Vereniging Vrienden van het Airborne Museum Oosterbeek

HOW DID THE BOOK COME ABOUT?

My first visit to Holland was in 1981 by coach. It seemed to take forever getting to its destination, a small hotel in Ede. Shortly after my father and I arrived, we met an elderly Dutch lady sitting in the bar area. My father and the lady seemed to know each other although neither one was sure what words to say. My father smiled and the lady said that they had met before. Indeed they had. The elderly lady was Mrs Nijhoff, a former member of the Dutch Resistance.

Following three weeks of living off the land after the Battle of Arnhem, my father and his small group of airborne men had been rescued by Mrs Nijhoff. Dressed in a Red Cross uniform and accompanied by Flip van der Pol, she took the seven men to safety with a horse and cart from close to Wolfheze on to Mrs Nijhoff's home in Ede.

This was my first meeting with someone from the Resistance, and over the years I would hear more accounts from the Dutch and Allied personnel involved in some way in the Battle of Arnhem and its aftermath.

Before my father died in 2002 I had gathered enough information to write down his life story for our family. When I asked him to check through the story, he asked me why I was bothering with all this when it was such a long time ago. But underneath his superficial comment I knew he was pleased that I was taking an interest. Most of us are proud of our parents, and I was certainly proud of him.

When my father died, aged 80, he was buried in the churchyard in Whatton in the Vale, the village in which he had lived. A soprano performed When A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. Irish pipes and a violin played the ballads of his youth, and I arranged for an old Dakota to fly over the cemetery. Many of his para friends and local villagers swelled the numbers of the congregation to around 200 people. It was quite a contrast to those attending his birth in the Belfast workhouse 80 years earlier.

Whilst arranging the funeral I had a conversation with a stranger who, after hearing O'Reilly's story, remarked that it sounded like there could be a book in that story. I remembered these words some weeks later, and determined that I would write about O'Reilly's life, about Ireland where he was born, and about the formation of the 151 Battalion in India, later to become the 156.

I took my first draft to Arnhem in 2003 and presented it to Dutch historians Robert Sigmond and Bob Gerritsen. They were not very complimentary and asked me whether I wanted to write a history book that would be taken seriously or did I want to write a novel? I appreciated what they were saying and chose the former. One thing I did try to achieve was the feeling of the fighting and the tension of the escape attempts that followed the Battle of Arnhem. By using the words of those involved, coupled with diaries and colourful maps, I tried to make it come to life. The men who fought there were young, fit and vibrant, anything but dull, and I hope this comes across to the reader.

I produced a leaflet announcing that the book would shortly be available in 2004. This brought me into contact with a number of 156 veterans who had, for their own reasons, never been to a 156 Battalion reunion. It took a while to get their accounts together but, at this point, the book took a new direction and I wrote a further seven chapters covering much of the fighting in Oosterbeek, giving a more complete picture of the events that happened in the area known as The Cauldron.

I travelled more widely interviewing veterans. I met Tom Wainwright in Denmark who helped with information relating to Operation Pegasus I, as well as Lieutenant Piers St Aubyn and Sergeant George Humphreys who helped with additional accounts relating to those members of the 156 Battalion who carried on fighting in Oosterbeek. In addition Lance Corporal Noel Rosenberg's account of the fighting in Hackett's Hollow in Oosterbeek and on until Operation Berlin, was most helpful. These are just a few examples.

I do not think I could have written the book at any other time in my life. I ran my own company, an advertising agency, through which I produced the maps and layouts. I had the time and above all the motivation. Fortunately I had been gathering information since 1981 without fully realizing it at the time. I had made the contacts needed, and, most importantly, the men involved were, in the main, still here to answer my many questions. Sadly a number of those who helped me have now passed away.

The information supplied by John Waddy I can describe only as immense. When he checked my work for accuracy it was like being at school again with the master giving me a mark out of ten. I think his tremendous knowledge relating to Operation Market Garden has greatly enhanced the book. I can never thank him enough. It was a good partnership. I suppose we were both motivated to produce a book about the 156 Battalion so that it would never be forgotten.

There are revelations in the book as well as controversy, but this, I think, is always the case in warfare.

New information in the book

The well-known photograph of four airborne men in some ruins, which has been a puzzle since the war, is now positively identified as showing men from 156 Battalion, including Noel Rosenberg MM (see pages 226-227).
Personal accounts of the fighting in and around Oosterbeek.
Lieutenant Ronnie Adams, a 156 evader after the Battle of Arnhem, was recruited by IS9, and gives an insight into events surrounding Operation Pegasus I, the workings of IS9, and his meetings with Airey Neave (the organiser of the operation on the Allied side).
The O'Reilly 7 survived for three weeks after the battle by living off the land in close proximity to the Germans without outside help.
Pegasus I - the most accurate list to date of those who participated, is in the book.
Pegasus I - one man was left behind during the operation but no-one missed him. Even the organisers did not realise that he had gone. He hid in a haystack for too long en route to the river, and was inadvertently left behind and later captured. Extracts from RAF Warrant Officer Brant's SPG Lib. account are included.
Pegasus II:
The IS9 accounts of two Dutchmen on Operation Pegasus II indicate that Major Maguire (leading the party) had already taken a shorter route to make up time before the party was discovered by a German sentry. This puts the escapers in a different position from that thought previously.
I have been able to confirm the names of the seven men that crossed the Rhine successfully on Pegasus II, and how they crossed.
Lieutenant Ebenrytter's IS9 account gives important information regarding Dutch Delta Resistance man J H Doorn (alias Henk van Duin), the disappearance of whom on Operation Pegasus II has been speculated upon since the war. Because of this disclosure Doorn's family were notified of what happened to him in December 2008 via Wolter Noordman.

