Captain John L Brown

John Lloyd Brown was born in 1918 and was granted an emergency commission into The Essex Regiment on the 19 October 1940.

He was serving in the 9th Battalion, The Essex Regiment in December 1942, when it was converted to an artillery unit, becoming the 11th (Essex) Medium Regiment, RA (TA). He was officially transferred to the Royal Regiment of Artillery on the 1 May 1943.

He was promoted to war Substantive Lieutenant on the 19th July 1942, and then to Acting Captain on the 4th April 1943.

“Towards the end of 1943 most Light and Medium Artillery Regiment’s received requests for volunteers from Troop Commanders (FOO’s) who were willing to drop behind enemy lines with wireless communications to direct fire from the main Army guns on selected targets. At this time, I commanded ‘A’ Troop of 11th (Essex) Medium Regiment, RA and volunteered. I heard nothing further until about March 1944, when I was called up for and passed the parachute course at Ringway”. [1]

He did Parachute Course 111, RAF Ringway, 8 – 23 April 1944. His Parachute Instructors comments: “Very good performance, keen, cheerful, excellent control throughout, worked well.”

“Returning to my Regiment, a short wait until I had to report to, I think it was, Mrs Van der Elst’s Castle at Grantham, where I met Buchanan, Caird, Whimster, Bowerman, Stevens and Addington (who was recalled to his unit after a while). We were the original seven. I think it was Fairford where we met Col Loder-Symonds, Philip Tower and ‘Paddy’ de Burgh – the CRA of 1 Airborne Div and his staff. We were told to form ourselves into a unit, but at this stage were given no idea of our future. Between us we devised the title 1st Forward Observation Unit, RA (Airborne) and, in the spirit of the time, also invented our motto, which was FUCIAR. All was accepted by higher authority, whatever that was. It was some little time afterwards that Col. Loder-Symonds asked us what ‘fuciar’ meant, presuming it was a Latin word which nobody of his acquaintance could translate. I shall never forget his delight when we had to explain that the motto was indeed the initial letters of a favourite wartime expression of “F*** you Charlie I’m All Right”. I understood later that General Urquhart was confidentially informed”. [2]

No 1 Forward Observer Unit, RA actually formed up at Shipton Bellinger, Tidworth, in Hampshire in late June 1944, having had 18 officers and 35 men attached to the 1st Airlanding Light Regiment, RA at Boston in Lincolnshire. Major DR Wight-Boycott took up the post of Officer Commanding on the 29 June 1944.

“I can’t remember when, but we were ordered to report to Boston, LINCS, and attach ourselves to the 1st Airlanding Light Regiment, where we were joined by other volunteers, among whom I was delighted to welcome was my old friend Chris MacMillan, who had commanded ‘B’ Troop of 11th Medium Regiment, and who informed me that he had only volunteered to see that I came to no harm. In fact both our batmen had also volunteered to join us, Gnr. Coloff being mine.

You will have to excuse me, but my chronological and place memories area faded so much I cannot remember where it was that ‘Reggie’ Wight-Boycott joined us to take command. We set up the communications link from Para and Glider Battalion’s to the respective Brigade, to Division, to Main Army, where ‘Reggie’ would control major support from artillery and, indeed, RAF if necessary. It was then that we were allotted to our various duties. Stevens, Whimster and I to 4 Para Bde, Whimster to 10 Para Bn, me to 11 Para Bn and Stevens to 156 Para Bn. I think a chap called Willman (?) was Bde Control [Capt EI Gilman was 4 Para Bde HQ Control]. Caird, Buchanan and Bowerman went to 1 Para Bde. MacMillan [Birchmore], Gow & Langford were the FOO’s with the Glider Bde. The various Bde & Div Controls I can’t remember exactly who they were, but I think ‘Kit’ Ikin and John Langford [MacMillan] (who was also POW) were among them”. [3]

On Operation ‘MARKET’ John was attached to the 11th Parachute Battalion, and jumped onto DZ ‘Y’ (Ginkel Heath), with his FOU Team, on Monday, 18 September 1944.

“I dropped with 11 Para Bn on 18 Sept against a fair amount of small arms fire and mortar fire, which put the heath on fire, which made it difficult to collect on the various appropriate smoke signals. We moved into the outskirts of a small town or village [Wolfheze], and at first light I received orders, along with the Company Commanders to take the direct road into Arnhem. We had scarcely started when I was met by Major. Linton of 1 Airlanding Light Regiment, RA [No 2 Battery], who informed me that Stevens, the FOO of 156 Para Bn had been killed and I was ordered to leave 11 Para Bn and take his place. [A] He gave me directions and I met 156 Para Bn HQ and was told to join ‘A’ Company “up there”, where they were leading the advance.

