Operation Pegasus was a military operation carried out on the
Lower Rhine
The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...
near the village of
Renkum
Renkum () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands.
The municipality had a population of in and has a land area of . Renkum is situated along the river Rhine. The municipality Renkum is part of the ''Stadsregio'' (English: City reg ...
, close to
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...
in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. Overnight on 22–23 October 1944, the
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
military forces,
MI9
MI9, the British Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 9, was a highly secret department of the War Office between 1939 and 1945. During World War II it had two principal tasks: (1) assisting in the escape of Allied prisoners of war (P ...
, the British intelligence organization, and the
Dutch Resistance evacuated 138 men, mostly soldiers trapped in German-occupied territory who had been in hiding since the
Battle of Arnhem
The Battle of Arnhem was a battle of the Second World War at the vanguard of the Allied Operation Market Garden. It was fought in and around the Dutch city of Arnhem, the town of Oosterbeek, the villages Wolfheze and Driel and the vicinity fro ...
a month earlier.
The fighting north of the Rhine in September had forced the 1st British Airborne division to withdraw, leaving several thousand men behind. Several hundred of these were able to evade capture and go into hiding with the assistance of the Dutch Resistance. Initially the men hoped to be able to wait for the
British 2nd Army
The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army ...
to resume its advance and thus rescue them, but when it became clear that the Allies would not cross the Rhine that year the men decided to escape back to Allied territory. The first escape operation (Pegasus I) was a success, but a second operation (Pegasus II) was compromised and failed. Despite this, the Resistance continued to help the evaders and many more men were able to escape in small groups over the winter.
Background
Battle of Arnhem
In September 1944, the
Western Allies
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy ...
launched
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...
, an attempt by the
British 2nd Army
The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army ...
to bypass the
Siegfried Line
The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall'', was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than ; from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the west ...
and advance into the
Ruhr
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
, Germany's industrial heartland. The operation required the
First Allied Airborne Army
The First Allied Airborne Army was an Allied formation formed on 2 August 1944 by the order of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force. The formation was part of the Allied Expeditionary For ...
to seize several bridges over rivers and canals in the Netherlands, allowing ground forces to advance and cross the Lower Rhine at Arnhem. The
1st British Airborne Division dropped onto Arnhem on 17 September. They encountered far greater resistance than had been expected and only a small force were able to reach
Arnhem road bridge
John Frost Bridge (''John Frostbrug'' in Dutch language, Dutch) is the road bridge over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem, in the Netherlands.
The bridge is named after Major-General (United Kingdom), Major-General John Dutton Frost (1912–1993), who ...
.
XXX Corps ground advance became delayed and without reinforcement this small force under Lt Colonel
John Frost was overwhelmed. The rest of the division became trapped in a small perimeter in
Oosterbeek
Oosterbeek is a village in the eastern part of Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Renkum in the province of Gelderland, about west of Arnhem.
The oldest part of Oosterbeek is the Benedendorp (Lower Village), on the northern bank o ...
and were withdrawn on the night of 25–26 September in
Operation Berlin.
More than 10,400 British and Polish paratroopers fought in the battle of Arnhem. In
Operation Berlin, between 2,400 and 2,500 men safely withdrew to the south bank, leaving some 7,900 men behind. Of these almost 1,500 were killed and more than 6,000 were captured by the Germans. At the end of the battle, 500 paratroopers were still in hiding in villages north of the
Nederrijn
300px, Course of the Nederrijn
Nederrijn (; "Lower Rhine"; not to be confused with the section called Lower Rhine further upstream) is the name of the Dutch part of the Rhine from the confluence at the town of Angeren of the cut-off Rhine bend ...
(lower
Rhine River
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, sourc ...
).
Organizing the escape
MI9
MI9, the British Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 9, was a highly secret department of the War Office between 1939 and 1945. During World War II it had two principal tasks: (1) assisting in the escape of Allied prisoners of war (P ...
, the British intelligence agency formed to help soldiers and airmen stranded behind enemy lines evade German capture, parachuted agent into the Netherlands in June 1943. Prior to the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, Kragt, his deputy , and their escape organization helped more than 100 allied airmen shot down over the occupied Netherlands to escape to
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, Belgium from where the
Comet Escape Line guided the downed airmen to Spain and hence to safety in England. Thus, by the time of the Battle of Arnhem, MI9 had experienced agents in the Netherlands to help stranded allied military personnel.
