Reference:
"Arnhem Their Final Battle, The 11th Parachute Battalion 1943-1944”
by Lt Col Gerrit Pijpers OBE RNLAF & David Truesdale, 2012
Monday September 18th 1944 Arnhem
When the battalion landed outside Arnhem on 18 September 1944 they were detached from the 4th Parachute
Brigade
and sent to reinforce the 1st and 3rd Parachute Battalions and the 2nd Battalion The South Staffordshire
Regiment, trying to fight through to the 2nd Parachute Battalion which had captured the northern end of the
Arnhem road bridge.
The two Parachute Battalions and the 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment were
located
in the west of Arnhem, about 1,000 meters short of the bridge.
Tuesday September 19th 1944
On Tuesday September 19, 1944, the attempt to relieve the men at the bridge stalled under very heavy German
fire. Orders were being issued to the 11th Battalion for the assault, but the divisional commander
Major-General
Roy Urquhart personally intervened, forbidding the battalion to take part in what he now considered a futile
attack.
The 2nd Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment had been decimated with only their 'C' Company
surviving as a unit.
The 1st and 3rd Parachute Battalions were in an even worse state.
The 11th Parachute Battalion was gradually worn down, withdrawing towards the Lombok area, west of Arnhem,
and
casualties mounted.
A move to gain the high ground to the north was discovered and the battalion was caught
in
the open and decimated, with only around 150 men left. One of the casualties was the commanding officer
Lieutenant Colonel George Lea.
The battalion was withdrawn to Oosterbeek where the 1st Airborne Division
was
forming a defensive perimeter, digging in on the south eastern side with their right flank on the river.
The second in command of the 11th Battalion, Major Richard “Dickie’ Lonsdale now took command of the
remnants of
the 1st, 3rd and 11th Parachute Battalions and the 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment, forming them
into
an ad hoc force which became known as Lonsdale Force.
The defenders were involved in a number of desperate actions, and hand-to-hand fighting keeping the Germans
out
of the divisions perimeter.
Thursday September 21st 1944
By September 21, 1944 pressure from the German attacks had squeezed the perimeter to less than 910 meters across.
Friday September 22nd 1944
On 22 September the bulk of the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade was dropped south of the river Rhine. This drew off some of the Germans from around the divisional perimeter to confront the new threat. The defenders now had to cope with over 100 German artillery guns firing onto their positions.
Sunday September 24th 1944
On September 24, 1944, the decision was made to withdraw what was left of the division south of the Rhine.
Monday September 25th 1944
On the morning of 25 September units of the 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen" attacked the remaining men of the 11th Parachute Battalion in force, attempting to cut the division off from the river. The initial attack was stopped by bayonets and hand grenades.
Overnight September 25th/26th 1944
The remnants of the battalion were evacuated on the night of 25/26 September. The casualties sustained by the 11th Parachute Battalion were never replaced and the battalion was disbanded after the battle of Arnhem. The men of the 11th Parachute Battalion were mainly divided between the 2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalions of the 1st Parachute Brigade.
After The Battle
The casualties sustained by the 11th Parachute Battalion were never replaced and the battalion
was
disbanded after the battle of Arnhem.
The men of the 11th Parachute Battalion were mainly divided between
the
2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalions of the 1st Parachute Brigade.