1944 – 2019 KEY EVENTS OF WWII

Next year there will be commemorations and celebrations about the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. However 2019 has also seen its fair share of anniversaries for that conflict despite the media and general public letting them pass largely reported.

DD ay and the invasion of Normandy received its usual fanfare, but little attention was paid to other key battles such as Monte Cassino and Kohima.

The Battle of Monte Cassino, was helped to lead to the successful defeat of Nazi Germany in Italy and Southern Europe. The Italians had been early allies to the Germans with Mussolini and Hitler mutual admirers but the relationship had turned sour as the war had progressed and the Italians had not matched the German capacity for war. The Allies capture of Sicily from the Axis powers in 1943 led to Mussolini’s fall but before the new Italian government could strike up full peace talks the Germans moved into the country.

Not to be deterred with the change in fortunes the Allies landed on the mainland and began the slow process of trying to capture the country, a nation whose political will was often portrayed as weak but the physical terrain was anything certainly not. The Germans were determined to make the Allies pay for any ground that they took, destroying bridges and roads whenever appropriate. In particular, they were keen to maintain the Gustav line – part of a series of defences that ran across Italy from East to West to stop the Allies movement up the country. A key point on the Gustav line was the Liri Valley near the town of Cassino, the valley was the main access point through the mountains and overlooking it was the Abbey of Monte Cassino founded in AD 529. While the Germans had left the monastery physically alone they had set up protected points in the mountains surrounding it and it was believed by the Allies that they were using the monastery as an observation point to attack the approaching Allied troops.

The German positions were severely affecting any chance of an Allied advance, and they couldn’t be avoided as they were on the only route through the mountains. The Allies first major assault was on the 17 January 19144 but it failed to make the ground needed so that on the 15 February 1944 the American air force dropped 1,400 tonnes of bombs across the mountain range and specifically onto the monastery area. The buildings were ruined, and while the monks were forced to leave they were replaced by German paratroopers who now had an excellent position in which to embed themselves.

Frank Ashley

The Allies continued to launch assaults on Monte Cassino and further bombing raids but little success was made. Troops from across the Allied countries and Empires took part including troops from India. The ground made getting soldiers, supplies and equipment around extremely difficult. Motorised vehicles had problems due to the lack of or poor quality of the roads and often donkeys and men that were used to move things around and deliver essentials. The weather was also against them with heavy spring rains and the whole time the Germans had the vantage point and could see everything that was being done.

Eventually in mid-May it was decided to launch a huge Allied offensive including Polish Forces of the Polish II Corps, otherwise known as Anders Army, after their leader Lieutenant General Wladyslaw Anders. The Allies used everything they had to fight up the mountain and were determined to make a way through. After very heavy brutal fighting on the 18 May the Polish forces raised the Polish flag and then the British Union Jack on what was left of the Monastery buildings –Monte Cassino had fallen.

A mong many of the Allied Forces were Jewish soldiers and that was particularly the case amongst the Polish troops. In the Polish military cemetery on the valley sides not far from the rebuilt monastery a whole section is dedicated to Polish Jewish soldiers that fell in battle. Those men has joined the Polish Forces and people as they had fled into Soviet Territory as the Germans had advanced in 1939 and then again in 1941. As Polish citizens they were able to join the Polish Forces and they fought alongside their fellow Poles.

The overall death toll of the battles was high with the Allies experiencing approximately 55,000 casualties to the German 20,000. However, the capture of Monte Cassino was essential for the march towards Rome and on the 25th May the next German defence line the Senger line also fell following the success of the Battle of Monte Cassino.

Arnhem

1944 is also the formal creation of the Jewish Brigade that would also be sent to Italy to continue the battle against the Nazis and rid their presence from Italy all together. The work of the Brigade would also lead to the rescue of many Jewish Holocaust survivors and their journey on to Palestine.

Over in India the British and Indian Forces fought at Kohima –repelling an attempted Japanese attack on British territory. The battle that took place on a small are of ground was one of the hardest fought battles of 1944.

Following the famous events of D Day the Allies continued to try and push the Germans back from Western Europe leading to General Montgomery’s plan to attack the Nazi forces in the Netherlands.

The Battle of Arnhem in 1944 or Operation Market Garden as it was known was one of the major battles of the Second World War for the Western Allies following on from the other difficult invasions onto mainland Europe Arnhem was going to be key to liberating Northern Western Europe before the winter. Tragically the big aims of the Operation were not achieved and Arnhem is often simply reported for its failings, and an example of the dangers of a General’s over ambition. The narrative is one of a military leadership trying to do too much with not enough planning, on difficult ground with an enemy determined to not face another major defeat, the soldiers and airmen are represented as simple players doomed from the start. Arnhem ends as the story of the Allied war machine being stalled in its progress after the huge success of the 6 June 1944.

