Deliver Us From Darkness by Ian Gardner

Author:Ian Gardner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Deliver US from Darkness: The Untold Story of Third Battalion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment During Market Garden
ISBN: 9781780963983
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Published: 2012-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

8

“No time to bleed”

Hell’s Highway – September 21–October 1, 1944

By September 21 the German 107th Armored Brigade had joined forces with two other fighting groups and turned away from Son to focus its attention further north, launching a series of ferocious attacks along the “supply corridor” transport hubs of Sint Oedenrode, Veghel, and Uden. The town of Veghel stood equidistant between Sint Oedenrode and Uden. Veghel was crucial due to its position on the road networks, railway system, and its close proximity to the Zuid–Willems–Vaart Canal. Due to the constant German attacks the 40-mile stretch of road between Eindhoven and Arnhem became almost impossible to keep open. The fighting became so fierce along the route that the 101st Airborne Division named the road “Hell’s Highway.”

Fortunately, the 101st now had a limited number of rocket-firing RAF Typhoons at its disposal, but there were still other operational issues as Hank DiCarlo recalls:

The British Army could be quite inflexible, but sometimes they were prepared to take ad lib orders and go off-road to support our infantry. However, we soon discovered that once provoked they proved to be a worthy ally. I wasn’t alone in believing that we owned the highway, because when the Germans managed to interrupt the flow of traffic, we promptly attacked and restored order. I remember the first time we went into Veghel, the Germans were shelling the town and we were running from doorway to doorway. As we reached the town square, I could hardly believe my eyes: amidst all the shelling were British tanks, jeeps, and trucks all parked up as the troops stopped for a tea break. The other amazing thing about the British was how they could subsist and fight, considering the food they were issued. We were allotted the same 24-hour ration packs during our stint in Holland. I mean our K rations were bad enough, but compared to bully beef and rock-hard biscuits, packed in tins dated 1918, the US stuff was haute cuisine. I didn’t smoke but I am reliably informed that smoking the British Woodbine cigarettes [also called coffin nails] was like inhaling wet hay.

At 0930hrs on September 20, Gen Brereton established his HQ in the 506th CP at Den Elzent, and before heading to Brussels for a conference, he met with Gen Taylor and Col Sink. After the meeting, Regimental Liason Officer Capt Dick Meason was asked to form a patrol (supported by a squad from I Co) and go to Best to discuss the possible surrender of the German garrison. Under a flag of truce, with Dental Officer Capt Sammy “Shifty” Feiler acting as translator, the patrol visited the German commander at the Bata shoe factory south of the Wilhelmina Canal, but the commander vowed never to capitulate.

The previous afternoon, Daniel II had received intelligence reports from a KP group east of Veghel, that a sizable enemy force was planning an attack 22 miles north of Eindhoven, at Uden. There were unanswered questions regarding the enemy disposition on the western flank of the regiment.

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