Pictures
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Pictures
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Driver William Eggleton
Unit : No.3 Para Platoon & 3rd Para Jeep Section, 250 (Airborne) Light Composite Company, RASC
Bill Eggleton set off for Arnhem on the 17th September 1944, in a Horsa glider, chalk 478, piloted by Staff-Sergeant Cram and Sergeant Whitehead. Also aboard were Lieutenant Janusz Szegda, a Polish liaison officer attached to the 1st Parachute Brigade, Sergeant Luitwieler of No.2 (Dutch) Troop, No.10 Inter-Allied Commando, another RASC man, and two Jeeps. Szegda wrote the following:
Our Horsa, with number 478, landed about 14.00 hours East of Udenhout. Our pilots were Staff Sergeant Cram and Sergeant Whitehead. We landed near Udenhout, because the Pilot had lost sight of the tug in the clouds, and had to cast off.
The six of us moved off in two jeeps to get to Grave to join up with some American Airborne, whose objective was to take the town. On the way we passed many Germans, quite a number of which we shot from the jeep. As we proceeded, the enemy became more numerous and our ammunition would have given out if we had fought a pitched battle. So I decided to turn off in the direction of Best.
While we were going round a corner in the village of Esch at about 35 miles per hour, Sergeant Whitehead shouted to me to stop, but he had a strong Lancashire accent, I could not understand what he intended to convey. We were in the second jeep as Luitweiler being a Dutchman had been in charge of the leading jeep, so that he could ask civilians for any information. What Sergeant Whitehead had actually said was 'My mate has fallen out of the jeep.' i.e. the one we were in, but as I could not understand clearly what he said I ordered the driver to carry on. It is presumed that Staff Sergeant Cram is taken Prisoner of War. The Dutch later confirmed this.
When we first started off, we had taken a volunteer civilian with us in the leading jeep, to guide us to Grave. Knowing that there were many Germans at one of the main cross roads we decided to hide up in a wood and from here on our journey was arranged.
The group were sheltered by the Dutch Resistance for a month until they emerged from their hiding place on the 24th October 1944 to assist in the liberation of the village of Boxtel. The following article was published in the Newbury Weekly News.
Driver hides for month behind German lines: Padworth soldier waits in woods after glider crash lands in Holland, Nov 9, 1944
Driver William Eggleton (First Airborne Division), of Mill Lane, Padworth, is home on leave after weeks spent behind the German lines in Holland.
On its way to the Dutch town of Arnhem, in September, a plane ran into very bad weather and was forced to cast off its two gliders in tow.
The six men, two glider pilots, two drivers (one of them Bill Eggleton) a Polish officer and Dutch soldier, landed safely in a field.
They got their two jeeps out of the gliders and decided to make a dash for the place where the Americans were landing.
The jeeps sped along at about 55mph, the drivers keeping to the left side of the road. Suddenly three motorcycles came towards them, each holding two Germans and hugging their right side of the road!
The cycles scattered and the Polish officer sitting beside Driver Eggleton opened fire with a Sten gun. It was later discovered that four Germans were killed and two wounded.
Travelling on another two or three miles into a village, they saw two lorry loads of Germans parked outside a café.
Again the officer opened fire and again the Germans were killed or wounded, though how many they could not tell.
As they turned the corner, one of the glider pilots fell from the jeep and was taken prisoner, for it was impossible to go back for him.
Passing through another village they saw about 15 German vehicles lined up.
Deciding the place would not be too healthy for them, Driver Eggleton immobilised the vehicles, and the five of them got away into the woods.
They hid in a little copse with thick undergrowth and stayed there about four-and-a-half weeks although there was a German general living in a house 500 yards from them, and German officers used to come within 20 yards of them shooting game.
At no time did they see a German search party although they used to crawl out some mornings for mushrooms which they fried over a petrol stove but the days were very long and it was the endless waiting that seemed worst said Driver Eggleton.
Then one morning a major came through from the British lines and took them to Brussels for interrogation, and then back to England.
At the home of his mother, Mrs. A. Eggleton, in Padworth, Driver Eggleton said he had been asked to say as little as possible about his adventures.
Bill Eggleton passed away aged 42.
My thanks to Robert Olive for this account.