I n fact like all parts of a conflict it is far more complex than that and like all events studied with the value of hindsight it is the big picture that tells the overall story but the little ones that reveal the depth, the ingenuity and the bravery of those that were there.

Th e aim of the attack by the Allies was to push through the Netherlands just as their forces had pushed through France and parts of Belgium during the summer months. Now they wanted to clear the Netherlands before winter weather slowed up any progress towards Berlin, giving the Germans time to regroup, resupply and continue with the V2 programme.

O ne of the key successes of Operation Overlord in the previous June had been the use of airborne troops and now it was planned to use that expertise again. The British and American forces in particular had continued to recruit and train volunteers throughout 1943 and 1944 for airborne operations and there were plenty ready and wanting to be part of an attack on Europe. Airborne troops included those parachuted into the invasion area but also those landed by gliders and the glider pilots themselves.

O ne of those pilots was a young many called Frank Ashleigh. Born in December 1924 in East London Frank had left school and trained as a welder after school – but he had always wanted to fly, an occupation that seemed remote for someone of his upbringing. Despite being in a protected trade Frank enlisted into the army as soon as he turned 18, he’s been in the cadet force so he knew he wanted to go and serve. His firm weren’t very happy and wanted him to stay but “there were ways of making myself less useful” he said and so in February 1943 he started his military career as a Private soldier.

A fter his basic training in Nottinghamshire he was assigned to the REME as a craftsman, where it was believed his civilian skills would have a use, instead he found himself marshalling lorries into and out of a garage in Southend-on-sea. Following a posting as a regimental policeman Frank saw a notice on the camp board asking for volunteers to learn to fly gliders, with the caveat ‘caution – could be hazardous’. Frank had no hesitation in volunteering. “I applied with two friends – they were both rejected. I was accepted and checked by the RAF for flying aptitude” although it was not for the RAF that he would be learning to fly but for the army. He spent six weeks at Fargo camp in Salisbury with some of the toughest training organised during wartime, all in preparation for creating the total soldier, after six weeks approximately 60% had failed “only the best were good enough” says Frank proudly. The discipline as well as the physical demands were enormous but “once you got used to it you just carried on”, in addition to that there were lots of lessons about flying to take on board, it was his determination as well as everything else that propelled him forward – he wanted to be the best he could be.

A fter passing that stage the Frank spent the next few months being taught how to fly a Tiger Moth Bi-plane before being introduced to the Hotspur Glider. This meant learning to fly an aircraft with an engine but one that did not have the power that the mono winged aircraft with more modern engines had. This stage of the training required being able to fly blind, so that a pilot could do everything without the help of lots of equipment. After that he was introduced to the Horsa

Glider and learnt how to fly an aircraft without its own power – one that is incapable of gaining its own flight.

He was declared operational in July 1944 and awarded the Army Flying Badge, he was also promoted to the rank of sergeant, as all pilots needed that rank – he was still under 20 years of age. He had missed D Day but he and the rest of the pilots knew that there would be more to come. For the rest of the summer he would be training with his team making sure that they were all ready for departure at any moment.

O n numerous occasions they were told they were about to depart on a mission but none actually happened. Eventually on the 17 September the day that the Operation started Frank was told that he would be departing the next day. He and one other pilot would be flying their Horsa glider to the Netherlands that would be carrying one jeep, two trailers and four men. The plan was that 140 aircraft and 320 gliders, around 35,000 parachute and glider troops would lead an attack into the Netherlands around the three towns of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, capturing all the bridges in the area to allow the Allies to push into Germany via the industrialised area of the Ruhr – thus reducing the German capabilities there as well forcing the military back. Capturing the bridges was essential for any future movement, especially supplies. The ground was very wet and boggy with many canals and waterways.

“ It was what we had volunteered and trained for” said Frank Ashleigh nearly 75 years later “we didn’t want to sit around waiting for the end of the war we wanted to be a part of it”. “We were told that we would be capturing at bridge and that we were to get ready to depart”. The Glider he was to fly would contain troops and a jeep and trailers.

Frank and his co-pilot were scheduled to be the second Glider team to take off but just as tug (leading engine aircraft) got underway one of its engines failed. Fortunately none of them were airborne and Frank ‘s aircraft released the connection and waited to be moved back round ready to be attached to another aircraft. Now they had gone from being near the front to second from the back. The ‘live load’ or troops that they carrying were already terrified and this did nothing to help. Frank and his copilot were unfazed they had a long night to face.

