Chapter Eight: Operation Market-Garden
September 17th 1944
Before anyone knew it they were flying above Holland when the green light came on. One by one they left the planes to be on the ground a few seconds later. Webster cut a piece of his chute before joining the rest.
Jumping in a ditch, "Woo, I made it", Webster joined the others who were already holding a bottle of beer. They all watched as the planes left again for England "Bye, air support". They all held still until the order came for them to 'go through that field there.' Walking through the long grass they finally made it to Eindhoven, where the people were busy putting up orange flags as a welcome.
Walking into Eindhoven they were met with a sight they weren't expecting. The whole town was coloured a bright orange, people were waving flags as they were welcomed with open arms. All of a sudden the streets were filled with people of all ages calling them 'angels from the sky' as they thanked them for saving them from the germans, while in fact they haven't even done anything yet.
The women kissed them, as the men shook their hands and children hugged them. They were given food and drink and asked to sit down. Every man was in awe and barely moved forward as they posed for pictures or stuffed their faces with the local food. Their leaders however recognized the danger of possible snipers and urged them forwards. Stuffing a piece of cheese in his mouth, Webster thanked the old man before weaving his way through the masses.
A bit further he could hear screams of "Scheer ze, Scheer ze, Scheer ze" (1) and he stopped to see what was happening. He gasped as he saw half-naked women being removed of all their hair and swastika's being drawn on their foreheads. He remembered reading about such a thing but he never actually saw it.
A familiar voice cut through his thoughts, "What the fuck did they do?"
"They slept or collaborated with the germans." (2) Answered Webster, "They are the lucky ones, the men are being shot, as far as I heard."
Liebgott snorted, "Serves them right" casting a disgusted glance in their direction and leaving. Webster couldn't blame him one bit, they got what was coming to them.
Evening fell and Winters decided to have them spent the night in and around Eindhoven. He had the neighbourhood checked and when it was deemed safe everyone looked for a place to sleep. Most of them picked barns or simply decided to sleep in the open. Webster had been talking with Van Klinken and Liebgott when the lather was called away. Closing his eyes he was almost asleep when Hoobler passed by.
"Hey Webster, Van Klinken, sleeping outside is for suckers man." Webster shared a look with the other man before following Hoobler "This better be good, I was almost asleep."
Coming near a house, a door opened to reveal a tall, skinny man. On the alert they all pointed their weapons at the man. Being the translator Webster stepped forward "Komen zie hier. Mack shnell" (3)
The man immediately raised his hands yelling "Nederlander Nederlander" (4), stepping closer lowering their weapons Webster asked "Sprechen sie English?" (5)
The Dutch man nodded, slowly lowering his hands "A little bit" Stepping forward Van Klinken introduced them "We're American's. Paratroopers" with a smug smile.
The man looked surprised "The germans? They are gone?" Hoobler nodded, "We think so. If you see any, you let us know."
The man nodded eagerly "Are you here to stay?" Van Klinken nodded, "Hmmm, as long as we have to." Webster didn't want to bring the man hopes up too much so he said,
"Yeah, they don't tell us very much."
Hoobler interrupted "Or feed us much" catching his drift the man stormed off "Please wait here"
Van Klinken smiled "See that? I say screw Paris", "Don't talk about screwing alright." Added Hoobler looking miserable. Webster grinned but couldn't agree more. "They all speak English" unlike the French he thought, "They all love us. What a fantastic country!"
They all nodded when the man came back carrying jars of food,
"Hey, take a look" muttered Hoobler pointing at the men as he handed out food "Here take." Taking his jar Webster nodded "Danke. Are these olives?" to say he was surprised was an understatement. He watched as the man pushed more jars in Van Klinken and Hoobler's hands "Here. Try." They all thanked him "Thanks"
Hearing a soft sound they saw a small boy coming out of the man's air raid shelter. The man waved at the boy "Ja. Kom hier. Het is goed." (6) Webster smiled, the boy reminding him of his brother when he was young. Hoobler offered the man cigarettes "Zigaretten?" "Ja.."
Walking closer Webster bend down in front of the boy smiling, remembering the chocolate he was carrying he offered it to the boy who eagerly took it. Webster watched closely as the father opened the pack for him and gave it back. His smile grew as he saw the boy was enjoying the chocolate. Seeing the look on his face the man explained, "He never tasted chocolate before." Webster was shocked for a moment before he realised these people where probably living on rations for the last few years and chocolate, just like sugar, was hard to come by. Instead he smiled "It's pretty good isn't it?" and as if the boy knew he was talking about he gave him a big smile.
What Webster didn't realise was that Liebgott saw the whole exchange. Webster stood up and when he turned around he saw Liebgott watching him with a soft smile on his face. He shrugged embarrassed and when the man invited them to sleep in his barn Liebgott joined them.
The next day they were allowed to sit on the tanks as they drove towards Arnem, capturing every bridge in between. Webster was sitting on a tank with Randleman, Hoobler, Martin, Cobb, Heffron, Hashey and Garcia when they drove passed Nuenen.
