An Arnhem Connection

Most 14-year-olds in the early noughties probably spent their summer holidays either playing football on the local park or getting to grips with the latest games on their PlayStation 2.

However, that wasn’t the case for Scott Smith, CWGC’s Social Media Coordinator, as a visit to the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery in the summer of 2001 would ignite a passion that would eventually lead to a job at the Commission.

Looking back, and being a Staffordshire lad, I had probably read some items about Operation Market Garden and the actions around Arnhem and Oosterbeek, and of course I’d watched ‘A Bridge Too Far’. But it was after I spent a week with my grandparents on a Battlefield Tour, which included a trip to the key sites around the battlefield, that it then became something I’d develop a growing interest for over the next 20 years.

Following the trip, I read various books and websites to better understand what had happened in September 1944. I later made a request to undertake my dissertation on ‘Could Operation Market Garden be classed a success?’, however this was sadly denied during my final GCSE year.

A few short years later, my interest peaked again when I was introduced to an Arnhem veteran who lived in the same village as me. George Parry had landed at Wolfhaze on-board a glider on 17 September 1944 as part of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment before being captured not far from St Elisabeth Hospital while trying to reinforce those airborne forces that had reached the northern end of Arnhem bridge. In the following years we struck up a strong friendship, with George regaling me with many stories of his time fighting at Arnhem and in Sicily.

Many of you reading this may have seen George without knowing it. He was in the background with his arms up in the now famous image of Jack Reynolds flicking the V-sign following their capture. I vividly remember him telling me that he was worried that this action was going to lead to their demise. Fortunately, he survived in a prisoner of war camp for the remainder of the Second World War.

Sadly, George departed us in December 2011 and I often wish that I’d made more permanent notes of the numerous long conversations that we had over the course of the previous four years. But they do live on in my memory, along with his signature alongside the famous image.

Now you may think that following my first visit to Arnhem in 2001 I must have made many trips over the years. But it wasn’t until September 2019 that I got the chance to return as part of the CWGC team who attended the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem commemorations.

Memories of my previous visit came flooding back and I of course had to recreate a then and now image some 18 years apart. One of the many highlights of those four days was to see the way in which the Dutch people commemorate those who fought during the Battle of Arnhem and still mark what was ultimately a valiant but futile action as allied forces were forced to withdraw back across the River Rhine after nine days of fighting.

There was also to be one final Arnhem connection to be made. After mentioning to my girlfriends’ grandfather where I was going with work, he spoke of a cousin that had died during the Second World War. A quick search on our database showed exactly where Private Norman Higgins was buried – Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery! So, time was made to pay a poignant visit in order to offer a moment of remembrance for what he had given 75 years previously.

It just goes to show that when visiting one of our sites, you never know where the journey may take you.

See how we're commemorating pivotal WW2 anniversaries with the Legacy of Liberation.