Hello all. Would anyone know if there is any detailed information that covers the fighting around Haalderen, near Nijmegen for September 25/26th September 1944? The German force in question was a Luftwaffe Kampfgruppe named after it's commander Hemsoth and possibly consisted of a mix of Fallschirmjäger (possibly from 3.FJ-Division) and airfield personnel from Eindhoven pressed in to ground combat. I think the Allied forces consisted of 6th Btn Green Howards of 50th Northumberland Division. The only information I seem to turn up for Haalderen is the period afterwards, from October 1944 onward which includes the excellent Nijmegen Bridgehead thread by Stolpi.
Welcome Hucks, I'm thinking the 5th East Yorkshire's might have been there around this timeframe. Will look at the diary for you.
Just had a quick look at "Monty's Northern Legions" by Delaforce. Not much information I'm afraid. Just says: "From 25 September for more than a week battles raged for possession of the little villages of Bemmel, Baal and Haalderen, and the woods between them. First of all 5th East Yorkshires captured Bemmel on the 25th, and two Green Howards battalions tried on 26th and 27th to take Haalderen, a village with factories whose tall chimneys made excellent observation points for the enemy."
Thank you very much for the reports Maria. It would appear that it might be Kampfgruppe Hemsoth that is referenced in the entry for the 26th as being active to the east of Bemmel.
Stolpi kindly supplied this map when I was researching the Bemmel area. My eyesight is not what it used to be, Kampfgruppe maybe there.
Thanks for the map. I have the image for the German Lage West situation map for 27th September 1944 but unfortunately KGr Hemsoth doesn't appear on there either although there is mention of a 3.FS KGr which could be it.
The 69th Infantry Bigade (5th Bn East Yorkshire Regiment, and 6th & 7th Bns Green Howards) was under command of the Guards Armoured Divison at this time and it was the 6th Bn Green Howards that was ordered to take Haalderen (amongst others) on 26 September 1944. It took most of its objectives that day, but not Haalderen. I know some of the 2nd Bn Cheshire Regiment were in support; being the parent 50th (Northumbrian) Division MG battalion. I will have a look through all my 50 Div sources for further infomation later and revert. Also advise that Guards Armoured Division sources are looked at... Best, Steve.
From the 'Path of the 50th' (Clay): This book then goes on to explain that due to the cessation of the fighting at Arnhem and the consequent release of German formations there, the Allied forces were thereafter put onto a defensive footing - expecting to be heavily attacked. NB. Comments in square brackets are mine, used to aid explanation/understanding.
'The History of the Cheshire Regiment in the Second Wold War' (Crookenden). There is nothing of interest in 'The East Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of York's Own) in the War 1939/45' (Nightingale). 'The Story of the 5th Battalion The East Yorkshire Regiment TA' (Garwood) This is a very interesting comment as it states the objective of the 6th Bn Green Howards was Baal, after which the battalion would turn in the opposite direction to Haalderen and move north to Heuval. We now have a divergence of opinion on whether Haalderen was the objective. 'The Story of the Green Howards 1939-1945' (Synge) Again, the Green Howards regimental history makes no mention of Haalderen being the 6th Bn Green Howards objective. Once again it discusses Baal as the objective and has a map covering this action showing the 6th Bn reaching Baal and then turning north to Heuval, which is in the opposite direction to Haalderen. There is big contradiction about the 6th Bn's objective; was it Baal then north to Heuval or was it Haalderen? There is quite a bit of infomation on the attack on Baal... NB. Comments in square brackets are mine, used to aid explanation/understanding.
