Go back to full list



6288469 Private Jack Kirby


Please help us find a picture of Private Jack Kirby

Number: 6288469
Company: SP
Platoon:
Section: HQ
Returned Across River
T & E Book: 14/30
Para Course: K58

Life Story:
Jack joined the British Army in 1939.
In 1943, he enlisted in the Airborne troops and after his parachute course No. 58 at Ramat David in Palestine from 04 until 16 August 1943, he was assigned to the Headquarters Company of 11th Parachute Battalion.

On September 18, 1944, Jack and the others of the 11th Battalion left for the Netherlands. The plane he was on was hit by German anti-aircraft fire, and Jack and his comrades parachuted out of the aircraft. They landed in the meadows between the towns of Rhenen and Wageningen, but managed to reach the British lines at Wolfheze with the help of the Dutch resistance. There Jack participated in the fighting at the Johannahoeve and in Wolfheze.

After participating in fierce fighting in Oosterbeek for nine days, Jack was one of the lucky ones who could return across the Rhine to Allied territory.






Thanks to R.P. “Bob” Hilton; Diana Andrews; Allan Brown; Andrew Blacklock; Jon Baker; John Howes; Graham Francis; Bob Gerritsen; Darren Wielink; Maarten Lenssen; Judith Minkman; Philip Reinders; Hans den Brok; many 11th Battalion veterans; family, next of kin and friends; staff of the Airborne Museum Hartenstein Oosterbeek; Airborne Assault Museum Duxford; and Gerrit Pijpers OBE without whom this website would not have been possible.