Sergeant Thomas A Joyce

I have been researching my uncle's war with a view to publishing a book, but as a spin-off of that research I have spent time with my mother asking her about her war. She is 91 years old. At the time of the Arnhem landings she was 14 years old. She lived in Cumnor near Abingdon with my gran - Lillian and sister Vera. Her brothers were away at war. She describes the scene over her house on Sunday 17th Sept 1944. I have written her account in my book but can share it with this group...........……

………from the living room window the land sweeps gently down towards the river Thames, but it is masked by a ridge in Farrant’s field. Across the river the land gently rises into the distance where on a clear day Brize Norton, about 12 miles away can be clearly seen. 10 miles beyond Brize Norton is Fairford in Gloucestershire. During the war the Gloucestershire airfields of Broadwell, Fairford, Down Ampney and Blakehill Farm were active bases specialising in glider towing.

On Sunday morning, 17th September 1944, Iris, Lillian, and Vera ran outside as large planes towing gliders roared over the house at rooftop height, struggling to gain altitude with engines at full throttle. The house shook and the noise was deafening. All the neighbours, including their respective evacuees, were out staring at the sky through a low mist that had formed up to the height of the rooftops. They were seeing five Squadrons of C47 Dakotas taking off from these bases, towing dozens of Horsa Gliders. All were laden with troops of the 6th Airborne Division and other supporting airborne units as part of Operation Market Garden. Having taken off from separate airfields, they all converged roughly over the house before setting course for Nijmegen and Arnhem in Holland. This ariel spectacle lasted over an hour. Vera stood outside the house gazing up as plane after plane passed over, the overwhelming noise of the aircraft, and the faces of the crews looking down at them. ……….

News soon spread around the village that one of the gliders had crashed into the trees off the Besselsleigh Road having struck electrical high-tension wires, decapitating the pilot. People cycled to the scene which was less than a mile away. The paratroopers in the glider thought that they had landed in enemy territory as they had been flying for some time trying to gain height. As a consequence, they started to ‘round up’ the locals at gun point as they approached the crash site until they were convinced that they were still in England.
The Glider was a Horsa HS101, (chalk mark 240) the pilot was Sgt 3653210 Thomas Anthony Joyce, aged 25, a Liverpudlian in E Squadron, 11 Flt, 1st Wing. The co-pilot was Sgt Hoyle who was seriously injured but survived. Sgt Joyce was the first fatality of the operation that day.

Correction... Were part of 1st Airborne Division