[ First published in England in 1969 with the Title ''Saturday at M.I.9.'']
Airey Neave
Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, (;) (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979.
During World War II he was the first British prisoner-of-war
...
of MI9 arrived in
Nijmegen
Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...
in early October 1944 to assist in the rescue of the British soldiers located near Arnhem and hiding from the Germans. Major
Hugh Fraser of the
Special Air Service
The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...
(SAS) joined him as his second-in-command. Nijmegen (captured by the allies in Operation Market Garden) was south of Arnhem with two large river crossings, the
Waal
WAAL (99.1 FM "The Whale") is a commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station in the Binghamton metropolitan area. It is an ...
and the Lower Rhine separating the two cities. Neave and Fraser found a way to communicate by telephone from Nijmegen to the
Dutch Resistance in
Ede where many of the British soldiers were hiding and received nightly reports about casualties and evaders. The telephone link was crucial in planning Operation Pegasus I.
In a decision he later acknowledged as poor, Neave sent Captain
Peter Baker into German-controlled territory to contact the Dutch Resistance, but Baker, who "fancied himself as a secret agent" disobeyed orders and was captured on 16 October, disrupting plans for the evacuation of the stranded soldiers. Baker survived as a
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...
, but the Ebbens family who sheltered him were executed. The Dutch civilians who hid and gave shelter and food to the stranded soldiers ran a greater risk than did the soldiers. Captured soldiers were sent to prisoner of war camps; Dutch civilians who helped the soldiers were often executed. The Germans were aware that a large number of British soldiers were hiding near Arnhem and were actively searching for them.
Inside German controlled territory, Major
Digby Tatham-Warter had escaped a German hospital as early as 21 September and, having lain low for a week, came into contact with the
Dutch Resistance in the town of
Ede.
[Digby Tatham-Warter] In early October he was joined by
Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
Gerald Lathbury
General Sir Gerald William Lathbury, (14 July 1906 – 16 May 1978) was a senior British Army officer who fought during the Second World War, serving with distinction with the British Army's airborne forces, commanding the 1st Parachute Briga ...
and soon a 'Brigade HQ in hiding' was set up.
[Waddy, p181] Tatham-Warter made contact with of the
Belgian SAS who arranged supply drops of weapons, uniforms and supplies for the growing number of British hiding in the area.
[
Piet Kruijff, head of the local Resistance, had been organising the evaders into safe houses in Ede. Soon there were over 80 men in the town and it was becoming so congested that he began housing men in as well. By the time of the evacuation an additional 40 men were there.][ At first it was hoped that the Allied offensive would be quickly resumed thus liberating the men. Tatham-Warter even made plans to carry out operations against the Germans when the 2nd Army began crossing the Rhine.][ However, in October Kirschen informed the Resistance that there were no plans to attack north of the Lower Rhine in the near future. As the presence of so many Allied evaders would place a great strain on the Resistance and expose the civilians hiding them to great risk, it was decided to evacuate the men as soon as possible.][Waddy, p180]
The 'HQ in hiding' near Arnhem was in contact with MI9 and 2nd Army in Nijmegen. Lt Colonel David Dobie
David Theodore Dobie, (21 October 1912 in Tynemouth, United Kingdom – 12 December 1971 in Nairobi, Kenya) was a British Army officer who fought during the Second World War. He had a leading role during the Battle of Arnhem ( Operation Market ...
(commander of 1st Battalion) was rowed across the Rhine by a young Dutchman on the night of 16 October and reached Allied lines.[ Dobie contacted the XXX Corps and the ]101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
, who approved the proposed evacuation.[ Dobie was appointed to lead the evacuation with Neave and Fraser as his intelligence officers. They contacted Tatham-Warter by telephone and drew up a plan they hoped would allow all of the men in hiding to escape.][
Dobie selected a location on the river near Renkum to make the crossing of the Rhine (codenamed Digby).][ The Rhine was 150 to 200 meters wide. A route to the river from the north were decided upon, and it was arranged that the men would be met on the north bank by ]Royal Canadian Engineers
The Canadian Military Engineers (CME; french: links=no, Génie militaire canadien) is the military engineering personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces. The members of the branch that wear army uniform comprise the Corps of Royal Canadian Engi ...
and British Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
of XXX Corps escorted by men of the 506 PIR, 101st Airborne Division.[ To help guide the evaders the crossing point would be marked by tracer fire from a ]Bofors gun
AB Bofors ( , , ) is a former Swedish arms manufacturer which today is part of the British arms concern BAE Systems. The name has been associated with the iron industry and artillery manufacturing for more than 350 years.