"Vincent van Gogh was born in Nuenen" said Webster when he realised where they were, Cobb wasn't as enthusiastic though, "Yeah? So What?"
"Sure, teach you useful stuff at Harvard" laughed Hoobler as the others chuckled. Webster smiled but they soon fell silent as they passed a woman with a baby. She was clearly a collaborator, for her hair was shaven, which probably makes the baby half german. Hashey took pity on her and gave her one of his K-rations.
A little further down the road Lieutenant Brewer decided to walk in front of the tank making Hoobler snort, "Get a load of General Patton."
Randleman cursed, "What the hell is he doing?" everyone realised the danger he was in when Hoobler said "Makes quite a target, don't he?" Taking matters in his own hands Randleman yelled "LIEUTENANT!" No sooner then the words left Randleman's mouth, Brewer was shot down. Screams of "SNIPER" filled the air as everyone jumped of their respective tanks. Hashey's call of "SARGE!" as he pointed towards a german tank made everyone hit the deck and open fire as Randleman kept yelling "Medic up front! Medic up front!"
In the mean time the British tank destroyed the german tank. While Webster shot the burning german's coming out of the tank Randleman yelled at them to "Keep Moving. Move out" Having shot the remaining germans Webster followed the others to the nearest farmhouse. Randleman ordered them to "Deploy Right" so Webster joined Hoobler, Cobb and Van Klinken to the right side of the farmhouse.
They hid behind a low stone wall, when they saw it was safe they moved further down and hid behind a wagon filled with straw. Looking around the wheel Webster saw an old men and woman outside of a window yelling "Away Away" as they headed back inside. Frowning Van Klinken asked "What's he saying"
Shrugging Webster replied "He says 'Away away' Which either means the germans have gone or he wants us to leave. I don't know."
When everyone was in position they awaited their next orders. They didn't even have the chance to get any as a german tiger tank blasted one of their own and all hell broke lose. Soon a german MG-42 opened fire on the troops as they were joined by another company of germans giving them everything they got.
Still hiding behind some bushes Webster nodded as Hoobler said "There is a ditch on the other side. Follow me through" before rolling through himself. Waiting for Van Klinken to roll through, Webster waited for the gunshots to die down before he rolled through himself. Once on the other side he was joined by Cobb as he stared at the heavily bleeding Van Klinken.
In the meantime members of easy company were able to take out the sniper and the MG-42 shooting at their men.
Deciding they couldn't stay in that ditch, they left Van Klinken behind and retreated back to the low stone wall they first hid behind. Webster didn't like to leave his friend behind and he protested to Hoobler who said,
"We had to leave."
Again Webster protested, "He's still alive" they didn't notice they were joined by Doc Roe until he asked "Whose hurt?"
Hoobler answered, slightly out of breath as he ducked down, "Van Klinken, on the other side of that ditch."
Roe's only comment was "Right" before he moved of towards Van Klinken. Hoobler followed Roe with a loud "Oh, shit" as they moved of. Webster looked around the corner as a shell exploded right were he knew his three friend were. Realising he probably just lost three friends, he turned white and began to shake. He couldn't have been more relieved when they suddenly showed up from behind the corner dragging Van Klinken with them. Hoobler ducked down as he yelled
"Webster take over"
Nodding Webster took Van Klinken's bloody uniform as he asked Roe "Yeah, Where?"
Roe nodded forwards, "We have to get him to the rear"
Dragging Van Klinken's body to the rear was harder then they thought as they had to dodge bullet's and shells, even bodies of dead comrades. When they finally made it, Webster could hear Winters on the radio yelling at Luz for them to fall back. Seeing Roe struggle with the bandage Webster helped him as he rechecked and rebandaged Van Klinken's bloody chest. (7) Just as they finished a new call for "Medic" came and Roe moved back out again. One by one the men began pouring in, jumping into the nearest truck as they settled down, shaken up. Making sure Van Klinken was in good hands he joined Guarnere, Martin, Cobb, Ramirez, Hashey, Toye, Hoobler and Liebgott in one of the trucks. Looking back at the burning town, Webster absently wiped his bloody hands on his pants. He could hear men, crying, praying, thanking god they made it out. He could vaguely hear Lipton say "Four dead, eleven wounded. Randleman missing" to winters as they pulled out.
Sharing a quick look with Liebgott, he motioned it wasn't him who was hurt. And they both sighed in relief and they saw the other wasn't wounded.
They drove several kilometres before stopping again. No one really talked as they were given the order to dig a foxhole and dig in for the night. When it turned dark, Webster joined Hoobler, Cobb, Garcia and Hashey as they discussed whether there was any news about what's next. Seeing they had fresh bread Webster motioned to Hashey to give him a piece as Hoobler said
"I can tell you this though, Lieutenant Brewer is going to make it." Making sure he heard right Garcia said "What?"