'History of the Northumberland Hussars Yeomanry 1924 - 1949' (Bright) This regiment was the 102nd (Northumberland Hussars) Anti-Tank Regiment, RA, at this time and was the anti-tank regiment of 50 Div. Apart from a reference to the fact that 'A' Battery was attached to the 69th Infantry Brigade on the dates we are focussing on, nothing else of interest. 61st Recce Regiment: War Diary - October 1944 and Reconnaissance Journal Volume 2, No. 2, Part 2, titled 'TT41' The 61st Recce Regiment served with 50 Div from January 1944 to circa 30 November 1944, including landing on Gold Beach on D-Day, the fighting in Normandy, Operation Market Garden, etc. It then fought as an Independent recce regiment during the Battle of the Bulge. It is not known what happened to the War Diaries between 23 February to 30 September 1944, but they are 'missing'. There is a rumour that they were never written-up. However, I have the War Diary for October 1944 and an entry on the 2 October states that 'A' Squadron was attached to the 69th Infantry Brigade; so on The Island. There is also an excellent article is the Reconnaissance Journal (as referred to in the title), which also alludes to this fact; link courtesy of forum member Tony 56: View attachment Reconnaissance Journal Vol 2 No 2.pdf - see page 65. It also mentions that: It may well be that 'A' Squadron, 61st Recce, secured the Waal River extremity of the 69th Brigade's right, including activity from/to Haalderen. I know that 61st Recce was used this way in an earlier engagement during September at Gheel. In the absence of the applicable War Diary it will be difficult to prove. ----------------------------- All other elements of 50 Div were likely south of the Waal at this time. In conclusion, there is a very large dichotomy between the above sources on what the 6th Bn Green Howards orders were; did they include the capture of Haalderen or not? I think the only way to find out what exactly was happening at and around Haalderen at the time, is to obtain the applicable War Diary pages, for Guards Armoured Division and 69th Infantry Brigade, see what they reveal and move on from there. Best, Steve.
Thank you Steve, you have been a great help in filling in a gap and for also providing pointers & sources. Your help and the help of others in this thread is much appreciated.
Pleased to help hucks. I helped Pieter (stolpi) with the 50 Div parts of his 'Nijmegen Bridgehead' thread and a real pleasure that was; very interesting work/working with Pieter. Similarly, I would be interested in what you find out about and of course the answer to, the Haalderen question. So, keep in touch on this and if you think I can help further, let me know. I will post-up anything further I find on this matter in the meantime. Best, Steve.
This afternoon I discovered this war grave in a Huddersfield cemetery and the date made me think he might have been involved in Operation Market Garden. I haven't found out too much about Corporal Mallinson (Service Number 38358), other than a few family details and that he was called Henry but I'm wondering if he served with 5th Bn of the East Yorkshires and could have been killed around Bemmel? I was interested to see the war diaries on here but there's no mention of casualties for the 26th September (I have the war diaries for my great uncle killed in 1916 and the casualties are listed in great detail). Corporal Mallinson's CWGC listing has the note 'attd. 1st Bn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment) which confused me as I think they may have been in the UK at that time so maybe he was never in Holland which might explain the local grave. Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated. Casualty
Hi Simon - the East Yorkshire actions of 25 and 26 September 1944 are briefly mentioned in my Nijmegen Bridgehead thread: "The German hold on the battle area of The Island actually also was a bridgehead. Von Rundstedt, the OBWest, in early October 1944 referred to it as 'Brueckenkopf Arnheim' (Arnhem bridgehead). The German bridgehead was only accessible by the (recaptured) Arnhem bridge and by ferry sites at Huissen (Looveer) and Pannerden (Pannerdensch Veer). The ferry at Huissen had been scuttled by the Dutch ferryman and the one at Pannerden disappeared underwater with tank and all on 19 September, in the first attempt to transfer a Panzer IV of the 10 SS. Afterwards the Germans troops used various make-shift or improvised rafts to cross the river at these ferry sites, including a craft composed of barges capable of transferring tanks. Soon after the start of the German October assault all of these access points therefore were focal points for the Allied Air. (...) The German bridgehead initially encompassed the villages of Elden, Elst, Huissen and Bemmel as the most important. Elst was lost to them on Sept 25th after several days of bitter street fighting with the 43rd Wessex Div. That same day the village of Bemmel was captured by the 5th East Yorkshires of 69 Bde (50 Division). Next day an attack by the 6th and 7th Green Howards expanded the hold of the 69 Bde on Bemmel. The 7th Green Howards secured the area of Heuvel, while the 6th Green Howards advanced to the area of Baal, both to the north and east of Bemmel. The 6th Green Howards, however, failed to gain Haalderen, a village just east of Bemmel. To the south of this village, on the bank of the Waal River, lay a number of brickworks. The tall chimneys of these factories were used as enemy observation points (OPs), from where interdictory fire could be directed onto the Nijmegen bridge (see post # 55)." See: NIJMEGEN BRIDGEHEAD: II.SS Pz Corps' counterattack in October 1944
