Gerald Carlin | ParaData

Gerald Carlin enlisted in to General Service Corps and was posted to The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB).

He volunteered for airborne forces August 1944 and qualified as a military parachutist on Course 134, which ran at RAF Ringway from 18 September to 5 October 1944. The course report stated he was an: ‘Average performer, good worker.’

After initially being posted to the holding unit, he went to the 9th (Essex) Parachute Battalion and saw active service in the Ardennes, the Rhine Crossing and the Advance to the Baltic.

Corporal Carlin went on to serve in Palestine prior to demobilisation in October 1947.

By Wendy George

Date not known
9th (Essex) Parachute Battalion (Corporal)

Operations

Event

Advance to the Baltic

The airborne soldiers were well suited to exploit the fluid situation that occurred following the collapse of the Rhine barrier defence. Short fierce actions were fought from the tanks of the 4th Tank Battalion of the Grenadier Guards and whatever transport could be purloined.

Event

Ardennes

After the Allied landings in Normandy and subsequent advance through France and Belgium, the German Army had succeeded in stalling the Allied offensive along their line of defence at the German border - the ‘Siegfried Line’.

Event

Palestine

Arab intransigence over the surge of Jewish immigration that followed the Holocaust in Europe led to the forming of extreme dissident Zionist groups such as IZL (Irgun Zwai Leumi) and the Stern Gang, all seeking to promote their aims through violence.

Event

Rhine Crossing (Operation Varsity)

By late January 1945, the Germans' Ardennes offensive was finally defeated. It had been a costly episode for both sides, but more so for the Germans, who now had to retreat across the Rhine greatly weakened and "in no condition to hold fast even in these positions".

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Corporal Gerald Carlin

14 Mar 1928 - 27 Sep 2011

Service History

Operations

Advance to the Baltic

Ardennes

Palestine

Rhine Crossing (Operation Varsity)

Latest Comments

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Corporal Gerald Carlin

14 Mar 1928 - 27 Sep 2011

Service History

Operations

Advance to the Baltic

Ardennes

Palestine

Rhine Crossing (Operation Varsity)

Latest Comments

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