a commuter train near Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 64 civilians and wounding more than 400.
1998 A gunman burst into the U.S. Capitol, opening fire and killing two police officers before being shot and captured. Russell Weston Jr., diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, was found incompetent to stand trial.
2000 President Clinton continued to mediate the Camp David Mideast summit, meeting with Israeli, Palestinian and U.S. negotiators.
2001 A Chinese court sentenced two U.S. residents to 10 years in prison on charges of spying for Taiwan. (China released Gao Zhan and Qin Guangguang two days later.)
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Denmark : Midsummer Day
Ecuador, Venezuala : Bolivar Day (1783)
Idaho, Utah : Pioneer Day (1847)
Spain : Valencia Fair Day-Battle of the Flowers
Virgin Islands : Hurricane Supplication Day (Monday)
Instant Coffee Day; just add water to enjoy!
Women Aviators Day
National Tennis Month
Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of St Christina, virgin/martyr
Ang : Commemoration of Thomas … Kempis, priest
Religious History
1216 Cencio Savelli was consecrated Pope Honorius III. During his 11-year pontificate,he confirmed two well-known religious orders: the Dominicans in 1216 and the Franciscansin 1223.
1550 French-born Swiss reformer John Calvin wrote in a letter: 'If you make a constantstudy of the word of the Lord, you will be quite able to guide your life to the highestexcellence.'
1725 Birth of John Newton, an English slave ship's captain. He was converted at age 22, and entered the Anglican ministry. Newton is remembered today as author of severalenduring hymns, including 'Amazing Grace' and 'Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken.'
1819 Birth of Josiah G. Holland, American writer who in 1874 authored the Christmas hymn, 'There's a Song in the Air.'
1918 On Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem, the cornerstone for Hebrew University was laid by Dr.Chaim Weizmann. (Weizmann was later elected first president of the modern state of Israel.)
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Thought for the day :
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."
Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
You will instruct my Legions of Terror to attack the hero en masse, instead of standing around waiting while members break off and attack one or two at a time.
Letters To God From The Dog...
Dear God,
When we get to Heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it the same old story?
Dumb Laws...
New Jersey:
It is against the law to "frown" at a police officer.
How To Annoy Osama bin Laden If You're Invited To A Dinner Party At His Secret Afghan Lair...
Ask whether suicide bombers have to pay union dues.
