What American Troops Said After Seeing British Paras at Arnhem

Comments · 203

• JA

  @JayBuck-d6c · 4 months ago (edited)

  When I was 15 years old I was in the ATC (air cadets.) We book part in the Nijmegen Marches, 25 miles a day over 4 consecutive days. On the 3rd day,we visited the 1st airborne cemetery at Arnhem. It was so poignant, seeing lads buried there, some only 2 or 3 years older than me, brought tears to my eyes. <br>I&apos;m old now, blind in one eye, deaf in one ear, and can&apos;t walk too far. After watching this, it brought that time back to me, and I have tears in my eyes again.<br> RIP those courageous, selfless lads.

  72

• GA

  @gazza2933 · 4 months ago

  Nevermind what the Yanks said!<br>The Waffen SS, said that<br> Ist Airborne were, <br>&quot;The toughest soldiers that they had ever encountered.&quot;<br>(Cornelius Ryan &quot; A Bridge Too Far.&quot;) &nbsp; 🇬🇧

  124

• FR

  @frankflegg8968 · 4 months ago

  I was friends with an Arnhem veteran (named in the C. R. book) his accounts were amazing. Fair play to them all.

  44

• GR

  @GrahamWalker-p7r · 4 months ago

  As a retired para from the 90s <br>Everyone talks about the British &nbsp;there. I would like to say thank you to the Polish who wanted to do more than they were allowed. <br>Utrinque Paratus &nbsp;past and future airborne gods

  47

• JA

  @Jaws75-x2l · 3 months ago

  My grandfather was there, sadly I don&apos;t know that much about him. He passed away when I was 3. Big respect to those guys💪🇬🇧🤜

  6

• AN

  @AngelaBushby-o7b · 4 months ago

  Those that are trying to get rid of the Para&apos;s should be told to watch this.

  58

• PA

  @paulsmerton9492 · 4 months ago

  Technically, the only &quot;Americans&quot; who were at Arnhem were the Royal Canadian Engineers who ferried the survivors across the Neder Rhine on Day 9.<br><br>To quote a SS Corporal advising his officer, &quot;I have fought on the Eastern Front. These are REAL men. The only way to get them out of those buildings is feet first&quot;. They drove tanks up to the windows/doors of the buildings and hosed them down with gunfire: absolutely no defence for the men inside. They used incendiary shells and flame throwers, setting alight the buildings, forcing the Paras out of them. On many occasions, the wounded who&apos;d been kept in the cellars couldn&apos;t be gotten out and died in flames. It was horrendous. The Waffen SS were so impressed by the Paras at Arnhem that they agreed to a ceasefire to remove the wounded - even helping to stretcher out the British wounded.<br><br>When Colonel Harzer (9th SS Panzer Div) met Colonel Frost when 2 PARA Gp was overrun on Day 4, he asked WHERE they&apos;d learned to be so good at street fighting. Frost&apos;s response was &quot;It was our first time. Well be better at it, next time...&quot;<br><br>I had the privilege of knowing two Arnhem veterans when I was a Para recruit. One from 1 PARA, the other from the 1st Ab Recce Sqn (there weren&apos;t many of them by the battle&apos;s end!). The best thing I ever did in my life was serve in Para Regt - the happiest 7 years of my life. It opened doors for me, too, leading to other opportunities. But I stood on the shoulders of giants.<br><br>The last time I visited Arnhem was in 1991. One veteran introduced me to his Section (US = &quot;Squad&quot;). All of them a gravestone. One of the things that hit home hard in the cemetery was the names and the ages - all too young. But the names - the same names as so many of my mates in my company. I couldn&apos;t help wondering how it&apos;d have been if these same mates were killed in just a single battle. We joined because of them - but would we be deployed on so hare-brained an operation? Probably...

  30

• BR

  @BryanHunter-p9q · 4 months ago

  10.000 men dropped 2.000 &nbsp;returned. &nbsp;I served and fought with many of those men while in the Parachute Regiment a few years after the war.

  37

• CR

  @craigpimlott204 · 4 months ago

  My Great Uncle Dropped into Arnhem with Lt Col Johnny Frost and the Boys of 2Para .he fought on the bridge for 3days till sadly he was KIA aged 23 years old ..he was freshly married about a month before he went to Arnhem &nbsp;..in 1943 he was on operation Fustion in Sicily ..he has never been found yet after burial .but his name is on Panel 9 in the Canadian Airborne cemetery ..<br>Private James &quot;Jimmy&quot; Higgins ..Stoke -On-Trent England ..his wife re married years later but her new husband respected Jimmys memory and she still had his picture on their mantlepiece in his full Uniform ..taken just before his departure to Arnhem ..

  34

• FO

  @FotoFest-l6o · 4 months ago

  My Great Uncle, Ernie Redman, a Communist and International Brigade member from Manchester was a paratrooper at Arnhem. He was captured but escaped and fought on until the end of the war. After the war, he became a bin man with a passion for cricket. He never talked about it. I found out years later. Love and respect to him and my dear Auntie Mary. R.I.P

  23

• DA

  @DaveyB69 · 4 months ago

  You always push forward never retreat, ex 2 para

  41

• GW

  @GwenCoomber · 4 months ago

  One word respect

  16