On September 18, 1944 an unexpected encounter took place between local patriots and the crew and occupants of a Horsa glider that had been forced to make a premature landing whilst on its way to ‘Arnhem’.
This occurred about 25 miles west of of their intended landing zone when they landed in a polder north of the town of Oss (NL), alongside the river Maas. They quickly unloaded their jeep & trailer and were advised by these helpers to follow the road along the dike to the town of Grave, which had been liberated the previous day. Fortunately some pictures were taken at the time and the name of the Lieutenant in charge – Lt McNaught – was known to one of the helpers. About fifteen years later he passed this information on to the author of this article. A cold case investigation, stimulated by an enquiry from a British Market Garden researcher, was commenced 75 years after this incident and, as wil be seen, it was succesfully concluded.
The Horsa glider (photo: Johan J. Visser. Source: mevrouw Visser - van Tweel)
