Jim Allardyce
survived the war and writes: "I sailed on the
same boat as Bill and Aronis. We were airborne
replacements for the Normandy casualties we were
soon to learn. Because Askren, Allardyce and
Aronis were all "A's", we ended up going to the
same regiment in Nottingham, England. We knew
one another rather vaguely at that time because
we were with 100's of other men, but when we
ended up in the second platoon of B company,
508th Parachute Infantry regiment, our interest
in each other increased.
We discovered
that, as replacements, we became part of a
platoon of approximately 35 men that had two men
return from Normandy - We knew we were in a
fighting outfit!
Bill and I were
thrown together at odd times as the training of
the unit progressed and as more replacements
arrived. About a week or so before we went to
Holland, a new reshuffle of assignments put
Bill, I and Aronis together as a machine gune
team. Bill was the gunner because he was not
only the biggest for carrying the gun, but he
also took a keen interest and pride in his gun.
He could hardly wait to shoot it. In preparation
for the jump we took all the tracer bullets out
of the machine gun belts. It was too revealing
of position. We then packed our gun and ammo in
an equipment bundle, attached it to a parachute,
and slung it under the belly of the plane. It
would drop as the first man left the plane. Our
own loads consisted of an assortment of things.
Two parachutes, a rifle, 3 bandoliers of
ammunition, 2 fragmentation grenades, one
concussion grenade, a trench knife on the boot,
a bayonet, shovel, canteen, first aid kit, a
land mine, compass, escape maps, one days K
ration, 2 chocolate bars, dry socks and
underwear. We carried no raincoats or blankets.
The day before the jump, we were told the
purpose of the mission, shown maps and sand
tables and generally prepared. We knew from the
sand table where we would land and what the area
would look like. We were to land next to a row
of trees and to assemble some distance north of
them."
Operation Market Garden, the
airborne landings in The Netherlands, aimed to capture the bridges over the Waal and
Rhine rivers. This would open up the possibility
of thrusting north over the Rhine and then into
Germany, bypassing the feared
Siegfried line.
William would
land with B Company, 508th PIR in the early
afternoon on 17
September 1944 in the hills around Voxhil, south
east of Nijmegen, on drop zone DZ-T. After the
landing 1st Battalion (A, B and C companies) was
to go into Nijmegen to secure the bridge over
the Waal river. Although it seemed that few
German forces were in the city itself, after the
landings, the reconnaissance battalion of the
9th SS Division had come from Arnhem to Nijmegen
just in time to stop the Americans from reaching
the bridge and capturing it.
Jim Callardyce:
" Sunday morning Sept. 17, 1944, we were up
bright and early and had a huge breakfast. We
loaded about 10 men to a plane and took off. On
the way out of England, people waved at us, and
over the North Sea we could see the picket ships
below waiting for any mishaps. We crossed the
coast of Holland and saw the flooded areas. Soon
we started to get flak and it bounced us around
a bit. Enough so that we were glad to jump when
the signal came. Our company had two planes shot
down but all of the jumpers got out. I hit the
ground right near Bill. The three of us
collected the machine gun and ammo and headed
for the assembly point, without opposition on
the ground.
Our company
together with A Company were to immediately make
a dash for the bridge in Nijmegen. We set off
cross country at a very fast pace, not knowing
what we would encounter. As dusk was falling we
were all passed the word to get down and be
quiet, as just through the trees we could see a
German SS barracks and heard the German soldiers
loading onto trucks to go out and find us. When
they had left, we passed on. As night fell, the
dash for the bridge took on all the thrill and
adventure of a movie. We would move and stop.
there would be shooting ahead, by the head of
the column. Explosions as grenades were tossed.
The cry of "bazookas up front!", and then
banging. often we heard "medics up front!". Once
we heard tanks in the streets next to us, but
they didn't find us. In this pitch darkness, a
jeep drove up in the middle of the column.
Someone said Halt and a German voice answered
from the jeep. Everybody shot at the jeep but it
didn't stop. I don't know to this day if it was
Dutch or German."
A company had
taken the lead in the dash for the bridge, but
run into the Germans at the Keizer Karel Plein.
In the falling darkness, the paratroopers found
themselves in a confused situation where
Americans and Germans were mixed up. Just at the
critical point, when it looked like A Company
would be thrown back off the Keizer Karel Plein,
B Company arrived.
