Alvin Brewin, a former sergeant in the Coldstream Guards, had served the entire duration of the First World War. So when his son Tom was captured by the Germans within days of landing in Arnhem, it was inevitable he would come in for a bit of stick.
The papers came soon enough, and when Montgomery launched his audacious plan to bring the war to a swift end, Tom couldn't wait to get started. Tom landed at Wolfheze, around six or seven miles north-west of Arnhem, around 2.30pm on September 17, 1944, and was told to stay put until the following morning, keeping the landing zone clear for other gliders. The following day the instructions changed, and the men were ordered to head for the main bridge at Arnhem. It was then that things started to go awry.
They were redirected to Oosterbeek, three miles west of Arnhem, but again their progress was blocked. “The Germans were brilliant,” he said. “We had invaded on the Sunday, but by the Monday they were in all the right places to stop us. They knew we were after the bridge.” “There were about 300 or 500 of us on the river bank, but the boat could carry only 10 at a time,” he says. “Some of the men decided to swim for it, but the current was so strong, and I watched many of them drown. I decided I wasn’t going to risk going into the river.”
RIP Tom from a Shropshire Lass x