Chotie Darling
Dedicated to the memory of my mother
and all those who hold the forever young of war in their hearts.
Part 2 Reconnaissance
Chapter 5 1st Air Landing
On 20th April 1942 Dick was transferred to
1st Air Landing of the Reconnaissance Corps
and posted on the 21st April
Copy of Record
Statement of Service Army No. 5731671 Richard Kelner WILLIAMS
RECONNAISSANCE CORPS
Order 29/42
1st Air Landing Transferred to Reconnaissance Corps Army Rank Pte 20-4-42
Copy of Record
SERVICE AND CASUALTY FORM
Posted to 1st Air Landing Coy w.e.f. 21. 4. 42.
1st Air Landing Reconnaissance was part of 1st Airborne Division commanded by Frederick “Boy” Browning with Brigadier George Frederick Hopkinson (known as “Hoppy”) and Lieutenant Colonel Philip “Pip” Hicks. (See 1st Airlanding Brigade.)
Major-General Browning had a DSO (Distinguished Service Order) from his WW1 command in the Grenadier Guards. He was an impeccably dressed, hardworking, disciplinarian. Married to the famous novelist Daphne du Maurier, he went on to play a prominent and controversial role in the British command of Operation Market Garden.
Hopkinson had founded the General Headquarters Liaison Regiment (known as ‘Phantom’ – see The Missing Winter) soon after Dunkirk, leaving in late 1941 to command the glider-borne brigade of 1st Air Division, 1st Airlanding Brigade Group. The actor David Niven, an officer in Phantom, remembered ‘Hoppy’ as “a short square officer with a fertile imagination and a great gift for extracting the maximum loyalty and hard work from all ranks”. As one of the first volunteers for the fledgling airborne forces in Britain he qualified as a parachutist, injuring his back on his first jump and landing in Poole Harbour on his second, still wearing a plaster cast.
When Hopkinson became head of 1st Airborne in 1943, Hicks was promoted to Brigadier and gained his second DSO from his actions in Sicily. Major-General Hopkinson was killed in Italy in September 1943 while Brigadier Hicks survived the war, having been one of the commanders of the British Airborne Division during the Battle of Arnhem.
Officers listed for 1st Air Landing Reconnaissance Squadron in April 1942:
Major C.J.H. Gough (see 1st Air Landing Reconnaissance.)
Captains: G.L. Falkim, G.C. Roberts (later ADC to Major-General Urquhart during the Battle of Arnhem), J.P. Royle (a close friend of the actor David Niven, he became a major in the Glider Pilot Regiment commanding “Force John” in Operation Overlord. He was killed at Arnhem on 20th September 1944 – see the Pegasus Archive), C.W. Suter (like ‘Freddie’ Gough a former member of the distinctive 5th (Ski) Battalion of the Scots Guards and a Lieutenant with the London Rifle Brigade in the British Expeditionary Force of 1940); Lieutenants: T.J. Firbank (later awarded the Military Cross and becoming Lieutenant Colonel and commander of the Airborne Forces Depot after the war), M.W. Grubb (captain of ‘A’ Troop with the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron under ‘Freddie’ Gough at Arnhem) and P.C.K. Somerville.
2nd Lieutenants: R.J. Clark (represented the Reconnaissance Squadron as a captain in the ‘seaborne tail’ at Market Garden), Kindersley (possibly the Hon. Hugh Kindersley who became Brigadier commander of the 6th Air Landing Brigade and was wounded in the battle of Normandy?), H. Poole (a captain at Squadron Headquarters of the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance during Market Garden) and A.J. Waterman (later captained ‘B’ troop of the 1st Air Landing reconnaissance Squadron).
(From The Pegasus Archive, Paradata, Just Ordinary Men, Operation Market Garden, the War Diary of 1st Air Landing Reconnaissance Squadron, National Archives, Kew and ‘Phantom at War – the British Army’s Secret Intelligence & Communication Regiment of WW2' by Andy & Sue Parlour 2003)
All troops in the 1st Air Landing Reconnaissance Squadron were volunteers: ‘Experience from 1941 to 1945 proved that only about one man in three of all volunteers possessed the necessary physique and morale to become and remain a parachute soldier. All airborne forces, though emphatically not “suicide” troops should at all times be prepared to fight under unusual circumstances, to gain a vital objective, for the initial battle was theirs, and theirs alone. They should expect as a matter of course to be surrounded by the enemy, cut off for some time from all except supply by air and to have to defeat a more heavily-armed opponent before being relieved by ground troops. This was as much a matter of morale as skill and training – complete self-confidence in addition to physical fitness, endurance and personal initiative.’
The basic training for an Airlanding soldier enabled them to attain a high standard of fitness - the intention being that they "Would be able to march 60 miles in 72 hours and still be able to fight".
Glider troops were trained beyond the level of the standard British soldier though not to the peak and expense of paratroopers. They were less swift when deployed in an attacking role, but were entirely solid in defence. Glider battalions were approximately 50% larger than parachute battalions, comprising of 16 rifle platoons in 4 companies, as opposed to 9 enlarged platoons in 3 companies. In addition, each of their Support Companies were much larger than that of a conventional infantry battalion, containing double the amount of men and equipment in their Machine Gun, Mortar, and Anti-Tank Platoons. The need for glider-borne troops had been realised with a view to providing parachutists with both support equipment and additional infantry - the purpose of airborne troops was expanding far beyond that of infrequent commando raids.
(From ‘Airborne Forces’ by Lt-Col T.B.H. Otway, D.S.O. London: Imperial War Museum, 1990, The Pegasus Archive and Combined Operations WW2 website. )
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