August 10th, 1944
At about "D" plus 14, my very first opportunity to sit down for a minute, I threw together some notes on the capture of the bridges by 150 men and 20 odd sappers. Since then I have pestered people to get permission to send you or Colonel Neville a copy, but they just wouldn't give it. It was a grand party, Graham, something really worthwhile. Something I'd always longed for. Gosh I was lucky to be selected for the job. My chaps were magnificent, from the moment we pranged, everything really went according to plan, exact in every detail to the plan rehearsed so many times in England, and the very detailed briefing on our excellent model and aerial photographs. Intelligence reports were first class, no stone was left unturned for our show. I understand the model is going to some museum or other.
The fact that we were relieved by a Light Infantry Parachute Battalion (Somersets) made it a Light Infantry show. The para. brigade commander under whose command I worked is ex D.L.I [Durham Light Infantry]. He is a fine chap. On the strength of this we have agitated for one of the bridges to be called Light Infantry Bridge. The other has already been elaborately sign-boarded "Pegasus Bridge". Did Dick Bartlett tell you his company was due to tear to the bridge to help us directly he'd landed and RV'd? Peter Lewendon was to be the leading platoon commander, another of the Regiment. Unfortunately Peter was taken sick on about "D" - 3. Walter Parrish, also of the Regiment, took his place so it was ever to be a Regimental show. Bad weather caused Dick's company to come down all over the place, so they never actually reached us first; for the same reason our relief was nigh on two hours late, 3.30 a.m. instead of 1.30 a.m. We pranged at 0020 hours. Our glider pilots were simply magnificent, heaven only knows how they managed to get us to the exact place and then put the gliders in the exact spot indicated by me during briefing. I am told that Russian General Staff who have seen the gliders could not believe they were put down by night on such uneven ground and suggested they'd been put there as a show piece. My chaps are furious. Flaps Edmunds had a wow of a time trying to sort out an enemy post that annoyed him on his front. He got it from mortars and was flown home, we all thought pretty badly wounded in the head. But the sly old fox has got over it and is even back out here. I've had a couple of near misses but I’m too thick skinned.
My 2nd i/c Brian Priday was in the only one of the six gliders that didn't reach the bridges. He landed the other side of the River Dives and took over 24 hours to fight his way back with Tony Hooper's platoon and five sappers - a good show. He left me to succeed Flaps as O.C. "B", but was wounded during a platoon raid. I felt rather self-conscious about my own ribbon, I felt it ought to have gone to Dan Brotheridge, who was killed dashing across the bridge. He has an M.C. The Regiment distinguished itself beating off an armoured counterattack on about "D" plus 4. I'll never forget that experience, to me it was as bad as pranging the bridges. We K.O.'d four PZ.KW 4's and sundry armoured cars that day. My company netted an armoured car and we still have it complete with an M.G. 34 and 20 mm. All in good working order. It's known as John Howard's armour and there is much talking as to when I should commit it, I heard a concert by our band a month ago; did me good to hear it and see the familiar old faces. They had just changed from Regimental green hats to khaki berets, and were dead scared of Colonel Neville getting to know about it.
