Operation "Market Garden" and the Battle of Arnhem - A Commemoration, Lest We Forget

On this day exactly seventy years ago, the largest airborne assault in history, to that time, occurred. Operation "Market Garden" commenced, and the ensuing Battle of Arnhem, began on 17 September 1944. As is self-evident the principal focus of this blog is on that battle.

The most significant portion of that courageous and magnificent failure was the action of the British 1^st Airborne Division in the cities of Arnhem and Oosterbeek, The Netherlands. It is deemed fitting and proper that on this occasion their heroic and enduring feat of arms should be recalled and commemorated.

The British Army, based upon verified multiple eye-witness accounts and resultant recommendations, saw fit to acknowledge five specific individuals (four posthumously) for that nation's highest award for bravery, The Victoria Cross. The criteria for earning the Victoria Cross are virtually identical to those of the United States Medal of Honor. For those interested, more details can be found in this blog at; http://arnhemjim.blogspot.com/2013/09/heroes-of-arnhem-in-miniature.html

"At the going down of the sun, and in the morning. We will remember them."

70th Anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem – The Original Operation Order

For those who are familiar with the Battle of Arnhem, 17-25 September 1944, also known as Operation Market-Garden, the realization occurs that in a few weeks the 70^th Anniversary of the battle will be commemorated.

On 22 February 1972 the IRA detonated a bomb outside the Officer’s Mess of 16 Parachute Brigade at Aldershot, Hants., then headquarters and depot of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces. There was extensive damage and civilian staff casualties (6 killed), as well as an Army Chaplain, Father Gerry Watson MBE, ironically a Roman Catholic Priest. What was not widely known at the time of the explosion was that in one of the upper stories of the building were stored the entire historical records and archives of The Parachute Regiment. Fortunately there was only minimal damage to all of this original source documentation.

Realizing the continuing threat, action was immediately initiated to produce a duplicate set of records, which would be kept separately from the originals. As part of that herculean effort, MAJ Robert J. Bragg, (Rtd.), 13 Para Bn (TA), volunteered to assist with the portion of the records pertaining to Operation Market-Garden, in return for being able to retain for himself, additional copies of significant documentation.

One of those documents was Copy 37 (War Diary copy) of the original first issue of the operation order for OPERATION “MARKET”, the airborne element, issued by Lieut-General F. A. M. Browning on 13 September 1944.  For even this part of the operation, as large and complex as it was, you would think that even the initial operation order would be more extensive. As you will see it amounted to a mere 11 pages.

I thought it would be an appropriate contribution to the anniversary, to share with readers of this blog a facsimile of that original operation order.  It suffices to say, that it was followed in short order by numerous annexes and revisions.

The following photograph, with full acknowledgement and credit to the Sunday Telegraph Magazine and photographer Thom Atkinson, is a comprehensive lay-out of the kit of a British Paratrooper at Arnhem, which may be of interest to readers. The only significant items noted missing are a Grenade, No. 82 (Gammon Bomb) and Grenade, No. 77. For a more complete inventory of British Airborne infantry weapons at Arnhem, please see; http://arnhemjim.blogspot.com/2012/11/some-infantry-weapons-of-1st-airborne.html.

1944 Lance-Corporal, Parachute Regiment, Battle of Arnhem

1 Parachute harness with parachute (Static/X-chute)

2 Jump smock (Denison) camouflage first issued in 1942 (the pattern was only replaced in 1980) and over smock worn when jumping

3 Toggle rope – general purpose rope

4 37 pattern battledress jacket; the patches on sleeve are for the 1st or 6th airborne division; wrist watch on the right sleeve; dog tags on the left sleeve

6 Braces

7 Gators

8 Socks

9 Standard British army issued ammunition boots

10 Gloves

11 Leather wallet

12 Camouflage scarf

13 Battledress trousers, colourless shirt, undervest and underpants

14 Aluminium mess tin, mug, water bottle and ration kit including tin of corn beef, boiled sweets and a large block of chocolate

