German SS Prisoners at Arnhem

Image size: 1600 x 1177 pixel. 509 KB
Date: Monday, 18 September 1944
Place: Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands
Photographer: Sergeant D.M. Smith

Four of the five prisoners of the SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 9/9.SS-Panzer-Division "Hohenstaufen" (one is a seventeen years old. All of them are wearing the pea dot 44 camouflage pattern (SS-Erbsenmuster) that were peculiar to the Waffen SS) shortly before being handed over to the Military Police, captured during Viktor Graebner's ill-fated attempt to rush through the British defences around Arnhem Bridge on the morning of Monday, 18th September 1944. The three guards in the background are glider pilots (!), from left to right, Staff Sergeants Joe Kitchener, "Duffy" Edwards, and George Milburn. Upon arriving in the Arnhem area, the 9th SS Division began the task of refitting. The majority of the remaining armoured vehicles were loaded onto trains in preparation for transport to repair depots in Germany. On Sunday, 17 September 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market-Garden, and the division would become heavily involved in the subsequent Battle of Arnhem. The British 1st Airborne Division was dropped in Oosterbeek, to the west of Arnhem. Realizing the threat, SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Wilhelm "Willi" Bittrich (commander of the II. SS-Panzerkorps) ordered 9.SS-Panzer-Division "Hohenstaufen" (led by SS-Oberführer Walter Harzer) and 10.SS-Panzer-Division "Frundsberg" (led by SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Heinz Harmel) to ready themselves for combat. The division's armour was unloaded from the trains and workshop units worked frantically to replace the tanks tracks, which had been removed for transportation. Of the division's armored units, only the division's reconnaissance battalion; equipped mostly with wheeled and half tracked vehicles, was ready for immediate action. Bittrich ordered "Hohenstaufen" to occupy Arnhem and secure the vital Arnhem Bridge. Harzer sent the division to the city, encountering stiff resistance from the "Roten Teufel" (Red Devils), as the Germans came to call the British paratoopers. The Reconnaissance Battalion, a 40-vehicle unit commanded by Hauptsturmführer Viktor Eberhard Gräbner, was sent south over the bridge to scout the area around Nijmegen. Gräbner had that day received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) for his actions in Normandy. While the Reconnaissance Battalion was scouting to the south of Arnhem, Colonel John Frost's 2nd Battalion of the British 1st Airborne Division had advanced into Arnhem and prepared defensive positions at the northern end of the bridge. Gräbner returned from his scouting mission to the south on the morning of 18 September, and ordered about half of his reconnaissance unit, numbering about 22 armored cars, half-tracks, and a few trucks, to attack north across the bridge. Gräbner's exact intentions remain a mystery, but he apparently either hoped to recapture the bridge or to race through the British defences to assist the rest of the division in its defence of Arnhem. Either way, the attack was a complete disaster. The Paras were ready, and after allowing the first four vehicles to pass, they opened up with PIAT anti-tank launchers, flamethrowers and small arms fire. In two hours of fighting, the Reconnaissance Battalion was virtually annihilated, losing 12 vehicles out of 22 in the assault and around 70 men killed, including Gräbner. This action is depicted in the film "A Bridge Too Far". Throughout the eight-day battle, the division operated mostly in and to the west of Arnhem, fighting with Frost's battalion and reducing the pocket containing the remainder of the 1st Airborne, which had become encircled near Oosterbeek. The battle of Arnhem was a victory for Hohenstaufen. With the assistance of other German units, the division had destroyed an elite British airborne unit, which was badly outnumbered and only lightly armed. Despite the intensity of the fighting, the soldiers of Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg treated the captured paratroopers courteously, although there are reports of cold-blooded executions by some SS members, and Bittrich remarked that the tenacity and fighting prowess of the Red Devils was not to be matched, even by the Soviets!

Source:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waffen_SS_snipers.jpg

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205192037

http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/Photos/PIcSSPow.htm

British Paratroopers with German Prisoner at Arnhem

Image size: 1600 x 1203 pixel. 414 KB
Date: Monday, 18 September 1944
Place: Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherland
Photographer: Sam Presser

An eight-man patrol of mixed units, led by Captain John Killick of the 89th Field Security Section, edging westwards from the bridge in an attempt to locate the 1st Para Brigade moving into Arnhem. In the event the patrol made little ground before they realised they were in danger of being cut off and so withdrew to the bridge, having suffered no casualties and collected several stragglers and a prisoner (seen standing in the centre). They reported that there were no sounds of battle to the west of Arnhem and so it was correctly assumed that the 1st and 3rd Battalions were some distance away. Captain Killick can be seen partially obscured on the extreme left. Standing beside him with the butt of his rifle resting on the ground is Private Bernard Salt, and in the foreground, third from the right carrying a Sten gun, is Sergeant Larry Ansell, both men are of No.6 Platoon, B Company, the 2nd Battalion. Bernard Salt enlisted into The Gloucestershire Regiment and later volunteered for airborne forces in World War II. He qualified as a military parachutist on Course 101 which ran at RAF Ringway from 31 January to 13 February 1944. The course instructors' notes record that Bernard was "very confident and a good stick jumper." By September 1944, he was serving as a Bren Gun No 1 in Larry Ansell's No 8 Section in 6 Platoon, B Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion. He jumped with the Battalion as part of the 1st Airborne Division's assault to capture the Rhine Crossings at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden on 17 September 1944. Bernard was photographed by Sam Presser, a press cameraman, on the Monday after they had landed, having just captured a German soldier. The image later became well known and features prominently in the exhibition at the Hartenstein Museum. Bernard was shot through both legs while fighting at the bridge and was later held as a POW in Germany. Larry Ansell enlisted into The Royal Berkshire Regiment and later volunteered for airborne forces in World War II while he was a corporal. He qualified as a military parachutist on Course 63 which ran at RAF Ringway from 4 to 17 May 1943. The course instructors' notes record that Larry was "conscientious and a hard worker. An excellent performer." Larry was later promoted to sergeant and by September 1944 was serving as commander of No 8 Section in 6 Platoon, B Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion. He jumped with the Battalion as part of the 1st Airborne Division's assault to capture the Rhine Crossings at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden on 17 September 1944. Larry was photographed by Sem Presser, a press cameraman, on the Monday after they had landed, having just captured a German soldier. The image later became well known and features prominently in the exhibition at the Hartenstein Museum. After days of fighting at the bridge, Larry was eventually captured and  later held as a POW in Germany. Sir John Killick served as an officer in the Intelligence Corps during World War II, most notably as Officer Commanding 89th Parachute Field Security Section at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. John Killick had joined airborne forces in 1943 and qualified as a military parachutist on Course 93 which ran at RAF Ringway from 29 November to 13 December. He was appointed as Officer Commanding 89 Field Security Section in early 1944. Some members of 89 FSS, including John Killick, accompanied elements of the 2nd Parachute Battalion into Arnhem and his patrol was photographed by Sem Presser, a press cameraman, in a sequence of shots which subsequently became very well known images of the battle. After the war he rose to become a senior diplomat in the Foreign Office, culminating in his appointment as UK Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, a post which he held until he retired. As a last resort, please note the unidentified para third from the left, holding a Sten gun with bayonette. His face is what we call today: Schwarzenegger!

Source:

http://www.arrse.co.uk/weapons-equipment-rations/46615-search-*ally*-star-454.html