Varsity: C47 crash with British paras

Discussion in 'NW Europe' started by alberk, Feb 2, 2021.

  1. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    By the way, the German veteran's account was corroborated by another account in Johann Nitrowski's book "Die Luftlandung". Gunner Hubert Muschalek was in the same unit as the other veteran, it was a heavy mortar battalion equipped with 120mm mortars (towed by "Kettenkrad"), attached to German 7th Para Division. Their baggage train was stationed at Zimmermann's farm while the batteries were deployed west of the main road and south of the village of Mehr. Muschalek served in a different battery but was also at Zimmermann's farm when the airborne landings started. He adds some details to other veteran's story of the glider that landed close to the farm:
    "When it approached it was fired at by the men of our baggage train. Before it touched the ground it tore away a telegraph pole and came to rest after a rough landing. At first there was no motion inside and when our men made their way towards it they found out that only four of the eleven occupants were unharmed. The pilot had died by a bullet that had hit him in the head, the remaining six had broken bones, some even multiple fractures. They were all taken prisoner and received first aid." He continues to say that the Germans found a small tracked vehicle in the glider, which later was put to good use to transport their own wounded, moreover, there also were three motorcycles and a heavy machine gun with ammunition inside the glider. Muschalek claims that the men were Canadian - but we should be careful with that: German eye witnesses are notoriously bad at telling apart the nationalities of Allied soldiers.
    Clearly, eye witness accounts recorded 40 or 50 years after the war should be taken with a grain of salt, and different eye witness often tell different stories even shortly after the event. But some basic facts seem to be reliable and might help to further enlighten us with regards to the larger picture.
     
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  2. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Hi,

    Off the top of my head yes there was one Hamilcar assigned to each Battalion of 3rd Brigade, CN 279-281, to bring in bren carriers along with extra ammo, etc. The same was true for the 5th Brigade.

    The Canadian Hamilcar can be seen in photo from the "Tip of Spear" book in post #62. I should have explained the location better. It was taken I believe from the edge of an orchard/garden on western side of LZ looking east. The fence line seen in centre of photo I believe runs out to the Axehead Wood which is not shown. Nicklin's Wood is seen on left side.

    Cdn Hamilcar - DZA-1.jpg Cdn Hamilcar - DZA-2.jpg Cdn Hamilcar - DZA-3.jpg

    Note the features of the glider's tail. The vertical stabilizer/rudder is quite tall with horizontal stabilizer towards bottom like a Hamilcar. The nose door has been swung open and a glint of light through nose window can be seen.

    The photo was taken close to ground level. There were two other photos shot from same position. One is a view more to northeast and the other is badly slanted. Parachute lines are also seen in the photos. I'll attach a stitch which gives a wider view though there is not much more to be seen. Also attached is what could be another view of Canadian Hamilcar taken from a position just west of Axehead Woods on southern edge of drop zone.
    Cdn Hamilcar - DZA-4.jpg Cdn Hamilcar - DZA-5.jpg

    I'll will have to think about alberk's latest post which contains interesting details.

    Regards ...
     
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  3. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Cee, I will have a closer look at your post in a moment.

    I just wanted to a add to the above eye witness account that the only glider pilot buried near DZ A is Flight Officer A McGregor RAVR. He was laid to rest near the civilian cemetery in Bergerfurth, along with many other men of 3 Para Bde.
     
  4. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Cee, excellent job! That would have been the one that brought in Fitzsimmon's carrier - agree?

    Also, I suggest taking a look at the pics on p 223 of "Tip of the Spear". These were taken later but they show Horsas and can be related to the aerial...
     
  5. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    alberk

    I just have the digital version of the "Tip of Spear" and the photos are quite small. I did run lines on couple of photos from the Horsa cluster. They are approximations only and won't give exact position of photographer. #2 showing the glider in trees that rammed into 8 Para HQ was taken sometime later as front part of Horsa to left is missing. There is also noticeable deterioration evident on upper portion of remaining tail section.

    Tip of Spear-1.jpg Tip of Spear-2.jpg DZA Locations.jpg

    Regards ...
     
