On September 17 1944 I was the Brigade Major of the 1st Parachute Brigade. After the Battle of Arnhem I was awarded the Military Cross. Medals usually reflect the actions of all who fought alongside and helped the named person. I have now decided to return this Military Cross to where it was earned and to those whose names should have been on the medal. I share it with:-
My comrades who fought on Arnhem Bridge; to those whose names are on the Brummen Memorial including my friend Tony Cotterell. For those deaths I alone was responsible, a burden I shall carry to my grave; to Dr. Korteweg and the brave people of Brummen who restrained the German Corporal from shooting the remaining officers in the truck: to the Peters and Tjeenk Willink families for providing me refuge; to Policeman Munnik who was shot for helping me; to Piet Kruff for transporting me and many others in his bogus ambulance: I’ll always remember the taste of the red ink on the bandages round my head; to Anna Hartsen and Dr and Mrs van Eck and Alex Hartman who ran the secret telephone to Nijmegen and to Bill Wildeboer, resistance leader in Ede; to Wolf Horstman who drove those awful solid-tyred charcoal burning open trucks, with Tony Deane-Drummond and 40 of our Pegasus 1 escapers lying two deep, flat on their faces in uniform, covered only with a few potato sacks, from Oude Reemst to Renkom thought 3 check points; and to Dick Kragt, the MI9 agent who arranged the drop of weapons and uniforms so we could go out as a fighting unit; to our own David Dobie who swam the river to set up our escape HQ in Nijmegen and to the men of 101 US Airborne Division who held the South bank for us. They carried out such aggressive patrolling for us the 3 days previous to the Pegasus escape, that the Germans were so frightened they made no reaction though we sounded like a “herd of stampeding elephants”: and to Maarten van den Bent our guide and to his brother who was shot helping us.
It is right that everyone should know also of the many thousands of other acts of courage, sacrifice and generosity performed by the people of Gelderland in helping the Airbornes during and after the battle, all of whose names should also be inscribed on this little medal.
I now give this Military Cross to the Hartenstein Museum to hold as a permanent symbol of the unique bond and of the special relationship between our peoples which has developed over the last 65 years. I hope that many hundreds may share in the pride in this medal and that the Museum may release it once a year to the Annual “Arnhem Commemoration Lunch”.
Presented by Tony Hibbert Brigade Major 1st Parachute Brigade 18 September 2009.
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On September 17 1944 I was the Brigade Major of the 1st Parachute Brigade. After the Battle of Arnhem I was awarded the Military Cross. Medals usually reflect the actions of all who fought alongside and helped the named person. I have now decided to return this Military Cross to where it was earned and to those whose names should have been on the medal. I share it with:-
My comrades who fought on Arnhem Bridge; to those whose names are on the Brummen Memorial including my friend Tony Cotterell. For those deaths I alone was responsible, a burden I shall carry to my grave; to Dr. Korteweg and the brave people of Brummen who restrained the German Corporal from shooting the remaining officers in the truck: to the Peters and Tjeenk Willink families for providing me refuge; to Policeman Munnik who was shot for helping me; to Piet Kruff for transporting me and many others in his bogus ambulance: I’ll always remember the taste of the red ink on the bandages round my head; to Anna Hartsen and Dr and Mrs van Eck and Alex Hartman who ran the secret telephone to Nijmegen and to Bill Wildeboer, resistance leader in Ede; to Wolf Horstman who drove those awful solid-tyred charcoal burning open trucks, with Tony Deane-Drummond and 40 of our Pegasus 1 escapers lying two deep, flat on their faces in uniform, covered only with a few potato sacks, from Oude Reemst to Renkom thought 3 check points; and to Dick Kragt, the MI9 agent who arranged the drop of weapons and uniforms so we could go out as a fighting unit; to our own David Dobie who swam the river to set up our escape HQ in Nijmegen and to the men of 101 US Airborne Division who held the South bank for us. They carried out such aggressive patrolling for us the 3 days previous to the Pegasus escape, that the Germans were so frightened they made no reaction though we sounded like a “herd of stampeding elephants”: and to Maarten van den Bent our guide and to his brother who was shot helping us.
It is right that everyone should know also of the many thousands of other acts of courage, sacrifice and generosity performed by the people of Gelderland in helping the Airbornes during and after the battle, all of whose names should also be inscribed on this little medal.
I now give this Military Cross to the Hartenstein Museum to hold as a permanent symbol of the unique bond and of the special relationship between our peoples which has developed over the last 65 years. I hope that many hundreds may share in the pride in this medal and that the Museum may release it once a year to the Annual “Arnhem Commemoration Lunch”.
Presented by Tony Hibbert Brigade Major 1st Parachute Brigade 18 September 2009.
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