Jim Bourne

AS HE parachuted onto Ginkel Heath outside Arnhem on September 18 1944, Jim Bourne could not have known that before he saw England again he would have been badly wounded, taken prisoner and then escaped to safety.

Jim, now 93, from Sevenoaks, knew things weren't going well however. As he hit the ground, machine gun and small arms fire zipped past him.

Before he became a paratrooper with 11^th Battalion, Four Para Brigade of the First Airborne Division, Jim was already a seasoned soldier. He had volunteered with the Royal West Kent Regiment in Maidstone in 1933, after which he saw service in India, Palestine and Malta. 

Before taking off for Arnhem the Brigade had been put on standby a dozen times but it always came to nothing. This time, however, as the Dakota passed over the Dutch coast with downed gliders floating in the sea, he knew it was for real.

Initial orders were to take high ground outside Arnhem. These were changed and the men were told to march into the town and relieve troops on the Bridge.

"A few of us got as far as the Museum near the station at Arnhem," he said. "We'd been held up because we ran into tanks at Oosterbeek, and you can't fight a tank with a rifle and bayonet.

"At Arnhem we were told it was all over as far as the Bridge was concerned and we had to go back to Oosterbeek. 

"We went back and I took up a position in a slit trench at the back of the Church. Then our second in command Major Dickie Lonsdale dragged us all into the Church where he made his now famous address."

Lonsdale had received head and arm injuries when his aircraft was hit by flack. Bandaged and bloody, he struck an heroic figure as he stood in the pulpit and rallied his men.

"I was making my way back to the slit trench when a shell caught up with me," said Jim. "I got shrapnel in the leg and in the shoulder.

"The stretcher bearers heard me shout and carried me to the Rectory house which had been turned into a dressing station. Injured men took up almost every inch of floor space. There was nothing they could do for you, you just had to lie there. 

"But at night the owner of the house, Kate ter Horst, would come round and read passages from the bible to us. She said it was all she could do for us. I found it comforting."

Eventually the British troops at Oosterbeek pulled out, escaping across the Rhine. The injured were left to the tender mercies of the Germans.

"A lorry picked us up and took us to an old Dutch army barracks," said Jim. "My wounds were re-dressed but otherwise I got no treatment.

"Later we were put in cattle trucks and taken to a prisoner of war camp, Stalag X1B. Still I got no treatment.

"Then one night we had to march out of the camp. They were getting us away from the approaching Allied armies.

"As we passed a wood four of us told the sentry we needed to relieve ourselves. He let us go into the woods believing we would come back when we finished. This was the regular procedure.

"But we kept going. Eventually we came across this French collaborators village. We found a cellar and fell asleep on the floor.

"Next morning we noticed a grating leading up through the pavement. We removed it and looked out. About 100 yards away was a Sherman tank.

"We all climbed out and waved our red berets to let them know we were paratroops. The gun on the Sherman swung towards us but we kept waving.

"Then an officer got out and recognised us."

Jim was first taken to a hospital in Belgium and then back to England. But it wasn't until 1948 that the shrapnel was removed from his leg and shoulder.

"I've still got it in a drawer somewhere," he said.