Driver Dennis G Cutting

Dennis George Cutting was born on the 23 June 1923, and came from Needham Market in Suffolk. He was a Van driver before enlisting.

He enlisted into the Royal Army Service Corps on the 26 February 1942, and was posted to the 250th Airborne Light Composite Company, RASC on the 22 January 1943, and went on to serve in North Africa and Italy in 1943, with ‘B’ (Motor Transport) Platoon.

Upon his return to England he volunteered for parachute training and was sent on Parachute Course No 101, at RAF Ringway, 31 January to 13 February 1944, along with nineteen other men from the Company. This was a ‘Long Course’ of eight descents, four from the balloon and four from aircraft. His Parachute Instructors comments: ‘Good worker, and a good jumper in sticks’.

He was then posted across to No 2 Parachute Platoon, with whom he parachuted onto DZ ‘Y’ in Holland on Monday, 18 September 1944, as part of Operation ‘Market’.

He was involved in the  Capt. Kavanagh ambush action at Oosterbeek Hoog Station 19 September 1944.

He successfully returned across the Lower rhine on the 25/26 September 1944.

As a Corporal Dennis Cutting also took part in Operation ‘DOOMSDAY’, the liberation of Norway in May 1945.

Dennis died, at the age of 95, on the 4 December 2018 in Canada.

This is his personal account, written in November/December 1996:

“All of us who were available were summoned to an ‘O’ Group where we were told by Captain Kavanagh that the Dutch Resistance had informed our Commanding Officer, Lt-Col. Packe, that a quantity of supplies had landed just beyond our perimeter, which was in enemy hands.
Captain Kavanagh told us we would have to dash in, grab all we could and get out fast.

We were to leave all heavy equipment behind, taking personal weapons only, going as light as possible, so as to move quickly.

We took three jeeps and trailers, Captain Kavanagh in the first jeep with his driver, Thomas, I was in the first trailer. It was a lovely bright day, and  moving at a fair pace, we crossed the railway bridge at Oosterbeek. A shell hit the Captain’s jeep, killing the driver instantly, we all scrambled out, or were thrown out and took up positions behind the jeeps.

I got behind a wheel and we all began firing in the direction of their machinegun, which was aimed directly at us. However we could not locate the target, as it was heavily tree lined.

Several of our boys were hit right away, Captain Kavanagh could see it was a desperate situation, and within seconds I saw him grab ‘Ken’ Clarke’s Bren gun and shouting to Sergeant McDowell, “get them out of there, get them out of there”, he turned around and the last I saw of him, he was running toward the machine gun firing, and calling desperately, “get them out, get them out”.

Sergeant McDowell ordered us to withdraw down the railway embankment and up the other side, I noticed one of our boys beside me, had his eye hanging by a thread down as far as his waist. On the top of the embankment, were three rows of barbed wire, ‘Joe’ Phillips and I ran forward jumped and threw ourselves across the wires and the rest of the section ran over our backs.

The last two men stopped to pull ‘Joe’ and I off the wire, we dived into an empty house, where some of us tried to fix up the boys bad eye as best as possible.

While trying to decide our next move, we saw an older man across the street, a civilian, tall and lean standing in a doorway. He raised his hand with the palm facing toward us, indicating for us to stay put. As he crossed over to us we noticed he held a little girl by the hand, who I took to be his grand-daughter. She was carrying a music case we intimated to him we wanted to get back to our Headquarters at Hartenstein, he understood although he could not speak English and of course we couldn’t speak Dutch.

He spoke to the little girl, and as she walked away she gestured to us to follow her, which we did at a distance. We soon recognised the area around the Hartenstein, however to our surprise the little girl was nowhere to be seen, she just disappeared, we could not even say ‘thank you’.

The courage of the Dutch people has always amazed me I shall never forget the risks that were taken with no thought for themselves.

We lost one officer and six other ranks in this action.”

The following was in the East Anglian Times, Saturday, 17 September 1994.

“The Captain shouted at us to retreat and he ran at the machine-guns firing. We never saw him again. Three of us threw ourselves onto the barbed wire and the others ran across our bodies and pulled us off. We got into a row of houses and were arguing which way was best to go, because the Germans were all over the place. Across the road a door opened and this huge chap, skinny as a rake, appeared with a little girl. He could not speak English, but she could, and said she would lead us out. She went down the road and beckoned us one by one.

We bound our feet in blankets to muffle the sound of us marching and destroyed everything that was valuable. We made our way in the pitch black and rain holding onto each other’s straps. It was fine until a German patrol opened up on us and we scattered. I had a tiny compass and headed south. Ten guys joined me. We were ambushed again, one was hit. We all carried a morphine injection, so we gave him that and left him. We had to. We were told not to stop for anything, to head for the water. They were shipping guys across in small boats, but they were fighting over the boats. There was a Sergeant major who said he would shoot them if they did not stop. Many would not wait, they got in the River to swim across. A lot of them drowned.”

NEWMARKET TODAY.