History
Located i ...
.[ The American forces sent patrols north of the river and tracer fire over the river for several nights to disguise the actual purpose of the operation when it came. The date was set for the night of 23–24 October.][Waddy, p184]
Pegasus I
On 20 October the Germans ordered residents of villages near Arnhem to leave their homes by the 22nd. Deciding to take advantage of the confusion this would cause, the date for the operation was brought forward to the night of 22–23 October.[
The Pegasus operation required the combined efforts of MI9, the Dutch Resistance, and British and American soldiers. The Dutch Resistance was asked to collect the stranded soldiers from their hiding places and take them to a location near the village of ]Renkum
Renkum () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands.
The municipality had a population of in and has a land area of . Renkum is situated along the river Rhine. The municipality Renkum is part of the ''Stadsregio'' (English: City reg ...
, west of Arnhem on the German-controlled north side of the lower Rhine River. From the south bank of the river, controlled by the allies, the Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
of the British Army crossed the river in rowboats accompanied by American paratroopers who were there to provide combat support, if needed. Neave and Fraser of MI9 set up a command center in a farmhouse near Randwijk to greet the evaders on the southern bank of the Rhine after they had successfully crossed.
The German presence in this area was very heavy after the Arnhem fighting and the men assembled in a location only 500 metres from German machine gun nests.[
By dark 139 men had assembled. They were mainly from the 1st Airborne Division, but there were also a US ]82nd Airborne Division
The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...
trooper, a number of aircrew, some Dutch civilians, and some Russians wishing to join the Allies. The men were organised into platoons and at 9pm began moving south towards the river.[Waddy, p186] Tatham-Warter recorded that the Germans were almost certainly aware of their presence, but perhaps unsure of their numbers and wary of American patrols, they kept some distance. There was one contact with a patrol and a brief exchange of fire, but no one was hurt.[
At midnight the group reached the riverbank and moved to the crossing point indicated by the Bofors tracer fire. Once there they flashed a ]V for Victory
''V for Victory'', or ''V4V'' for short, is a series of turn-based strategy games set during World War II. They were the first releases for Atomic Games who went on to have a long career in the wargame industry.
Like earlier computer adaptions ...
signal with their torches, but there was an anxious wait of twenty minutes for the boats.[ In fact, on the south bank, Dobie, the engineers, and a patrol of E Company, 506 PIR observed the signal and immediately launched their boats, but the British were some 500-800m upriver of the crossing point. Upon reaching the north bank E Company established a small perimeter while men headed east to locate the evaders.][Waddy, p187] The men quickly moved downstream and in the next 90 minutes all of them were evacuated,[ with the exception of a Russian who was caught and arrested by the Germans. The Germans opened fire sporadically and some mortar rounds fell near the crossing, but the fire was inaccurate.][ Once on the other side, the escapees were led to a farmhouse for refreshments, before being driven to Nijmegen where Dobie had arranged a party and champagne.][Waddy, p188] The men were later flown back to the UK, rejoining the men who had escaped in Operation Berlin.
Pegasus II
The success of the first evacuation prompted the Allies to organize Operation Pegasus II to evacuate additional soldiers trapped near Arnhem. Unfortunately the security of this operation was compromised early, when a reporter impersonated an intelligence officer and interviewed several escapees from the first operation. The subsequent news story alerted the Germans who strengthened their patrols along the river.[Middlebrook, p438]
Major Hugh Maguire (of HQ, 1st Airborne Division) was put in charge of the second escape. The operation largely replicated the original, but was due to take place 4 km further east on the evening of 18 November.[ A party of between 130 and 160 men would attempt to cross the river on this occasion, although this number included a much higher proportion of civilians, aircrew, and other non-infantry who were unused to this sort of operation.][Van der Zee, p136] Because of the distance from Ede to the crossing point and the need to skirt a German 'no man's zone', the main party's march to the river was approximately 23 km (compared to the 5 km of Pegasus I) and would take two days to make.[Van der Zee, p137] The main party became fragmented on the second night[Van der Zee, p137] and whilst attempting to make a short cut, one party under Major John Coke of the King's Own Scottish Borderers
The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own ...
