Alastair Charles Taylor
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Alastair Charles Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Bill"[1] |
| Born | 11 May 1918 London, England |
| Died | 18 March 2003 (aged 84) Sebastian, Florida, USA |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ | (1936–1938) (1938–1939) (1940–1945) |
| Years of service | 1936–1945 |
| Rank | Acting Pilot Officer (RAF) Lt (Royal Navy) SSgt (British Army) |
| Unit | No. 110 Squadron RAF HMS Furious HMS Glorious Britsh Expeditionary Force Glider Pilot Regiment |
| Battles/wars | World War 2
|
| Spouse(s) | Vicky Jones |
Alastair Charles Taylor, (11 May 1918 – 18 March 2003) was an officer of the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and SSgt of the British Expeditionary Force and Glider Pilot Regiment during the Second World War.[2]
He is best known for his actions during the Normandy Landings, the Airborne Invasion of Germany, and the Battle of Arnhem, where he carried the Arnhem Surgeon and elements of 181 Air Landing Field Ambulance into battle[3] and organized an offensive outside the Hartenstein hotel during the defense of the Oosterbeek perimeter.[2]
Early in the war, Taylor sustained a near-fatal wound from a Junkers Ju 87 as he captained a Little ship of Dunkirk across the English Channel after its occupants had been killed during Operation Dynamo.
Pre-War
Taylor graduated from the King's School of Ely in 1936 and enrolled at the Civil Flying School at Brough where he trained on the Blackburn B-2. Edgar “Cobber” Kain, the first Allied fighter ace of the war, was a fellow student at Brough.[2]
Taylor received his wings on March 8, 1937 and was posted to RAF Depot at Uxbridge as Acting Pilot Officer and then later to No. 5 FTS Sealand at Cheshire where he was instructed in flying the Hawker Hart. On December 17, 1937, he was posted at RAF Wattisham with No. 110 Squadron RAF.[2]
Around this time, the Royal Navy was forming its Air Division and recruiting officers from the RAF.
On August 8, 1938, Taylor was appointed Sub/Lt and assigned to HMS Furious for training as a torpedo bomber on the Fairey Swordfish. Later, he was posted to HMS Glorious in Malta as part of the 'A' Branch, along with other new RAF recruits.[2]
Taylor left the Navy in May of 1939,[2] four months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War and just over a year before the sinking of the HMS Glorious, where more than 1200 lives were lost, including all of the ship’s pilots.[4]
Taylor briefly worked for Allied Enterprises Ltd, where he trained regular and military personnel in spotting and ranging. Amongst the other pilots employed by Allied alongside Taylor was Percy Pickard.[2]
Battle of Dunkirk
At the outbreak of WW2, Taylor applied to rejoin the RAF, but his application was met with delays. He joined the British Expeditionary Force and was sent to France in response to Germany’s invasion of Belgium.[2]
After Belgium’s surrender and with France’s surrender imminent, the British Army prepared to evacuate at Dunkirk, France. The army faced intense bombardment from the Luftwaffe and German artillery as they awaited evacuation from the Royal Navy.
Taylor spotted a Little ship of Dunkirk offshore, but it was idle and appeared unoccupied. He swam out to it and discovered that the civilian occupants had been killed by enemy aircraft fire and that the ship, though still functional, was riddled with bullet holes.
He drove the boat to shore to pick up several infantrymen. As they crossed the English Channel en route to England, they were intercepted by a Junkers Ju 87, which emptied its machine guns, further damaging the ship and wounding Taylor in his leg. The bullet grazed his femoral artery before exiting, but Taylor continued to operate the ship until the group reached England.[2]
Transfer to Glider Pilot Regiment
After recovery from his injuries at Dunkirk, Taylor was attending a training course in wireless radio mechanics where he met Lt Col John F Rock, who arranged his transfer to the Glider Pilot Regiment in July of 1942.
At RAF Tilshead, Taylor trained in hand-to-hand combat and completed physical endurance training before being sent to EFTS Derby to start flying again. Because of his previous flying experience, he qualified for the senior course where he reveled in aerobatics.
