Heroes of the Sky

In the afternoon of 20 September 1944, I, Ken Nolan, took off from Harwell as a wireless operator in the crew of second lieutenant/pilot Neil Couper, who was flying the Short Stirling Mk. IV number LVLJ 618. Also on the plane were Jack Corcoran (navigator), Harris (bomb aimer), Johnny Johnston (flight engineer), Sergeant Desmond ‘Paddy’ Bowers (rear gunner), as well as two extra soldiers who were responsible for dropping the supplies. I was the only Australian crew member. Our mission was to drop supplies for the airborne troops during Operation Market Garden. Read the whole story in Dutch

Republic P-47D Thunderbolt

First Lieutenant John Fee hailed from Beverley Hills, California and was married to an English woman. He had just returned from a 30-day leave in America and participated in Operation Market Garden. On 17 September 1944 he had flown a successful mission with the 84th FS. The group had dropped 14 bombs at both ends of the Haamstede bridge. Two of them had been right on target. A number of others came down in close vicinity. Read the whole story in Dutch

Hawker Typhoon Mk lb RB218

Alfred Stewart Smith had been flying since the very beginning of the war. No. 193 Squadron had carried out several important raids, including an attack on the German headquarters in Dordrecht in 1944. The Typhoons were also involved in an attack on the staff car of Erwin Rommel in Normandy.

Dakota C47-A

On 18 September 1944, a Dakota took off from the English RAF Spanhoe Airfield with Arnhem as its destination.

Airspeed AS.51 Horsa

As part of Operation Market Garden, an Airspeed AS.51 Horsa took off on 18 September 1944 with 8 crew members on board. One kilometre south of the Opheusden train station the plane crashed, along the road towards Dodewaard. Read the whole story in Dutch

Douglas DC-3

On 18 September 1944, the second day of Operation Market Garden, an aircraft with number KG570 took to the skies from RAF Broadwell Airfield. It was to fly to Arnhem while towing a Horsa glider, carrying as it cargo a Jeep, a 6-pounder anti-tank gun, two gunners and two pilots. On board were Sqdrn/Ldr Trevor Southgate, F/Lt co-pilot Albert Saunders, F/Lt navigator S.W. Bryant and flight engineer F/O Joseph Parry. Photo: View from a glider at a Dakota that is pulling the glider to the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden

Short Stirling MK. IV

On Thursday 21 September 1944, a four-engine transport aircraft of the Short 'Stirling' MK. IV type of No. 190 Squadron took off from Fairford Airport in England. The aircraft had to perform a supply flight to Oosterbeek, bringing supplies to the British 1st Airborne Division. Read the whole story in Dutch

Lancaster MKIII LM570 ZN-Z