Captain John Howard

Captain John Howard was the son of Mr E C Howard, of Bexhill-on-Sea, and husband of Pamela Howard. He served with D Coy, 10th Parachute Battalion and took part in the Battle of Arnhem, during Op Market Garden.

"John Howard's objective from the start of operations was to capture Schaarsbergen, but like other members of D Coy 10th Parachute Battalion, he had become lost and disorientated during the withdrawal. Dutch family archives record that on Tuesday morning 19th September 1944, John Howard arrived at my grandfather's mansion 'de Valkenburg', situated on the east corner of van Borsselenweg and Utrechtseweg, along with various officers with maps seeking directions from the owner, my grandfather Marinus Heijbroek. Howard left with the officers later that morning. The following day, Wednesday 20th, John Howard was reported fighting in the garden of 'de Valkenburg' near a coach house. The record doesn't say what unit he was with but there were composite battalions fighting in that area at that time. Howard rested during a lull in the fighting, in the cellar of 'de Valkenburg' on Wednesday night. On Thursday at 12 pm the 'de Valkenburg' was in German hands and John Howard and two fellow medical orderlies James McLean and R. Pitcher from the Royal Army Medical Corp became trapped, as Germans occupied the house. Billeted Germans remained in the house until after the general withdrawal of Airborne forces on 25-26th September. The three Englishmen in the cellar survived the danger of capture until Tuesday morning, October 3rd, when the Germans left 'de Valkenburg'. Howard then planned a joint escape aided by the owner's younger brother Daniel (Daan) Heijbroek. The three would go South under cover of darkness, swim across the Rhine and link up eventually with the Allied forces South of Arnhem. During the escape across the Rhine, only one of the two medical orderlies, Private R. Pitcher, survived. Howard was lost presumed drowned. Thus John Howard, having fought his battle, held out bravely and with dignity until October 21st. "

Captain Howard died on 20 October 1944, aged 25 years old. He is now commemorated on the Memorial at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, near Nijmegen.

With information supplied by William Heijbroek.  

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