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  6. BrianHall1963

    BrianHall1963 Well-Known Member

    Good evening all though of you Cee was collecting someTarmac from the old Blakehill airfield at Cricklade regards Brian
     

    Attached Files:

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  7. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    A brief summary regarding gliders on DZ "A":
    Despatched: 21 Horsas (towed by 299 SQ RAF and 620 Sq RAF)
    Of these there were:
    6 Horsas (CN 379 - 384) carrying 3 A/T Boy / piloted by G Sq GPR
    12 Horsas (CN 409 - 420) carrying HQ 3 Para Bde / piloted by D Sq GPR
    1 Horsa (Cn 421) carrying elements of 53 Lt Reg RA / piloted by D Sq GPR
    2 Horsas (CN 422 abd 423) carrying RE / piloted by D Sq GPR

    Two of these aborted.
    Successfully released: 19 Horsas

    I could establish that CN 384 landed far off the LZ, to the north in Wittenhorst/Töven

    Despatched: 3 Hamilcars
    (CN 279-281) for HQ 3 Para Bde
    Piloted by C Sq GPR (one towed by 298 SQ RAF, two by 644 Sq RAF)

    Successfully released: 3 Hamilcars

    Loads despatched for DZ "A":
    20 jeeps
    16 trailers, 1 watertrailer
    14 motorcycles
    2 carriers
    4 six-pdr guns
    one 4,2" mortar
    45 panniers
    104 troops

    (source: HQ No 38 Gp RAF: Report on Operation "Varsity"

    On the NCAP aerials I counted 18 Horsas - and we think we identified two Hamilcars on the DZ and I suggested that one (No 280?) landed a bit southeast of Mehrhoog station/railroad crossing.

    So, the numbers add up.

    Glider pilots known to have been killed on DZ "A":
    Flight Officer Andrew McGregor (according to Aircrew Remembered he was with D Sq)

    I checked the dead of C, D and G Squadron GPR:
    - of C Sq no one was buried near DZ "A", for the one with "no known grave" we have information that he was not killed on DZ "A" (Hedley/Hamilcar CN 284)

    - of D Sq only F/O Andrew McGregor was buried on/near DZ "A"

    - of G Sq F/O Freeman, Flt/Sgt Heads and Sgt Richardson are unaccounted for, i.e. "no known grave". On the CWGS concentration reports for the area of and around DZ "A" I can find no "unknown" victims that are identified as RAF or Glider Pilot Regiment.

    Is there a possibility to find our more about Flight Officer Andrew McGregor other than in the information given by the CWGC?
     
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  8. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    alberk,

    If F/O Andrew McGregor was with D Squadron he wouldn't have piloted a Hamilcar. I think it was only C Squadron that trained and supplied Hamilcar pilots. Sorry I couldn't find anything more substantial on F/O McGregor on a quick look around.

    Men were killed in the Horsa that crashed into the trees at 8 Para HQ. Not sure at the moment if that included any of the glider pilots?

    Regards ...
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2021
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  9. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Cee, I agree - he wasn't C Sq and therefore had nothing to do with the Hamilcars. In this light, the German veteran's account that the pilot of the Hamilcar near Zimmermann's farm was killed is probably inaccurate... which isn't all that surprising and again reminds me that eye witness accounts ideally need a corroboration.
     
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  10. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    I just found this in the old thread in Hamilcar No 280 - a document posted by horsapassenger:
    Screen Shot 2019-01-08 at 17.36.31.png
    Interesting that its states the load consisted of a universal carrier and (can't read the first word in the second line) and 8 troops.
    This suggests that all three Hamilcars (279-280-281) for DZ "A" were loaded with a carrier. The one for the Canadian battalion arrived, as we know. No 280 was unaccounted for, and the Germans apparently took over the carrier from a Hamilcar that landed near Zimmermann's farm.
    This either contradicts the the 38 Group's Report on Varsity written in May 1945 - or the carrier the Germans took over came from yet another Hamilcar that landed on LZ "A" by mistake.
    I hope all of this does get too confusing.;)
     
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  11. VarsityGlider305

    VarsityGlider305 Well-Known Member

    Another D Squadron pilot, Len Jordan, gives an account of McGregor's glider in Wot! No Engines?:-

    “…overshot and smashed into the trees, with the jeep and trailer carrying on forward through the cockpit when the glider came to a standstill. The result was devastation. On the side of the glider was chalked "Hail Caledonian" - its number 416. It was F/O Andrew McGregor's glider, one of Len's best pals. He and his passengers had suffered terrible injuries and Len identified the bodies with great sadness. The second pilot however, Sgt William McFadyen, although wounded, did survive and got back to the UK. Andrew came from Kirkaldy in Fife."

    McFadyen was wounded and POW, repatriated and then returned to squadron on 22/04/45.

    Jenny
     
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  12. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Thank you, Jenny. That answers my main question!

    Regards
    Alex
     
  13. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    What surprises me is the that the co-pilot was take prisoner - to my knowledge, their glider crashed into the corner of the DZ that was supposed to be held by the British/Canadians. Or am I mistaken?
     