He spent some time as Army/RAF co-operation in Hurn and then was posted to RAF Shobdon for a 12-week course to qualify on the General Aircraft Hotspur, followed by a 6-week heavy conversion course at RAF Brize Norton.[2]
During this period, he travelled cross-country to RAF Valley in Anglesey where his Brother-in-law, Henry Neville Gynes Ramsbottom-Isherwood, was Commanding Officer.[2]
Normandy Landings
On D-Day, 6 June, 1944, Taylor departed from RAF Down Ampney for Ranville, France in an Airspeed Horsa Glider to reinforce elements of the Coup de Main attack carried out by 'C' Squadron of the Glider Pilot Regiment on the bridges over the River Orne and River Caen earlier that morning.[5] Taylor carried 16 infantrymen and an officer of a reconnaissance unit of 6th Airlanding Brigade. They carried out offensive maneuvers on the night of June 6 before digging in and holding the southern flank of the Normandy bridgehead over the River Orne.[6] 'E' squadron was relieved by Lord Lovat and the British Commandos the following day and withdrawn back to England for future missions.[2]
Battle of Arnhem
On 17 September, 1944, Taylor carried the "Arnhem Surgeon," Captain Michael James, 7 troops of 181 Air Landing Field Ambulance, and a jeep and trailer into Arnhem.[7] His landing, described below, was successful, although he had to leave his wings between two poplar trees at the edge of LZ-S:
My senior pilot presented me with the compass as a memento and was most apologetic about the crash. He explained that just as he was approaching the LZ another glider came in underneath and there was no room for us. He tried to rise over the avenue of silver birch trees, which lined a track, and so go into the next field but we were not travelling fast enough and crashed through the birches leaving our wings in the trees. We shot through the trees like a flying cigar, landed on our port wheel, (our starboard one stayed in the trees) and turning on our starboard side we had slid noisily across the loose soft earth. Our pilot Sergeant Taylor, acquitted himself nobly throughout the flight and we have our thanks to him for a pleasant journey.|author=Capt Michael James|title=Arnhem Surgeon|source=3-5}}
Initially, ‘E' Squadron of the Glider Pilot Regiment guarded the tracks into Wolfheze, but as the battle for the bridge at Arnhem rapidly deteriorated, they were repositioned to Oosterbeek. Here they filled a gap in the perimeter east of the Hartenstein hotel as the South Staffordshires and 11th Parachute Battalion fought to reconnect with 2nd Parachute Battalion who had captured the northern end of the bridge.
On the night of 19 September, Taylor and SSgt Albert Vincent "Reg" Dance formed a defensive position along with seven other Glider Pilots, including Sgt Ranger, Whawell, and Turl to defend an area Southwest of Vreeberg House.[8] Following intense concentrated artillery bombardment, a patrol of seven Germans advanced on their positions with a machine gun. Taylor and the GPR contingent fired upon them, killing all but one. SSgt Dance was recorded later as saying:
"The patrol was wiped out, but during the night, we could hear one of them moaning and calling out; 'Tommy, Tommy, Kamerad.' Staff Sergeant Taylor and I got a chair from the ruins of Vreeberg and brought the poor devil in. Our last drink of tea had been made and I gave my share to the German. He thanked me, mainly with his eyes, and then he died."|author=Albert Vincent Dance|title=Interview with Albert Vincent Dance|source=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80017630}}
After Lt Col “Sheriff” Thompson was wounded on 21 September, command of 'E' Squadron was transferred to Maj Lonsdale.[9][10] The GPR and 11th Batallion, Parachute Regiment became known as the Londsdale Force, and defended the southeast perimeter of Oosterbeek against advances from elements of the 9th SS Panzer Division until the final day of battle.[11]
