I was reading that 11th Para was caught out in the open and decimated around 1000 mtrs from the Bridge, I know Lt Col Lea met up with Major Cains as the South Staffs where battling it out at Den Brink as Cains mentioned he was in a wooded Hollow near to the St Elizabeth Hospital, Was the site of the 11th decimation at Den Brink or further into Arnhem, looking at the maps I would suggest they where in the area of Arnhem Railway Station, Capt Mewson the MO to the 11th did not make it as far as Den Brink as he set up a RAP in a house further back and he said he received casualties from a fire fight before he headed back to the 181 ALFA at the Oosterbeek crossroads.
Was with a 11 Para veteran in Arnhem some years ago ,we were walking along a road that ran up to the hospital from the river and he said this is where my battalion was wiped out. Sorry cannot be more precis than that
That makes great sense now, Captain Mewson set up a RAP in the garage by the side of a house on Hulkesteinsewag ( Lower Route )which runs onto the Utrechtsewag the same road where the Hospital is sited with the Museum just a little further on, I know the South Staffs fought it out in that area on the Dan Brink which is an opened steep area of ground.
Just looked at the map to try to pin it down a bit (It was at least 25 years ago) As far as I can remember after leaving the Hospital we must have been stood on Utrechtseweg between Zwarteweg and the Hospital access road looking down towards Oranjestraat .I thought at the time that it was a relatively small area to lose a Battalion
Cheers Horsa, I knew I must be somewhere in the right place, most of those in the 11th who where wounded must have ended up in the St Elizabeth Hospital, Do you also know if most of the 11th where moving up the Utrechtseweg towards the museum as Redtop mentions the area is very small with the Railway to one side and the river to the other, a great pinch point for the germans to set up an ambush and fire down on to the advancing paras.
Medic I could be wrong, but i think the 11th Battalion were to the rear of the 2ns South Staffords and were originally going to support there attack, however they had a change of orders and were going to carry out a left flanking move across the railway. The battalion were in the process of preparing their move when they were caught in the open in the Lombok area. (i am happy to stand corrected, as i dont have "Arnhem, their final battle" in front of me)
The original plan was for 11 Para to advance along the Lower Road (Onderlangs) in support of the 1st and 3rd Parachute Battalions. But on seeing the difficulties that they were encountering Col Lea in consultation with Col McCardie of the South Staffords agreed to advance along the railway in their support, on the left flank by the railway. In the interim Urquhart had been able to return to the Hartenstein, after being holed up overnight in the Lombok area, and gave orders, cancelling this arrangemt, and for 11 Para to cross the railway in anticipation of the arrival of 10 and 156 Para. As they were reorganising themselves (in the Lombok area) they came under attack. The South Staffords were unaware of this change of plan and thought that 11 Para were still to their rear and so when the Museum was overrun thought that they would be able to withdraw supported by 11 Para. It was the remnants of the South Staffords and 11 Para who attacked and initially captured Den Brink. However they came under intense mortar fire and because of tree roots were unable to dig in and were forced to withdraw. Part of A Company of 11 Para (under Major Gilchrist) managed to get some way forward by the railway but were captured as they attempted to cross it in the area of the marshalling yards.
