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3246135 Private James McCarthy


Source; National Archives. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0

Born: 21 Sep 1922
Died: 22 Jun 2002
Age at death: 79 years, 9 months, and 1 days

About: Private McCarthy

Jim enlisted in the British Army in 1937. After his parachute course No. 78 at Ramat David in Palestine from 12 until 23 November 1943, he was assigned to the Medium Machine Gun Platoon of the Support Company, 11th Parachute Battalion.

On September 18, 1944, Jim landed on the Ginkel Heath, or in military terms, drop zone 'Y'.

Almost at the end of the Battle of Arnhem, Jim was wounded and taken prisoner of war. His injuries were treated at the King William III Barracks in Apeldoorn. After he had recovered sufficiently, Jim was transported by freight train to the prisoner-of-war camp Stalag XIB near Fallingbostel in Germany. There he was assigned his prisoner-of-war number, No. 117418.


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.