1st Borders at Arnhem (Oosterbeek area)
The soldier in this photo (click to enlarge) bears an uncanny resemblance to Private Hugh McGuinness. The original is at the Imperial War Museum, and the caption reads A 3-inch mortar detachment of the 1st Battalion The Border Regiment in action at Oosterbeek
posted by Peter G at 3:54 pm
3 Comments:
This photograph is probably one of the defining and most often used photographs about Arnhem. In 2004 / 2005 (about the time of the 60th Anniversary) they had a special Arnhem exibition in the Border Regiment & KORBR Museum at Carlisle, and this was one of the photos on display.
I have written down the names of these soldiers in my notepad, which I will look out later on and post to the website. I don't think Hugh McGuinness is in this particular photograph. There are also a couple of newspaper cuttings I kept from about the 50th Anniversary time (1994 / 1995). One of the fellows in the photograph explains a little about that time.
The 'official' Border Regiment & KORBR book about 1st Border at Arnhem ("When Dragons Flew" by Stuart Eastwood, Curator of the Border Regiment Museum) is currently being reprinted with additional photographs and appendices (so Stuart I have been told). The book was supposed to have come out in the spring of 2007 but has been held up in printing.
The extract by Hugh McGuinness in the earlier posting will be in the book. I had previously sent the wedding photograph used in the previous posting to the Museum (with the family's permission) but I don't know if it was put into the 2007 edition.
One of the other photos I was given is a reunion photograph of many of the Airborne soldiers at a function in Edinburgh. Unfortunately I don't know the names of those in the photograph but as it has been sent to the Museum they may have worked some of them out later on.
Looking at the information I have written down at the Border Regiment / KORBR Museum, the 3 soldiers in this particular photograph are (left to right):
Private J. McDowell, Corporal Tierney, Corporal N. Knight. The weapon being used is a 3" mortar. I think they were part of 'S Company' (Hopefully I have recorded it correctly).
In the Regimental Museum Archives they have a lot of accounts by their soldiers who took part in Operation Market Garden as well as the War Diary, photographs and other donated material. I don't personally have a lot of really detailed information on the three in this IWM photograph, although I have sent the Museum photographs of others who served with 1st Border or other regiments. It often depends what you come across.
I know this photo as the Cpl Ginger Tierney one.
Observers have noted the angle of the mortar tube - almost vertical. This shows how close the lines were at the time.
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