American Valor Quarterly Issue 12 - Spring 2015 | Page 27

just so happened that the 30th Corps had about 28 boats that would allow two rifle companies to cross the river in the first wave. I was in H Company and the other company to cross with us was I Company. We took positions on our side of the river behind a big dike and waited for the boats to arrive. When they finally did arrive it shocked everybody to see the boats being brought in on British trucks called lorries. They lifted up the back curtain on the truck and peeled off these boats like a deck of cards. The boats were canvas with wooden staves that held them upright and piece of plywood flattened out the bottom. They didn’t have a motor or any means propulsion to guide us through the river’s active current. To complicate things further, while we were waiting during the course of the day, it became clear the Germans had been taking up strong positions on the other side of the river expecting us. It’s for all these reasons the Waal River crossing is noted for its daring and courage. To summon the valor to travel in broad daylight in canvas boats across this river in the face of enemy fire certainly posed severe challenges. Even when you got to the other side, you had to traverse up to 800 yards of open ground while machine guns were opening fire on you. That was the daring part of it. And the courage was to be able to face these challenges and overcome them. Of course, we took heavy casualties - we had 48 men killed and roughly 150 wounded. So the battle was heavy and viewed as a very difficult mission. I was able to travel to Holland for the 70th anniversary of the nation’s liberation during the war and in my return, I was able to cross the Waal River again with men who paddled me across and reenacted the whole season. It was a special experience. We were able to send word to the British, whose tanks had arrived in Nijmegen and were on the south end of the Bridges, that we had control and it was okay for them to cross. They made it across and the bridges weren’t blown, but they held up there and didn’t proceed to Arnhem until the following day, and by that time, we had lost the National Archives DUTCH CIVILIANS WELCOME THE MEN OF THE 82ND AIRBORNE. SPRING 2015 27