Hoobler looked annoyed as he repeated "Lieutenant Brewer is going to make it." Of course, the cynic that he is, Cobb murmured "There's no way"
Hoobler nodded confirming it once again, "He'd headed back to England, they'll probably sent him home."
Webster was amazed "How is that possible?" the guy was hit in the neck after all.
Everyone thought about it when Garcia said "He did turn his head at the last second. When Sergeant Randleman called out to him."
Most of them nodded, contemplating the possibility.
A few hours later, Guarnere making rounds stopped near the foxhole they were digging.
"Hoob, any news of the Bull yet?" when Hoobler shook his head he added, "If there ain't no body, there ain't nobody fucking dead. Understand?"
Everyone silently agreed with him when Hoobler stood up, "I'm gonna go look for him" and picked up his weapon. Guarnere stopped him.
"Not by yourself your not. I'm going with you. Let me get some ammo" just as Guarnere turned, both Hashey and Garcia stood up. "That's ok, I'll go." "Me too"
Guarnere nodded, clearly impressed with the new guys, "All right. Go get him."
Having followed the conversation, Webster stood up from the pile of dirt he was leaning against and muttered "Alright, what the hell" before following the other three. He was soon joined by Cobb as well.
Trying to stay out of sight as much as possible, they decided to stay in the nearest ditch. When they heard someone coming down the road, Webster, who's lead scout, crawled up the dike trying to see who it is. Hoobler having followed him asked "Webster, us or them?"
Seeing a german tank and troops, he whispered harshly "Not us" before making his way back down. He motioned for everyone to stay low, as they pressed themselves to the ground, a soft "Stupid Stupid Stupid" coming from Cobb as all they could hear. When the danger was over they moved back out, hitting Cobb over the head for his stupidity.
They had been walking for hours, a time in which is turned back light, as they finally reached the outskirts of that dreadful town. Making their way down the dike they saw one of their jeeps coming down the road. Hoobler held up his gun indicating from them to stop. When it did, they were quite surprised to see Randleman sitting up front and they laughed as they joined him.
Hoobler was the first to shake his hand, "Where the fuck you been?"
"Glad to see you boys" chuckled Randleman, Cobb made his way up front, "Not as glad as us. Thought we'd given up on you, huh, Bull?"
Everyone rolled their eyes and couldn't agree more when Garcia said what they were all thinking, "Shut up, Cobb!" he didn't even want to come in the first place. Cobb was shocked "What?"
Knowing they were probably in big trouble Webster said "Um, I think we should head back now." Everyone laughed as they all joined Bull on the jeep. When they came back everyone seemed to be waiting for them. Guarnere made his way up front, followed by Popeye and Penkala. He shook Bull's hand when he finished talking with Martin,
"I don't know whether to slap you, kiss you or salute you." He pointed towards Webster, Hoobler, Cobb, Garcia and Hashey, "I told these scallywags you'se were ok."
Bull turned towards them, eyebrow raised, "And they didn't listen?" Guarnere sighed dramatically "All these salty bastards wanted to do on a suicide run to drag your sorry ass back." They all looked embarrassed as Randleman said "Is that so?" Guarnere nodded, "Yeah, I told them: don't bother" and everyone had to laugh.
Randleman stared at them clearly grateful and muttered, "I never did like this company none" before moving off with Guarnere and Martin.
The rest of easy company soon joined the five men as they congratulated them. Webster took a piece of gum Muck offered him when a voice said "I thought I told you not to do anything stupid."
Turning around he came face to face to what seemed a pissed of Liebgott. Webster swallowed hard stuttering, "You see… I… um" but stopped when Liebgott merely grinned before hugging him. "Welcome back… you idiot." Webster couldn't help but smile as he hit Liebgott on the shoulder for fooling him.
Soon several voices began to yell, breaking up the reunion.
"All right. Mount up. Move up. Let's move out. Let's go."
"Second platoon, grab your gear! Let's go"
"First Platoon!"
"Second squad fall in now. Cobb move it."
"Dukeman round them up!"
Before they knew it, they were back in the trucks and on the move.
Market Garden was a high risk operation that failed. The allied plan to end the war by Christmas 1944 was not to succeed.
Easy company's regiment, the 506th, lost 180 men, while 560 were wounded. Of the entire 101st airborne 750 were killed and 2100 wounded.
At Arnem, the British 1st airborne lost nearly 8000 men.
(1) I took this from the HBO series. It means "Shave her" or "Shave them" depending if they are talking plural or singular. I know because I speak Dutch myself.
(2) This was done in several countries, including Belgium and France.
(3) This means "Come here. Quickly."
(4) Bit hard to translate 'cause I don't think the English word exists for this but he's generally saying 'he's Dutch.'
(5) Webster is asking if 'he speaks English'
(6) He says "Yes. Come on out. Everything is ok."
(7) Van Klinken never made it and died of his wounds.
To be continued in Chapter Nine: Crossroads