Private Patrick Hurley

Paddy Hurley was my dads best mate in the 1ST Air Landing Brigade Border Regiment. They went through the war together and were 1 and 2 on a bren gun. They saw action in North Africa and Italy, the glider they were in crashed into the sea in Operation Ladbrooke on 9 July 1943 but then went on to see action in Italy. My dad told me they were brought back to England in summer 1944 for Market Garden. They were given no leave,they got a bit tanked up and decided that they would pinch a jeep and try to get to Liverpool were my dads family lived and Paddy could try and get back to Belfast from. Not surprisingly they crashed the jeep, my dad was worse off than Paddy and spent a couple of months in hospital, Paddy made a quick recovery and went to Arnhem were he was killed on 25 September 44. I was over in Holland a few years ago on a stag weekend and one of the lads I was with said his great uncle had been killed at Arnhem, we got on a train and went to Arnhem and the Oosterbeek to visit their graves,my mates great uncle is buried directly in the row behind Paddy. to

My dad was William Frank Slater 1ST Air Landing Brigade Border Regiment. He passed away on 23 June 1991,he never forgot his mate Paddy and talked about their service together a lot.