Jim Callardyce
continues: "Around midnight, in pitch darkness,
in a strange city we got stopped by the Germans
at a boulevard and traffic circle in the
business district of Nijmegen [The Keizer
Karel Plein - webmaster]. there was a lot of
milling around and shouting with the Germans
real close. Finally we realized that we would
have to set up a circular defense here at this
point. We were at a huge brick building at the
point of of a triangular city block. Somehow
Bill and I found each other in the darkness and
took the gun out to the point of the triangle to
were the Germans had prepared foxholes, facing
the traffic circle. We set up there while all
was abustle around us. As I mentioned, the
situation was all messed up. We could hear both
German and American voices all about and now and
then there was firing. there was a lot of noise
out in front of the traffic circle and suddenly
a large group of men came charging at us. We
prepared to fire, but let them come closer, as
they were bunching up. At the last second, we
both looked at each other and said "there is no
noise of hobbed nailed boots on the pavement,
when these people run, they must be our men." We
took a chance, didn't fire, fixed our bayonets,
removed our helmets for neutral silhouettes, and
let them pass. It was our own people. When
daylight came, they made a point of thanking us
for not shooting. They had been lying out in the
traffic circle with the Germans, but in the
darkness couldn't tell who was who. They didn't
want to be there when daylight came, so too a
chance and ran to where they knew the rest of us
were."
In the
meantime, the Germans, realizing the intentions
of the Allies, quickly reorganized themselves
and prepared to counter attack. The SS
Reconnaissance Battalion had entered Nijmegen
from Arnhem and was holding up A and B Companies
in Nijmegen. To the East of Nijmegen, near the
German border town of Wyler en Kranenburg, the
commander of the German 406th Division was
organizing his troops. His rather second rate
units were reinforced by about 700 German
paratroopers that were send from the Cologne
area. They were ready for action on the 18th and
attacked the drop zone that the 508th had used
the day before. The DZ was protected by D
Company, but after heavy fighting it could not
withstand the attack of about 3,000 troops and
was overrun. This meant that the Americans were
vulnerable in the rear. General James Gavin,
commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, ordered
A and B Companies out of Nijmegen where they
were held up in static but fierce street
fighting but could not close the distance to the
bridge. They were sent back to the DZ in order
to recapture it as it was needed for the gliders
that were due to land to reinforce the airborne
troops.
Here Jim
Callardyce take sup the story: "When morning
came, the Jerries found us with artillery and we
were called back to go back to the drop zone
near Groesbeek to clear the area of Germans, who
had taken over the ground again. As we filed
south out of Nijmegen, the civilians greeted us
with cheers, food and drink.[...]
[...]The
Jerries harassed us with artillery fire on the
way out. We would lie flat as it came in, but
the civilians stood up. One of them was killed
by shrapnel as we lay there. Once as Bill
shifted the gun from shoulder to shoulder, his
finger brushed the trigger and a burst went
straight up. Since he was right behind me, I
jumped a foot, and the Dutch people all thought
it was real funny. I can still remember the grin
on his face at that.
As we got to
the drop zone, we broke out of a forest and
faced down hill, rolling country. We spread out
and attacked against rifle, machine gun and flak
guns. The going was fast and rough. one group
would be pinned down while another moved on
ahead. Bullets whizzed all over and machine gun
bullets regularly kicked up dirt at our feet, or
our noses if we were flat. I was getting off
shots with my rifle, and Bill was impatient as
the devil to get a good field of fire with the
machine gun. Finally he asked for the box of
ammo and cut off a good length of belt for the
gun and another for over his shoulder. He took
off happy as the devil now completely
independent - a one man army rearing to go! A
short time later while cresting a rise or hill,
I was wounded by a sniper in the arm."
A and B
Companies managed to throw back the Germans an
went into Wyler to set up a roadblock to keep
the town in American hands.
Jim Allardyce:
" A few days later when I got back to the
platoon, I learned that Bill and a bunch of
other fellows were lost in Wyler. Our Company
had gone down off the hills to search and set up
a roadblock and had been hit real hard. Those
who got out did so by the skin of their teeth.
I don't know
what happened to Bill. I do know, though, that
where ever he was he put up a hell of a fight
because he was that kind of man. I remember him
always as grinning. Happy and cheerful and a
hard worker. With his skill with that gun, he
would have soon made sergeant."
Private
William Askren went missing on 20 September
1944. He was reported missing the next day. His
body was never recovered. He is mentioned on the
Wall of the Missing at Margraten.
