News-Info-Alerts

Re: A Bridge Too Far

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: October 04, 2002

"TRIBUTES TO HERO PILOT OF THE BRIDGE TOO FAR

The battle of Arnhem was one of the darkest episodes of the Second World War.

But the failure by the Allies to capture a vital bridge in Holland produced many stories of heroism, including that of glider pilot Hugh Carling, of Devon.

His story is now being remembered following his death at the age of 88, a day after the 58th anniversary of the battle. And his comrades have laid a wreath in his memory at the monument to the battle which took place in September 1944.
The Allied forces suffered dreadful casualties when the biggest paratroop attack in history to capture a vital bridge went disastrously wrong.

It had been an attempt to speed up the defeat of the Germans. But the parachute drop behind enemy lines ran into unexpectedly fierce resistance.

Sgt Carling was forced to land his glider in a field, but managed to evade capture by the Germans and crossed the River Rhine to rejoin the Allied forces.
Mr Carling, of Exmouth, retold his exploits in his autobiography, Not Many of Us Left. The battle has also been depicted on the big screen in films including A Bridge Too Far.

Known as Operation Market Garden, the attack involved British paratroopers from the 1st Airborne Division. It was designed to take the German-held Neder Rijn bridge.

But the storming of the steel bridge in a bid to make a vital breakthrough ran into trouble when the Allies met opposition from crack German troops.

Thousands of men were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

Mr Carling piloted a glider which dropped a team of paratroopers over the target. He was then forced to land the aircraft in a field behind enemy lines.
But he made a miraculous escape through German defences and across the Rhine to join the waiting British and American divisions between the bridge and the border with Belgium.

He was among the force of 2,000 who managed to retreat and escape back to Britain after the nine-day battle, leaving behind 7,000 dead, wounded or captured.

In his autobiography, Mr Carling described how the operation went wrong, with thousands of troops landing as far as eight miles from their target.
His close friend Bill Trimble, chairman of the Exeter branch of the Parachute Regimental Association, said Mr Carling was one of three Arnhem veterans who were members.

Mr Carling, a widower, of Maer Lane, Exmouth, died on September 18, the day after the 58th anniversary of the battle.

Mr Trimble said: "Hugh was a glider pilot and after landing behind the German lines managed to find his way back to our lines.

"Escaping capture was a miracle in itself because this part of Holland was heavily occupied by the Germans. Hugh showed tremendous courage."

Mr Trimble said a wreath had been laid on the bridge at Arnhem in his memory.
He said Mr Carling's many friends, including members of ex-servicemen's associations, attended a cremation service at Exeter last week.

Mr Trimble added: "He was always cheerful and smiling and will be greatly missed. We are proud to have known him."

Before joining the Arnhem force, Mr Carling was in the Royal Army Service Corps and tried to join the RAF.

He continued his love of flying after the war by flying gliders from Dunkeswell airfield near Honiton.

Three years ago Mr Carling returned to Arnhem with fellow survivors at a re-enactment of the parachute jump.

A year later Mr Carling met members of his long-lost son's family. He was reunited with his son Hughie who he had not seen for more than 60 years.
He also met grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchild for the first time.

Hughie, from Nottingham, explained how his father last saw him in 1938 and then lost touch after the Second World War.

But following the reunion they had been bombarded with good luck messages .
He said: "Meeting my father was the best thing that ever happened to me."
The reunion came about after Hughie wrote to every Hugh Carling who was born in North Shields around the right time.

Mr Trimble recalled it had been an emotional experience for Mr Carling.
"It had been his ambition to find his son again and felt very proud that the reunion had taken place after so many years," he said.

After the war, Mr Carling married Marie who had worked for the British intelligence service.

After the war, Mr Carling became a sales manager for a motor dealer and later worked for a domestic appliance company.

Marie later died in a nursing home in Exmouth."