ARNHEM- 65 YEARS LATER  

By CSgt Matt Lee

It is 65 years since Operation Market Garden took place. This year in September 2009, I had the honour to make the historic parachute drop along with another 900 or so airborne troops.  

We arrived at Eindhoven airfield at stupid O'Clock Saturday morning and were told to collect our main and reserve parachutes and then had to divide into our sticks. I was on the first Sortie (flypast) and ninth man in the stick so one of the first men out of the aircraft. 'Knowledge Dispels Fear' is the motto of the Parachute Training School which is easier said than done! The hanging about and waiting is the hardest part when it comes to military parachuting and then finally putting the skills and drills we have learnt into practice.  

Once airborne I looked around at my fellow paratroopers all packed tightly together in our cramped Hercules C130 aircraft - no trolley dollies on this flight! The Ginkel Heath DZ (drop zone) draws nearer, the doors are opened and we can see the Dutch countryside beneath as the sound of the wind hurtles by. Words of command and signals are shouted and passed down the lines of men- action stations! The minutes tick by like hours and my body aches through the sheer weight of my parachute, reserve and equipment container attached to my lower set of D rings on my harness.  

Then come the words of command we have all been waiting for 'Red On' followed by 'Go!' I see the lads in front of me disappear one by one out of the parachute jump doors followed by the metallic twang of the static line on the steel cable as they exit the aircraft. Then it is my turn to go. The door approaches, left turn and face fear head on. I hurl myself into the slipstream and shout out as if my life depended on it the compulsory count of 1000! 2000! 3000! Check canopy! And there it is, my army green silk friend deployed above my head. A quick sigh of relief and onto the next drill of steering away from any other paratroopers and get into my own clear airspace. I lower my container which drops below me on a rope, I assess my drift and before I know it, the ground is rapidly coming up to meet my feet. I feel my container hit the deck first then it is my turn and push out one of the many Para rolls that they taught me at RAF Brize Norton.    

I am down and my adrenaline is pumping around my body. What would I have been like all those years ago with enemy German fire rattling around my head? I really can't imagine how scary that would have been in September 1944.  I reach into my Para smock pocket and pull out the Johnny Frost hunting horn and blow out the call to muster the troops just as the great man Johnny Frost CO of 2 Para did all those years ago.

I feel very proud and honoured to have taken part on this historic enactment of Operation Market Garden in Arnhem 65 years later. The Airborne Bandie has landed!