Th e crossing was extremely dangerous – it was in daylight and the glider itself had no defences. Each pilot would fly for around fifteen minutes before swapping with their co-pilot. It took incredible amounts of concentration and energy to keep the Glider balanced and stead. Eventually the pilot of the tug aircraft used morse code to tell them that there were in gliding range (radio communications were silent so as not to alert the enemy) and it was then up to the Glider pilots to decide when to detach themselves. Half a mile from the field they detached from the tug used their expertise and training to land exactly where they were supposed to. After arriving at a stop Frank and the other pilot jumped out of the aircraft and ran to the back, they undid the only four bolts that held on the tail and then set up the ramps, within a couple of minutes the load drove off with all equipment and Frank never saw them again. Later he discovered that they had flown over one of only two radar sets that were being taken into the battle.

Th at was all the flying now for Frank – they had completed that part of the mission now he became the ground soldier he had also trained to be. After joining up with his unit at Oosterbeek near Arnhem, Frank and a couple of other pilots and a Captain agreed to go on a recce to find out how far away the Germans were. Only half a mile down the road they realised the Germans were very close. In fact it quickly became apparent that the small recce team were surrounded. The British soldiers ran into a Catholic church and hid in the tower. Over the next three days they would take it in turns to fire out of the belfry at the Germans who could not work out where the fire was coming from. Eventually realising that the only place the shots could be from was the Church the Germans stormed through capturing the four men. Frank and the other men had not had food or drink for the whole time they were in the church, so despite now being captives the first thing the German soldiers did was bring the men food.

A fter the food the men were taken for interrogation. Despite incitements and threats the captured men refused to give any information about their units they stuck to their name rank and number. However, for Frank things could have become a bit more complicated at any moment - it only took one look at Frank’s dog tags to see that he was Jewish. However Frank was lucky –his German captors made no comment on it “No none at all” said Frank “they treated me the same as everyone else – a British soldier”.

I n fact their biggest issue was where to send him and his fellow soldiers. It was clear that they were pilots but in the German forces all pilots were officers, whereas Frank and many others like him were NCO’s, so they had a dilemma of which Stalag (Prisoner of War camp) to send them. Frank was sent to Upper Silesia to Stalag Luft vii and took part in the usual camp activities including plotting escape plans. The main problem was the lack of food – resources in Germany were becoming scarce and supplies were of food were running short, especially as it had turned into a particularly harsh winter.

I n January 1945 Frank and the rest of the POW’s in his campo were put onto a forced march into central Germany, the last thing the Nazis wanted was the liberation of pilots and aircrew. The walk was hard, according to Frank it was even harder for some of the Germans “they were old men” during the day we would carry their unloaded weapons because they found it difficult”, we tried to never leave any of the POW’s behind, although some died as they were already very weak before the march”. The men finished up at a POW camp outside Berlin. There they were liberated in April by the Red Army. “I was sent home the very next day, I weighed six and a half stone in weight, but other than that I was healthy, so after a full medical examination I was sent home on double rations”.

T hroughout his period of captivity Frank received no different treatment for being Jewish by anyone – and he made it clear to people, in fact according to Frank he didn’t you receive any antiSemitism in his British army career either. He describes his army experiences some of the best days of his life.

T he Battle of Arnhem lasted a week and two days - it involved men from across the UK and Commonwealth, who fought alongside American and Polish units. The Germans were determined to stop the Allied attack and used huge numbers of soldiers on the grounds and Panzer divisions to hold up the attack. Some of the bridges were destroyed by the Germans before the Allies could reach them while bad weather, lack of supplies and high casualties held up many of the Allied efforts. For the Allies, the attack failed to take what was needed and the Rhine remained a dividing line between the two sides until 1945.

A pproximately 10,600 Commonwealth servicemen took part, more than 1,500 were killed, 2,400 went uncaptured while the remainder were wounded or taken as POW’s. While the Dutch people on one side of the Rhine celebrated their liberation, others hunkered down for another brutal winter under German control. Frank returns to the Netherlands regularly and has good friends there.

F rank’s story is one of many thousands of Arnhem, perhaps a lucky one, his glider co-pilot was killed in the later fighting. He is a reminder that whether the overall battle was a success or a failure is only ever the big picture at the heart of it are the brave men and women that serve and helped to secure the freedoms that we have today.