PARATROOPERS AT ARNHEM

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26868, 22 October 1952, Page 10

PARATROOPERS AT ARNHEM

Heroic Failure Of Mission PARTICIPANT SUGGESTS REASONS The airborne invasion of Holland at Arnhem during the Second World War would probably have been a success if all the troops could have been dropped on the one day, said Mr E. O. L. Seccombe in an address at a tattoo of the Tin Hat Club in Christchurch last evening. As it was, however, the force was divided through the shortage of transport aircraft, and it took three days to drop the full force. Mr Seccombe, who now lives in Christchurch, was a member of the ambulance section of the Ist Parachute Division which took part in the inOn the outbreak of the war Mr Seccombe joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. He went to France in September, 1939. He was captured during the retreat from Dunkirk, but because of ill health he was repatriated to England. There, after regaining his health, he joined the medical section of the airborne troops, and was again captured at Arnhem.

Mr Seccombe outlined events leading up to the Arnhem invasion. It was thought when the Germans were being pushed back after the Normandy invasion, that one severe blow to the Germans would probably result in a speedier end to the war, he said. It was believed that a pencil thrust up through Germany and to the Ruhr would cut the Germans’ supplies of coal and steel. To do this three bridges had to be taken and held, Mr Seccombe said. One of these was at Arnhem. The Arnhem operation was ready to be started when it was cancelled for a week. This cancellation, Mr Seccpmbe believed, was another reason for the failure of the thrust. He considered that the Germans, through their very efficient intelligence channels, had received word of the invasion plan after the first cancellation, and the defences of the area might have been strengthened. Division of Forces

The drop was made without any trouble, only light resistance being met, he said. It was there, however, that the operation failed. The American airborne troops landed as a force, but because of insufficient aircraft it was necessary to spread the landing of the British troops over three days. This meant that a. force had to be set aside to hold the landing area, and it also meant splitting the main force. “If one battalion was able to hold the bridge for five days, short of supplies and ammunition, what could a division have done?” Mr Seccombe asked.

He praised the gallantry of the men who took part in the operation. Of a total force of more than 10,000 troops, only about • 1700 men and 420 glider pilots escaped unwounded, he said. The Royal Air Force losses were equally high. On the first dropping day they suffered losses of 6 per cent., on the second day losses of 8 per cent., and on the third day a 20 per cent, loss.

The loss of supplies was also great, the dropping areas having been taken over by the Germans after the initial landings, he said. Of the great quantity of supplies dropped, only 7.4 per cent, reached the troops.