Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Six: Sergeant W. F. King, 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshires, 1 Air-Landing Brigade, 1st Airborne Division, taken prisoner at Arnhem - two members of his battalion were awarded the V.C. for operation “Market Garden”

1939-45 Star; Italy Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Army L.S. & G.C., E.II.R., 2nd issue, Regular Army (5499198 Sgt. W. F, King. S. Staffords.) mounted as worn, good very fine (6) £600-£800

A Private in the 2nd Staffordshires at the time of operation “Market Garden”, King was taken prisoner of war at Arnhem and imprisoned in Stalag XIIA at Limburg. Sold with confirmation from Prisoners of War. British Army, H.M.S.O. 1945, and from the regimental history ‘Alphabetical list of members of the 2nd Battalion 17 September 1944.’

A component of Brigadier P. H. W. Hicks’ 1 Air-Landing Brigade, 1st Airborne Division, the men of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshires were dropped in Operation Market Garden’s first wave on the 17 September 1944, their task being to protect the landing zones until the arrival of reinforcements on D + 1 Day, and thence to form a defensive perimeter on the western outskirts of Arnhem itself.

In the enforced absence of Major-General Robert Urquhart, Hicks took over as Acting Divisional Commander on the second day of the operation, and despatched the 2nd Staffordshires to reinforce the 1st and 3rd Parachute Battalions in their attempt to reach Major Frost and 2nd Parachute Battalion at the bridge. By the afternoon the Staffordshires had been held up about a quarter of a mile west of where the railway crosses the Utrecht-Arnhem road - they did in fact get as far as the heavily built up area between St. Elisabeth’s Hospital and the town’s museum but after several hours of relentless street fighting, actually alongside the 11th Parachute Battalion, were compelled to withdraw, but not before “relieving” Major-General Urquhart who had been holed-up for 39 hours in the attic of a Dutch house:

‘It was not long before the South Staffordshires had exhausted all their P.I.A.T. ammunition and had been overrun by tanks which inflicted heavy casualties. The Battalion therefore withdrew up the road for about half a mile to the west, reorganised and immediately attacked the high ground of Den Brink to secure a pivot for an assault by 11th Parachute Battalion on to the line of the road running north from Den Brink. The South Staffordshires attack succeeded but they were heavily mortared before they could dig in and were again attacked by tanks and overrun. The 11th Parachute Battalion were also attacked by tanks with the result that their own attack never started. The two Battalions, which had suffered heavy casualties, then fell back to the area of Oosterbeck Church where they formed a composite force with what was left of the 1st and 3rd Parachute Battalion whose attempts to advance had also failed. This force, some 500 strong, became known as “Lonsdale Force” under the command of Major R. J. H. Lonsdale, second in command of the 11th Parachute Battalion ... So ended a gallant attempt to get reinforcements through to the 2nd Parachute Battalion at the bridge’ (Lieutenant-Colonel T. B. H. Otway’s Airborne Forces refers).

By the morning of 20 September, the Staffordshires were down to 100 men, most of them dispersed, as stated, in the Oosterbeek perimeter, most of them, too, dazed and shocked. And amidst scenes of bitter fighting and carnage, two of Wyatt’s battalion comrades were awarded the Victoria Cross, namely Major Robert Cain, who survived, and Lance-Sergeant John Baskeyfield, who was killed, but between them they accounted for several enemy tanks and self-propelled guns. Colonel Otway continues:

‘From the 22nd September until the morning of the 25th September, for those in the perimeter it was a question of withstanding continuous attacks of mortaring and shelling. The force was dwindling steadily in numbers and strength owing to casualties and it was becoming increasingly short of ammunition. Despite this, little or no ground was lost, and the general layout remained the same. From now on rations and water were very short and the evacuation of the wounded was always a problem, the main dressing station being in enemy hands for most of the time, though it changed on occasions. Movement became very restricted owing to the infiltration of enemy snipers and, latterly, medium machine-guns. The blocking of roads and tracks by fallen trees and branches and by damaged vehicles made the use of the few surviving jeeps almost impossible. The Germans did everything they could to lower morale of the troops, including the use of a tank fitted with a loud-speaker. It is best described in the words of one of our officers: “It used to come up, at night usually, very close, and after a burst of ghastly music give us the works over a loud speaker. It told us about our wives and children, the uselessness of further resistance, the hopelessness of relief from the Second Army and the imminence of attack from at least one armoured division. It was pretty depressing, but the way the boys gave it the bird was most heartening”.’