stumbled into a German patrol.[ Several men were killed in the resulting firefight – perhaps more than twenty – and the evaders were forced to scatter. No one was able to cross that night, although seven men crossed during the next two days.] The Germans searched the area intensively with patrols and spotter planes, enabling them to capture more of the evaders, and most of the Resistance's Dutch guides were killed or captured.[Van der Zee, p138]
Later escapes
Colonel Graeme Warrack and Captain Alexander Lipmann Kessel had been on the abortive Pegasus II, but were able to escape capture. Like many of the remaining evaders, they continued to hide in German-occupied territory for some months.[ In February 1945, they joined Brigadier John Hackett, who by now had recovered from his injuries sustained at Arnhem. Kessel had saved Hackett's life during the battle and even performed minor operations during their time in hiding. They eventually escaped across the ]Waal
WAAL (99.1 FM "The Whale") is a commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station in the Binghamton metropolitan area. It is an ...
at Groot-Ammers
Groot-Ammers is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Molenlanden, and is located about 13 km southeast of Gouda on the southside of the Lek River.
In 2001, the town of Groot-Ammers had 2822 in ...
, 25 miles west of Arnhem, on a route later used by another 37 men, including Gilbert Kirschen.[Van der Zee, p144]
Notable escapees
Although many men had failed to return after the Battle of Arnhem, many were able to escape in Operation Pegasus or with the aid of the Resistance over the winter. They included senior ranks:
* Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
Gerald Lathbury
General Sir Gerald William Lathbury, (14 July 1906 – 16 May 1978) was a senior British Army officer who fought during the Second World War, serving with distinction with the British Army's airborne forces, commanding the 1st Parachute Briga ...
, CO 1st Parachute Brigade
The 1st Parachute Brigade was an airborne forces brigade formed by the British Army during the Second World War. As its name indicates, the unit was the first parachute infantry brigade formation in the British Army.
Formed from three parachute ...
(Operation Pegasus).
* Brigadier John Hackett, CO 4th Parachute Brigade (February 1945).
* Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Graeme Warrack, Senior medical officer, 1 Airborne Division (February 1945).
* Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
David Dobie
David Theodore Dobie, (21 October 1912 in Tynemouth, United Kingdom – 12 December 1971 in Nairobi, Kenya) was a British Army officer who fought during the Second World War. He had a leading role during the Battle of Arnhem ( Operation Market ...
, CO 1 Battalion, Parachute Regiment (in advance of Operation Pegasus).
* Lieutenant Colonel Martin Herford, 163 RAMC (October 1944).
* Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
Allison Digby Tatham-Warter
Major Allison Digby Tatham-Warter DSO (21 May 1917 – 21 March 1993), also known as Digby Tatham-Warter or just Digby, was a British Army officer who fought in the Second World War and was famed for wearing a bowler hat and carrying an umbrell ...
, OC A Company, 2 Battalion, Parachute Regiment (Operation Pegasus).
* Major Anthony Deane-Drummond
Major-General Anthony John Deane-Drummond, CB, DSO, MC & Bar (23 June 1917 – 4 December 2012) was an officer of the Royal Signals in the British Army, whose career was mostly spent with airborne forces.
During the Second World War, he was ...
, 2IC Divisional Signals (Operation Pegasus).
* Major Tony Hibbert
Anthony James Hibbert (born 20 February 1981) is an English footballer, currently playing for French amateur side ES Louzy.
Originally a midfielder, Hibbert converted to play at right-back. He spent his entire professional career with Everton, ...
, Brigade Major
A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...
1st Parachute Brigade (Operation Pegasus).
* Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Alexander Lipmann Kessel, 16th (Parachute) Field Ambulance (February 1945).
In popular culture
Operation Pegasus was depicted in the fifth episode of the 2001 HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
miniseries '' Band of Brothers''.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
A Bridge Too Far: The Canadian Role in the Evacuation of the British 1st Airborne Division from Arnhem-Oosterbeek, September 1944
*
Further reading
*
{{coord, 51.9767, N, 5.7252, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Western European Campaign (1944–1945)
Pegasus
Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
Pegasus
Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
1944 in the Netherlands
October 1944 events
Pegasus
Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
History of Renkum