15 Drop bag with rope attached

16 Shovel – kept in the drop bag

17 Cutlery, basic washing and shaving kit, and spare boot laces on a wash towel

18 Entrenching tool – for digging shell scrapings ("foxhole")

19 Handle for the entrenching tool

20 Ammunition pouches

21 Belt and cross straps

22 Machine carbine, Sten Mark V  (9mm submachine gun) was first issued in 1944 and given first to airborne troops. It was first used for D-Day, and then again for Arnhem. Underneath is the cleaning kit and pocket loading tool for magazine

23 Bayonet, No. 4 Mk I

24 Bayonet scabbard

25 Sten magazine

26 Airlanding Bandolier with seven Sten magazines

27 Cigarettes, matches and playing cards

28 Gas mask bag

29 Two grenades – the No 36 Mills grenade was used in the First World War and the No 69 Bakelite, which was in service from 1942, and caused less collateral damage

30 Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife – used as a general tool – and it’s scabbard 

31 Large roll gas cape

32 Gas mask – the light pack gas mask was issued from 1943-1960

33 Anti gas ointment

34 Anti gas hood

35 Eye shield for gas attack

36 Groundsheet (underneath) with a sewing kit ("Housewife") and thimble on top

37 Maroon (Red) airborne forces beret with a parachute regiment cap badge

38 Torch

39 First aid dressing

40 Helmet – Mark II parachuting helmet issued in 1942 with a leather chin strap

For those who might be interested the following is The Band of the Parachute Regiment playing the theme from the movie A Bridge Too Far:

It's All a Matter of Scale

To today’s toy soldier collectors, particularly those who are dioramists, consistency of scale, i.e. size, has become almost an obsession. Many individuals have, and are, using it as a primary buy/don’t buy criterion, regardless of the accuracy, level of detail, or quality of the figure, vehicle, or aircraft under consideration. On the various toy soldier forums I participate in there is almost a continuous series of discussions on the subject, which frequently get rather contentious, to put it mildly. Not only will people conduct a detailed comparison of models versus the real thing by mark and mod, but will compare the efforts of the various manufacturers, as to how accurately they have replicated the actual tank or truck in scaled size. This is compounded by the fact that today not just 1:32 scale is being used, but 1:30 scale as well. In addition there are individual manufacturer's variances/interpretations of each of these scales, some intentional and others through apparent lack of in-depth research. It is amazing how much difference there is between a figure or vehicle of 54mm (1:32) and 60mm (1:30), a mere 6mm.

That was not always that case. As a classic example, W. Britains Ltd. produced an entire series of trucks which were based on a composite design of a  Commer Q4 lorry and a Morris LC5 lorry, both extensively used by the British Army in World War II. These included Sets No. 1334, 1335, 1433, 1512, 1513, and 1641  Although the vehicles were of various configurations, they featured a common “bonnet” (hood/front end) and cab design of identical dimensions. In addition the post-WWII Britains revised design, introduced in 1946, appears to be a lorry from that year rather than from the actual period of the war years (1939-1945). In the final configuration there is a slight, but discernible, elongation of the bonnet dimension, as well as a revised front end configuration. Somehow, while Britains were still considered toy soldiers, the matter of scale was not an issue of any consequence, and did not appear to impact either popularity or sales volume. I do not think that would be the case with collectors today. There is another thought that bears conjecture, and that is with the limited availability of manufacturing materials in the immediate post-war period, smaller size was perhaps an intentional conservation measure.

Example of a Commer Q4 lorry in use by the British Army

A Morris LC5 lorry configured as a civilian Ambulance,
observe the side windows not present in a military version 

Another Commer Q4 lorry built as a RASC maintenance van

Although the wheelbase and road clearance varied, based on the use and configuration of the lorry. the cab and front end remained reasonably identical. Following are the basic dimensions. The first set of numbers being precise scaling of an actual vehicle, in this case a Truck 3 ton x 4 General Service Commer Q4 (previous photograph). The second set (in parentheses) being the size of Britains replication.

Length (overall) of 22.5 ft. converted to 1:32 scale is 8.44 in. (5.6 in.)

Width of 7 ft. 5 in. converted to 1:32 scale is 2.78 in. (2.25in.)