John O'Reilly,

September 2009.


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		Hoe het boek tot stand kwam... HOW DID THE BOOK COME ABOUT? My first visit to Holland was in 1981 by coach. It seemed to take forever getting to its destination, a small hotel in Ede. Shortly after my father and I arrived, we met an elderly Dutch lady sitting in the bar area. My father and the lady seemed to know each other although neither one was sure what words to say. My father smiled and the lady said that they had met before. Indeed they had. The elderly lady was Mrs Nijhoff, a former member of the Dutch Resistance. Following three weeks of living off the land after the Battle of Arnhem, my father and his small group of airborne men had been rescued by Mrs Nijhoff. Dressed in a Red Cross uniform and accompanied by Flip van der Pol, she took the seven men to safety with a horse and cart from close to Wolfheze on to Mrs Nijhoff's home in Ede. This was my first meeting with someone from the Resistance, and over the years I would hear more accounts from the Dutch and Allied personnel involved in some way in the Battle of Arnhem and its aftermath. Before my father died in 2002 I had gathered enough information to write down his life story for our family. When I asked him to check through the story, he asked me why I was bothering with all this when it was such a long time ago. But underneath his superficial comment I knew he was pleased that I was taking an interest. Most of us are proud of our parents, and I was certainly proud of him. When my father died, aged 80, he was buried in the churchyard in Whatton in the Vale, the village in which he had lived. A soprano performed When A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. Irish pipes and a violin played the ballads of his youth, and I arranged for an old Dakota to fly over the cemetery. Many of his para friends and local villagers swelled the numbers of the congregation to around 200 people. It was quite a contrast to those attending his birth in the Belfast workhouse 80 years earlier. Whilst arranging the funeral I had a conversation with a stranger who, after hearing O'Reilly's story, remarked that it sounded like there could be a book in that story. I remembered these words some weeks later, and determined that I would write about O'Reilly's life, about Ireland where he was born, and about the formation of the 151 Battalion in India, later to become the 156. I took my first draft to Arnhem in 2003 and presented it to Dutch historians Robert Sigmond and Bob Gerritsen. They were not very complimentary and asked me whether I wanted to write a history book that would be taken seriously or did I want to write a novel? I appreciated what they were saying and chose the former. One thing I did try to achieve was the feeling of the fighting and the tension of the escape attempts that followed the Battle of Arnhem. By using the words of those involved, coupled with diaries and colourful maps, I tried to make it come to life. The men who fought there were young, fit and vibrant, anything but dull, and I hope this comes across to the reader. I produced a leaflet announcing that the book would shortly be available in 2004. This brought me into contact with a number of 156 veterans who had, for their own reasons, never been to a 156 Battalion reunion. It took a while to get their accounts together but, at this point, the book took a new direction and I wrote a further seven chapters covering much of the fighting in Oosterbeek, giving a more complete picture of the events that happened in the area known as The Cauldron. I travelled more widely interviewing veterans. I met Tom Wainwright in Denmark who helped with information relating to Operation Pegasus I, as well as Lieutenant Piers St Aubyn and Sergeant George Humphreys who helped with additional accounts relating to those members of the 156 Battalion who carried on fighting in Oosterbeek. In addition Lance Corporal Noel Rosenberg's account of the fighting in Hackett's Hollow in Oosterbeek and on until Operation Berlin, was most helpful. These are just a few examples. I do not think I could have written the book at any other time in my life. I ran my own company, an advertising agency, through which I produced the maps and layouts. I had the time and above all the motivation. Fortunately I had been gathering information since 1981 without fully realizing it at the time. I had made the contacts needed, and, most importantly, the men involved were, in the main, still here to answer my many questions. Sadly a number of those who helped me have now passed away. The information supplied by John Waddy I can describe only as immense. When he checked my work for accuracy it was like being at school again with the master giving me a mark out of ten. I think his tremendous knowledge relating to Operation Market Garden has greatly enhanced the book. I can never thank him enough. It was a good partnership. I suppose we were both motivated to produce a book about the 156 Battalion so that it would never be forgotten. There are revelations in the book as well as controversy, but this, I think, is always the case in warfare. New information in the book The well-known photograph of four airborne men in some ruins, which has been a puzzle since the war, is now positively identified as showing men from 156 Battalion, including Noel Rosenberg MM (see pages 226-227). Personal accounts of the fighting in and around Oosterbeek. Lieutenant Ronnie Adams, a 156 evader after the Battle of Arnhem, was recruited by IS9, and gives an insight into events surrounding Operation Pegasus I, the workings of IS9, and his meetings with Airey Neave (the organiser of the operation on the Allied side). The O'Reilly 7 survived for three weeks after the battle by living off the land in close proximity to the Germans without outside help. Pegasus I - the most accurate list to date of those who participated, is in the book. Pegasus I - one man was left behind during the operation but no-one missed him. Even the organisers did not realise that he had gone. He hid in a haystack for too long en route to the river, and was inadvertently left behind and later captured. Extracts from RAF Warrant Officer Brant's SPG Lib. account are included. Pegasus II: The IS9 accounts of two Dutchmen on Operation Pegasus II indicate that Major Maguire (leading the party) had already taken a shorter route to make up time before the party was discovered by a German sentry. This puts the escapers in a different position from that thought previously. I have been able to confirm the names of the seven men that crossed the Rhine successfully on Pegasus II, and how they crossed. Lieutenant Ebenrytter's IS9 account gives important information regarding Dutch Delta Resistance man J H Doorn (alias Henk van Duin), the disappearance of whom on Operation Pegasus II has been speculated upon since the war. Because of this disclosure Doorn's family were notified of what happened to him in December 2008 via Wolter Noordman. John O'Reilly, September 2009. naar boven