  14. VarsityGlider305

    VarsityGlider305 Well-Known Member

    Are we sure McGregor's glider crashed at LZ-A? The reason I ask is that WNE also states McGregor was originally buried in 5 Para Bde's cemetery which would be on or near LZ-B wouldn't it?

    Jenny
     
  15. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Jenny, I read that too. But given the situation on the ground and at the time it makes absolutely no sense to dig up his remains and to transport them to Bergerfurth cemetery. If we say the main burial site for 5 Bde was Hegemannshof that's about four kilometers to Bergerfurth cemetery. Who at the time would drive around the remains from one burial site to another? Why this one particular man?
    Above all, if his CN was 414 he was designated to land on DZ "A". I counted the number of Horsas on DZ "A" and the numbers match (see my post above).
    I am not ruling out freak occurrences but the evidence is quite clear. This is one of the concentration forms for Bergerfurth cemetery:
    12 x Bergerfurth_3.JPG
     
  16. VarsityGlider305

    VarsityGlider305 Well-Known Member

    I agree, it makes no sense. Clearly WNE has recorded the location incorrectly. The CWGC report confirms the actual position. Thanks for clearing it up alberk.

    Jenny
     
  17. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Jenny, this is a list written up by a young German in June 1945 - the writing looks like a schoolgirl's handwriting, doesn't it?. The local German authorities were ordered by the Military Gouvernment to record the British war dead, and so helping hands were recruited to do that - among these were schoolchildren. Quite touching how careful this little helper did his/her work. McGregor is among the victims on this list.

    Bergerfurth cemetary.png
     
  18. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Can we say for sure that glider no 414 piloted by F/O McGregor was the one that hit Lt Col Hewetson and his group? Or was that yet another glider? Hewetson says it was "one of the medical Horsas of 9th Para Bn".

    Intererestingly, in "Go to It" Harclerode also writes that "at 1115 hours the battalion's Hamilcar glider arrived, bringing in a very welcome load of a Bren Carrier, spare 3 inch mortars vickers machine guns and radio sets."

    If correct, that means that 8th Bn's Hamilcar also made it to the correct DZ and was unloaded. Which makes me scratch my head...
     
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  19. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Hi,

    According to Lt-Col. Hewetson 3 men on the ground were killed when struck by the glider: 9 Para IO Lt. J.K. England and two Sergeants one of whom was with 9 Para. Also from "The Last Drop" there is confirmation the glider belonged to 9 Para:

    Lt. Col. Napier Crookenden was standing some yards away and witnessed the crash. He writes in Airborne at War.

    "We ran over to find it was our medical glider. My Medical Sergeant Millot and his two orderlies were dead; their jeep and trailer, full of medical stores, were smashed and George [Hewetson] was crawling out from under the wreckage, alive but badly bruised."


    The Hewetson and Jordan accounts seem to match up fairly well in that a Jeep was involved that shot through the front of the glider after an abrupt stop that caused terrible devastation and lost of life. It's curious though that second pilot Sgt William McFadyen was taken POW, as it throws the match up into doubt?

    I came across a chart on Varsity Hamilcars that is mostly about lashings (?) but does list the vehicles and weapons carried by the various units. The number of men listed in some cases is incorrect.

    Insruct & OO 6 AB OP Varsity.jpg

    The following two photos are from the book "Tip of the Spear" and are terrible quality unfortunately. The caption for the one reads:

    "A lone paratrooper stands beside a British Airspeed Horsa Troop Glider on the LZ near Wesel, Germany, 24 March 1945."

    Tip of the Spear-1 .jpg Tip of the Spear-2.jpg


    Seeing how casual the men are in these photos they were probably taken on the morning of March 26th when according to the Canadian WD,

    "Squads of personnel from coys were detailed to sweep the DZ for unit equipment and casualties. Lt Col Nicklin was found dead hanging from a tree in his parachute."

    There is not much to see in the lone Para photo. The glider he is standing beside is intact and in the background another glider can be partially seen. Once again the tail looks like it belongs to a Hamilcar. After running lines the glider that seems to fit is the one close to and just west of Nicklin's Wood.

    Zimmermann Gliders.jpg

    Note I could have misinterpreted the tail type due to poor image quality. I'm not sure about the other photo at the moment?

    Regards ...
     
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  20. Alex1975uk

    Alex1975uk Well-Known Member

    I believe one of those men is Pte Brownjohn? The long wood line in the background can only be the long straight edge of the wood which was the Cdn RV.
    When Hewetson clambered out from under the glider he said “how now you whoring bastard shite”
     

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