Height of 10 ft. 8 in. converted to 1:32 scale is 4.0 in. (2.5 in.)

Cab Length of 8.20 ft. converted to 1:32 scale is 3.075 in. (2.5 in.)

Wheelbase of 13 ft. 11 in. converted to 1:32 scale is 5.22 in. (4.0 in.)

The conversion equation used is; 1/32 = .03125 x Actual dimension (converted to inches).

In order to determine the scale of any figure/vehicle/aircraft, to covert actual dimensions to a desired scale, or to determine a given scale, see the following link: http://webpages.charter.net/sinkwich/sdventure/html/sd_scalecalc2.htm.

Here are photographs of five of the lorries produced by Britains in the post-WWII period. As can be seen in the numbers, correct 1:32 scaling coincident with the toy soldiers (54mm/2.25 in.) would have resulted in significantly larger toy lorries. One additional observation, because of the disproportional difference in both wheelbase and overall length, it appears that the cabs, bonnets, beds, of all the Britains lorries have also been shortened. In summary, today's collectors should try and remember that these were still toys, not military miniatures.

Wm. Britains Army Ambulance, Set No. 1512

Wm. Britains Army Ambulance, Set No. 1512
Last configuration

Wm. Britains Army Lorry, Set No. 1335
with six wheels and dump bed

Wm. Britains Army Lorry, Set No. 1335
Last configuraion

Wm. Britains Covered Tender, Set No. 1433
Caterpillar Type

Wm. Britains Covered Tender, Set No. 1433
Last configuration

Wm. Britains Army Lorry,  Set No. 1334
with four wheels and dump bed 

Wm. Britains Heavy Duty Lorry, Set No. 1641
Rare, manufactured only in 1946-1948

Wm. Britains Heavy Duty Lorry, Set No. 1641
A little closer look

The Heavy Duty Underslung Lorry, Set No. 1641 in its last
configuration with box, from the author's personal collection

The Truck, 15cwt, 4 X 2, GS (Commer ‘Beetle’) entered limited production in 1935, and achieved only limited popularity within the British Army, being soon largely replaced by the Bedford and Morris 15cwts. However a model of the truck was introduced in 1940 by W. Britains Ltd in Set No.1877 Bettle Lorry, and in 1950 Set No. 2048 a mechanical clockwork set including the truck, and remained popular until discontinued in 1960.

A story is rumored that initially the British Army was accepting the Beetle as its Standard 15cwt truck and Britains quickly made the model. It was only after they made the molds that the Army then went for the Bedford and Morris 15cwts.

Extended research by the author failed to discover the dimensions of the actual truck, but reverse engineering from the model proved very revealing. The model measures; in length 4 7/8 in., width 2 1/4 in. and height 2 5/16 in. Using Britains nominal scale of 1:32 yields a set of dimensions (1:1 scale) in length of 156 in (13 ft), width of 72in (6 ft) and height of 74 in (6 ft 2 in). Too much of a coincidence! These dimensions place the real vehicle precisely within the physical envelope of the other actual 15 cwt trucks.

In another case, the Britains’ Centurion Tank, Sets No. 2150 and 2154 (identical except color) are extremely close to an accurate 1:32 scale of the Centurion Mk I, a much larger "vehicle" than the lorries. The dimensions of the tank model are so close to coincident, as to be negligible.

Length overall (w/gun forward) of 32 ft. 4 in. converted to 1:32 scale is 12.125 in.

Length of  hull of 25 ft. 8 in. converted to 1:32 scale is 9.625 in.

Width (including skirts) of 11 ft. 1.5 in. converted to 1:32 scale is 4.172 in.
Height of 9 ft. 10.5 in. converted to 1:32 scale is 3.703 in.

The Centurion Mk I main battle tank as produced by Wm. Britains Ltd.

Wm. Britains Centurion Tank Mk I, Set No. 2150

Another view of the Centurion Tank Mk I

And another view of the Centurion Tank Mk I

Frontal view of Centurion Tank Mk I

Wm. Britains Centurion Tank Mk I, Set No. 2154
Desert Operations

Wm. Britains Centurion Tank Mk I, Set No. 2154
Rear view of tank