1428100 Private Joseph Edward ‘Joe’ Berry was born on 8 April 1921 in Battersea, London to parents Leonard and Augusta. His father, Leonard, worked as a Locomotive Fireman

Joe was baptised on 24 April 1921 at St George's, Battersea.

Prior to enlisting, Joe followed his father onto the railways and worked as a Fireman (Railway Southern); he enlisted on 15 April 1938 and joined the 1^st Airborne Division.

He successfully completed parachute course No. 69 at Ramat David in Palestine from 28 September until 05 October 1943.

After qualifying on his parachute course he was assigned to Mortar Platoon of Support Company, 11th Parachute Battalion. When Joe was posted to the platoon, his mortar instructor was Corporal Robert ‘Tommo’ Thompson, who was promoted when they left for Arnhem.

In September 1943 Joe took part on his first operational jump at the Greek island of Kos.

His next operational jump was at Arnhem. He left for Arnhem on Monday September 18, 1944. When his battalion got into Arnhem it was stopped from advancing any further by the fighting in front of them. They were ordered to go north over the railway in the Lombok area to try to contact the 10th Battalion advancing into Arnhem over the north side of the railway. When the front of the column went to cross the railway bridge they came under fire from the enemy on the other side. Joe and others of the battalion cut holes in a fence and got onto the Railway Embankment.

Sergeant Bowers and two others had crossed the railway and had captured two Germans in a slit trench in a matter of seconds. The enemy opened fire on Sergeant Bowers and whoever was with him and Joe saw them go down. The two Germans went to walk away so they were shot.

Joe, Sergeant Thompson and two others went over the railway to rescue Sergeant Bowers and his men if possible. Joe and Sergeant Thompson occupied the enemy slit trench, but Sergeant Thompson wanted to find out about Sergeant Bowers. They moved along the corner of the embankments and could hear someone talking coherently. Sergeant Thompson insisted that it was Sergeant Bowers, but Joe was sure they were Germans.

Sergeant Thompson must have got up to look over the top of the embankment and he came rolling head over heels down to the bottom of the embankment without making a sound or trying to stop. Joe went down to him and patted his face and he could not hear or see him breathing. There was nothing Joe could do and he was on the wrong side. Joe waited for a lull in the firing and made a break for it and just about made it.

Joe and about 150 others from the 11th Parachute Battalion withdrew from Arnhem to Oosterbeek and became part of the Lonsdale Force near the Old Church in Oosterbeek. There he got wounded and taken prisoner of war.

When he was put in a cattle truck for Germany, he escaped with another prisoner. After seven weeks being taken care of by the Dutch resistance Joe was on the Pegasus II escape, which came to grief with many killed and taken captured. Joe was badly hurt and sent to a German hospital from which he tried several escapes. About his attempts to escape, Joe said:

Two days after capture jumped train with Victor Moore, contacted Dutch underground. Recaptured 20^th November. Moore believed escaped. Underground tried to get us over Rhine, But run into German Outpost, was unfit at time. Attempted escape two days later in another train. 4 got away but guard was suspicious. Attempt failed for remaining number.

In his Liberated Prisoner Questionnaire, in response to being asked whether he had been interrogated by the enemy, Joe replied:

Yes, on recapture, Wehrmacht at Ede, Gestapo at Apeldoorn, Luftwaffe at Enshede, Threats of shooting, questioning and flattery"

Joe was held in a total of 3 different Prisoner of War camps:

From 22 November 1944 until 1 December 1944 he was held at Krieg Lazarett at Aoekdoorn
From 3 December 1944 to 22 December 1944 he was held at 12A Kimburg
From 24 December 1944 until his liberation by the Russian in May 1945 he was held at 4B Muhlberg

After the war, Joe married Susan Anne Slattery and they were happily married until Joe died on 22 May 2007 at the age of 86.

He also kept in touch with Bob Thompson's family, something the family greatly appreciated.

A letter Joe wrote to the family can be seen on Bob Thompson's story, courtesy of Bob's son, Jeff Thompson. There is also a fabulous hand drawn map Joe sent to Bob's family