Jan 7, 2019. By Deborah Kelly.

Local Second World War hero honoured for his bravery, service

“RIP Mate you were and still are a legend in my eyes,” is one of the tributes being made to British paratrooper and longtime Newmarket resident Dennis Cutting, who fought in the Battle of Arnhem

A local Second World War hero and British Airborne Forces veteran is being remembered for his bravery and service tomorrow in Newmarket.

Longtime Newmarket resident Dennis George Cutting, who served with the 250 Coy RASC AB LT 4th Parachute Brigade, died Dec. 4, 2018, at the age of 95 at Bradford Valley Care Home. A celebration of life is being held at Roadhouse and Rose Funeral Home tomorrow at 10 a.m.

“He was a real local war hero,” said Ed Graney, a fellow member of the British Airborne Forces Association (Canada) (BAFA). “He was one of the handful of soldiers who escaped with their lives after being dropped behind enemy lines at the Battle of Arnhem.”

In September 1944, the Allies launched the largest airborne operation in history at Arnhem, with more than 35,000 American and British soldiers dropped by parachute and gliders to fight in and around the Dutch towns of Arnhem, Oosterbeek, Wolfheze and Driel. It was a devastating loss for the Allies, with only 2,400 of the 10,600 Commonwealth soldiers returning. More than 1,500 servicemen were killed, with the remainder captured or wounded.

Following the war, Cutting emigrated with his wife and three young daughters from Suffolk, first to Toronto in 1957 and then to Newmarket in 1960, where he owned and operated Cutting’s Family Butchers on Downtown Main Street and the family lived on Main Street North for many years, said his daughter, Judy Tolchard, now a Bradford resident.

A post on the BAFA Facebook page highlights the paratrooper’s harrowing wartime experiences. 

With the fighting taking place from house to house, Cutting was blown across the room and knocked unconscious when a German Tiger tank fired directly through the window into the room where he was. When he came to, the German infantry was in the house and he became involved in “literal hand-to-hand fighting”.

“He spoke of how different it felt to bayonet another human being. A memory he took through the rest of his life. He spoke of the one German soldier he fought having clear blue eyes.”

He was able to escape and avoid capture for two weeks after the defeat, and with the aid of the Dutch underground, he made his way back to Allied lines, Graney said.

“He was indeed one of the legends we who followed could only hope to emulate,” says the BAFA Facebook post by David Needham.

“RIP Mate you were and still are a legend in my eyes.”

Needham noted Cutting was “one of the Airborne Forces originals” who “was above all else a paratrooper”.

Some of Cutting's memories of his wartime paratrooper experiences are included in the BAFA book Paraphernalia, Needham added.

One of the condolences posted on the Roadhouse and Rose page exemplifies the enduring gratitude of the Netherlands people for the Allied soldiers who fought so valiantly to liberate their country:

“Dear Friends, (Field Marshal Sir Bernard) Montgomery used to say: “When a man tells me ‘I was at Arnhem’, I take my hat off to him”. For dear Dennis, we and all the citizens of Arnhem and Oosterbeek take our hats off. He was and always will be a hero. We were very happy to be able to say: “Thank you for what you did during the war”. Dennis was also our dear beloved friend and we’ll always remember him as a very friendly, kind and humorous person. We're very sad that he has passed away. Wishing the family all the strength and God’s blessings as God will bless Dennis. We’ll never forget him!” - Family de Vries, Oosterbeek, Netherlands

Cutting was a BAFA (Canada) founder and staunch supporter, and longtime member of the Men’s Probus Club of Newmarket.

He was one of BAFA’s two surviving Arnhem veterans.

“We’re a brotherhood,” Graney said of the paratroopers. “We did things that normal people would not do.”

Cutting returned to Arnhem twice, in 1984 and in 1995 for the 50th commemoration - for which he parachuted in at the age of 71, his daughter said.

He was 18 when he enlisted, managing to convince his two best friends to join him in signing on as paratroopers. The three young men were known as the Three Graces, Tolchard said.

“Dad was Amazing Grace, one friend was Saving Grace and the other was DisGrace, as he was always managing to get into mischief,” she said.

Cutting never knew what happened to his two friends during the war, but he was able to find them when returning to Arnhem in 1984. Their reunion was the subject of a BBC program, she added.

He was the second youngest in a family of 12 children, and the last surviving member, she said. He and his four brothers all went to war, and they all returned home.

Cutting is predeceased by his wife, Greta, who passed away in 2014, and daughter Vicky, and was the father of Penny (Bert) Verwey and Judy (John) Tolchard, grandfather to Danielle, Jason, Nicole, Sarah, Cindy, Justin and Matthew, and great-grandfather of 10.

“Dad will be remembered for his smile, laughter, and as a friend said, “His Mighty Fine Outlook on Life,” his obituary states. 

The celebration of life will be held at Roadhouse and Rose Funeral Home, 157 Main St. South, Tuesday, Jan. 8, with visitation from 10 to 11 am and a service at 11 am.