On 25 September, the eighth day of battle, Germans began their most successful assault on the perimeter, attacking the southeastern front with newly-arrived Tiger Tanks,[12] supported by infantry. The assault pushed through Londsdale's outer lines as the Germans attempted to drive a wedge between the Airborne troops and the river, but it was repulsed by British counterattacks.[13] Taylor led a charge to reclaim the trenches they were forced from earlier that day and was in the same slit trench when SSgt "Reg" Dance took shrapnel in his shoulder.[2] Sgt H. Carling of "C" Squadron GPR later approached the trenches where Taylor, Dance, and the remnants of "E" Squadron were dug in and recounted the following scene:
"The place was in chaos, with dead lying where they had fallen and wounded men groaning in the gardens, unable to make it to the doubtful shelter of the ruined house. I gathered from those who could talk that a tank had come around the end of the road and the civilians had been taken off under a white flag, and then had simply been plastered and were waiting to go into the bag any minute. The young Captain had taken the PIAT to see if he could retaliate but had not been seen again. I found Staff Sergeant Reg Dance, one of 'E' Squadron pilots, lying in the garden, his face obliterated in a great froth of blood and presumably dead, if not from his wounds, from a long period of exposure, for he was blue and stiff and had no perceptible pulse. I crawled on into the wood and found my chaps huddled in a hole. They had seen enemy troops following a tank. I had a quick look in the direction indicated and, sure enough, there were a bunch of Jerries, about 700-800 yds away, moving across our front."|author=Sgt H. Carling|title=Not Many of Us Left}}
Despite the Lonsdale Force’s ability to repulse the attacks on 25 September, Maj Gen Urquhart recognized the futility of the Airborne's position and made the decision to withdraw across the Rhine that night. Urquhart based his withdrawal plan on the model used in the evacuation of Gallipoli during the First World War. The northernmost units would fall back first, moving through the more southerly groups, who would then follow behind.[14] The GPR organized the routes to the river that evening and the entire operation was covered by an intense bombardment by XXX Corps that started at 2100.[15]
Several members of the Londsdale Force, including Taylor, were last in queue and unable to withdraw before sunrise.[16] Fearing that conspicuous attempts to cross the river in boat would draw additional mortar fire from the Germans, Taylor, Maj Londsdale and several others swam the Rhine at daybreak on September 26.[2][17]
Rhine Crossings
On 24 March, 1945, Taylor carried a jeep, trailer, 6-pounder anti-tank gun, a corporal, and 2 infantrymen during the airborne invasion of Germany.[18] The corporal suffered a bad flak wound in the run up to the DZ, however, they managed to capture a farmhouse described in their pre-briefing and later stopped a Tiger Tank near Bocholt, Germany.[2] ‘E’ and ‘F’ squadrons sustained 50% casualties in the battle.
Personal Life
Alastair married Vicky Jones a radar operator for the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.
His sister, Betty Taylor, was married to Wing Commander Henry Neville Gynes Ramsbottom-Isherwood until he died in a plane crash in 1950.[2][19]
References
- ↑ "Unit Histories: 1st British Airborne Division Arnhem, September 1944". Retrieved 18 November 2009.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 "Portrait of a Pilot: Alastair Charles Taylor". The Eagle: 4–6. 1994.
- ↑ Cherry, Niall (2010). Arnhem Surgeon. Brendon Publishing.
- ↑ Winton, pp. 191–195
- ↑ "WO 171/1233". 1944.
- ↑ Lawler, Bill (2019). "D DAY – 6th June 1944" (PDF).
- ↑ Cherry, Niall (2010). Arnhem Surgeon. Brendon Publishing.
- ↑ Dance, Albert V (1999). "Interview with Albert Vincent Dance".
- ↑ Waddy 1999, p. 135.
- ↑ Middlebrook 1994, p. 336.
- ↑ Waddy, pp. 140–141
- ↑ Middlebrook, p. 424
- ↑ Middlebrook 1994, p. 425.
- ↑ Middlebrook 1994, p. 423.
- ↑ Middlebrook, p. 421
- ↑ Middlebrook 1994, p. 432.
- ↑ "The Pegasus Archive - Major Richard Thomas Henry Lonsdale". Retrieved 8 November 2009.
- ↑ "WO 171/5128". 1945.
- ↑ Carter, Eric and Loveless, Antony (2014) Force Benedict, Hodder & Stoughton ISBN 978-1-44478514-2 (p. 69)
External links
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