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Obit for John Ormsby Evelyn Vandeleur [14 November 1903 – 4 August 1988] Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion Irish Guards
[Name of the publication or date not known, but this may have been printed in The Times.]
BRIG J.O.E. VANDELEUR Hero of Arnhem advance
Brigadier "Joe" Vandeleur, DSO, who died on August 4 at the age of 84, was a distinguished and colourful soldier whose Second World War flair and leadership was such that it featured in the film
A Bridge Too Far, when he was portrayed by Michael Caine.
His action was at Arnhem in September, 1944, when Vandeleur led the 30 Corps advance which aimed to link up with the British and American airborne forces while he was commanding the Irish Guards Battle Group. His conduct then, and indeed throughout the campaign in North West Europe in that year, earned him widespread respect and admiration.
A Bridge Too Far, produced by Sir Richard Attenborough in 1977, met with some criticsm over the portrayal of some of the participants, but Vandeleur was happy with his role as portrayed by Caine, whom he considered "first class". Even critics of some of the other parts felt that Caine's interpretation of Vandeleur was "delightful".
John Ormsby Evelyn Vandeleur - his initials inevitably resulted in him being familiarly known as "Joe" - was a member of an old Irish family. He was born in Nowsher, on the North West Frontier of India, where his father, Lieut. Col. C.B. Vandeleur, DSO, was serving. He was educated at Cheltenham College and th Royal Military College, and was commissioned in the Irish Guards in 1924.
He was seconded to the Sudan Defence Force from 1928 to 1931, commanding a camel company and a motor machine gun battery.
His experiences there left a lasting impression on him and he several times tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade the authorities to allow him to return.
He did, however, serve in Egypt and got himself attached to the 1st Battalion in Palestine, where he had his first experience of fighting.
In 1941 he commanded the 3rd Battalion and, three years later, as the senior commanding officer, he took charge of the reorganized Irish Guards Battle Group.
His first orders then to the new group were: "Enemy Information - one word, chaos. Our intention: the Irish Group will dine in Brussels tomorrow night!"
By 9pm the following night they were in the city and, in line with his order, the officers sat down to dinner in the largest cafe in a main square, interrupted by a message that Germans were holding out in a house down the road. "They were fixed up quickly and we returned to dinner," Vandeleur later recalled.
The Group moved on through Belgium and under Vandeleur's leadership the Escaut Canal Crossing, near Lommel was successfully captured intact, after a brief but sharp battle. It became known as "Joe's Bridge".
Four days after this, the Irish Guards Group was visited and congratulated by Lieut-General Sir Brian Horrocks, the Corps Commander, who then gave them what they regarded as the dubious honour of leading 30 Corps advance to link up with the Airborne Forces at Arnhem - the historic "Operation Market Garden" assault behind the German lines in the Netherlands.
Vandeleur's men were hampered by canals, streams, ditches, narrow roads and German resistance, as they advanced to relieve the remnants of the Airborne Division.
The leading tanks were destroyed and infantry reduced. Eventually the Irish Group was withdrawn into reserve. The dash had failed only eight miles short of Arnhem. German resistance had been under-estimated and the difficulties of the terrain for armoured vehicles not fully appreciated by senior commanders.
Vandeleur commanded the regiment from 1946 to 1948. On his retirement in 1951 he was granted the honorary rank of Brigadier.
He was twice married but both wives pre-deceased him. There were no children.
[His book "A Soldier's Story" was privately printed by Gale & Polden in 1967, contact me if you want a look-up]