Private. Denis Haggerty. 10 Platoon, ‘C’ Company, 156 Parachute Battalion.

Denis Haggerty was born on the 20 February 1921, in Holborn, London.

He enlisted into The Royal Fusiliers on the 8  March 1938. [1]

He was serving in the Middle East when he volunteered for Airborne Forces and was posted to 156 Parachute Battalion.

He participated in Parachute Couse 33 at Ramat David in Palestine, 11 – 27 April 1943, where he completed the five jumps to qualify as an Army Parachutist. [2]

It is likely that he took part in Operation ‘Slapstick’ in September 1943, which was a naval landing action at the Southern Italian port of Taranto by the 1 st Airborne Division.

By the summer of 1944 he was serving in 10 Platoon, ‘C’ Company. This Platoon was commanded by Sgt. J.A. Black at Arnhem, as the Platoon Commander, Lieut. J.M.K. Bell, had to take over as Acting Company Second-in-Command, when Capt. M.W. Pitt, was taken ill.

On Monday, 18 September 1944, he took off from Saltby aerodrome aboard a Dakota of the 314^th Troop Carrier Group, U.S.A.A.F. (Aircraft No. 630 or 632) and was bound for D.Z. ‘Y’ at Ginkel Heath in Holland as part of Operation ‘Market-Garden’. He would have jumped at approx. 15.10 hours (local time).

He would have taken part in the attack on the German ‘blocking line’ along the Dreijenseweg, to the North of a village called Oosterbeek, on Tuesday, 19  September, which failed and they had to fall back towards Wolfheze.

From the book ‘Blik Omhoog’ (Look Up), by Cor Janse. 1996. Volume 2, page 709.

It may seem obvious that Denis Haggerty (23years old; 156 Bn; C Company) was shot on Wednesday morning, when the last British troops were withdrawing from Wolfheze. But perhaps he continued wandering around for some time. Harry Boardman (also C Company) believes he remembers his name, and also remembers seeing him during the fighting around the level crossing:

“He was in the 10th Platoon and I am almost certain he was in my section. And even more strongly, something rings a bell when we were retreating across the railway line and came to a row of houses, where the Germans began firing mortars at every house and also opened up with machine guns. The last time I saw him was just after we had left there. He must have been killed after that, but I am not certain.”

Boardman and his friend Corporal Hubble managed to find their unit again at the Bilderberg. John Hubble looks surprised when Haggerty’s name is mentioned and believes that he was killed at the level crossing. Hubble tried to save a carrier carrying ammunition on the northern side (“we were fighting there with the KOSB”), but one of its tracks had come off. Although there apparently were no witnesses to Haggerty’s death, John Jones nevertheless recorded him with a K (= killed) in the little Bible he used as a notebook. He must have made that note while in the prisoner-of-war camp, and therefore knew that Haggerty had died.

Murk van Driezum: [Member of Staff, Wolfheze Mental Hospital]

“On Friday we heard that there were several dead servicemen lying along the Wolfhezerweg. I no longer remember who told us, but we were asked to collect these men. Near the Oosterbeek footpath (at Wolfhezerweg 51/53), we found two Germans and a British soldier. Haggerty was lying on the Oosterbeek side of the road and the two Germans on the other side. He had been wounded in the abdomen, possibly by one of his own hand grenades or something similar. He was wearing full battle kit, including a helmet, which is now in the Museum. In any case, his entire midriff had been blown apart.

We only took him with us, because we were not allowed to transport dead Germans. We removed the British soldier’s identification tag (dog tag) and some photographs and gave them to Dr van der Beek. These belongings were lost during the evacuation. We buried him in a grave that had already been dug.”

‘In [Blik Omhoog] Volume 3, pages 1161 to 1164, it is described how considerable confusion arose over the graves at the Mental Hospital. According to the records kept by the Mental Hospital staff, Haggerty was buried there. However, during the exhumation, Sgt J. Conlon was recorded as being in the grave, even though he was still alive. Haggerty was probably transferred to the Cemetery in Oosterbeek, but it is not known which grave he is buried in. A further excavation was carried out in 1984 at the cemetery of the Mental Hospital, but it yielded no results.’ [3]

Denis Haggerty was 23 years old when he died, has no known gave and is listed on the Groesbeek Memorial, Panel 9.

NOTES:

[1] The Parachute Regiment, Transfer & Enlistment Book 07, page 102.

[2] Parachute Course Report, Ramat David. April 1943.

[3] Janneke van Dijk, Glider Museum Wolfheze. August 2026.

Written by Robert Hilton