I do remember the time – 8.30 am and just had time to ask the Coy Commander, “What do you want me to do”, when the Coy put in an attack on a road. The casualties were heavy, particularly presumably, among the officers and we went to ground on a slight ridge. We were still under fire – some of it cross-fire and I managed to get a shot from Air Landing Light onto the road and another, by guess work, beyond the road. ‘B’ Coy came up amid what was chaos and my 68 Set received a burst of MG fire and was ‘kaput’!

Col. de Veoux came up and I gave him the picture as best as I could and there was a short withdrawal to re-group. From then on it was chaos, as far as I was concerned. I soon found myself in command of a group of 156, 10 Para, 2 glider pilots, and after a day [few hours] or so, half a dozen Poles – I wondered at the time where on earth they had appeared from – about 20 in all (including my two signallers). The general movement seemed to be south-easterly towards the River and Arnhem itself. [B] My little band were somehow between 10 & 156 Para’s – nobody seemed to want us – I met up with Whimster, 10 Para Bn FOO, who was in the same boat as me. Anyway, we joined in a few skirmishes, with several casualties and finally arrived at Wolfheze. Apparently I was the last to arrive there and was ordered to take up position by a Major (I think of 156 Para) in the end house at the convergence of two streets which met at a level crossing over the Utrecht railway – alongside a lunatic asylum! The Germans were just across the railway to the North, not in any strength, but they kept up a steady small arms fire until dark, again we had several casualties.

The night was quiet [19/20 September 1944]. With a Sergeant from 156 Para we posted the ten or dozen fit men around the house and garden. At first light the heavy stuff started and I sent one of my signallers to the house behind us to find out what was happening, and he came back to say that they were all gone, and we were on our own! I got all the men into the house in firing positions, but the heavy fire was penetrating the walls and the Poles, in particular, suffered heavily. I ordered those able to move to withdraw with me Southwards down through the gardens as quickly as possible and try to keep in touch all the way. By this time several tanks had joined in. Five of us reached a road joining the two roads that made up the village and a tank was just turning into our road. There was a wall lining the other side of the road, so we ran across and jumped the wall to land on top of a German Infantry unit – much to the surprise of them and us!

This last day of my freedom is the only really clear and vivid memory I have of exact events.

I do well remember the German Major to whom I was taken to giving me a mug of coffee and a sandwich, and saying we had fought well, but that was the end of our war!” [4]

John was taken prisoner on the 20 September 1944, somewhere between Wolfheze and Oosterbeek, and sent to Oflag 7B at Eichstatt in Bavaria, here he was given the POW No. 91018.

“At time of capture I was wearing a red beret, Essex Regiment cap-badge, Royal Artillery shoulder tabs and parachute underneath, which completely foxed the Germans. The answer of course was that I was commissioned into the 9th Bn, The Essex Regiment in 1940, we were converted to gunners (11th (Essex) Medium Regiment, RA) in 1942 and allowed to retain our buttons and badges. When I volunteered for FOO duties and was posted to 4 Para Bde, again was allowed to retain them.

We were marched off to a small village 4 or 5 miles away and handed over to a troop of young SS soldiers to join another dozen or so prisoners. My war hadn’t  yet quite finished. A German Major came up to me and said that an RAF bomb had dropped and lodged in the cables of the cross roads several hundred yards away. My answer was to the effect of, “So what”, and he informed me that some of us would dig it up. I babbled a bit about the Geneva Conventions to no effect as he pointed to the several MG’s pointed at our wee party and more pointedly what would happen if he was refused. I asked if any of the boys knew anything about bombs, but the only response was an RAF Air Gunner who had been shot down (again, I can’t remember his name) and who said he knew a bit about them. What happened then would have been ideal for a Charlie Chaplin film. When the two of us arrived at the bomb, my RAF friend examined the bomb, which he said was approx. “a 200lb anti-personnel bomb”, but he didn’t know anything about that type. Anyway with the help of rope the Germans had kindly lent us, the Germans retreating to a good 100 yards away, we managed to get the rope under the bomb & lift it. It was fitted with some sort of propeller which, with every movement we made, started to spin. We had to carry the thing three of four hundred yards away from the village, which allowing for a number of rests, took quite a while, by the end of which I think the two of us were numbed with fright that either the spinning propellor or dropping the thing through sheer exhaustion on our part would set it off! All the time, of course, we were under the gaze of the Hun Major & his MG gunners!

As I have said, I wore a red beret with Essex Regiment cap-badge, Royal Artillery on my shoulder and a parachute underneath, which was the probable reason I spent the next 4 – 5 months [weeks] on spasmodic interrogation at a number of places, in between times being kept in Transit Camps. I was very honoured on one occasion, being taken to an old castle at Dietz (I think that is the right spelling) – all to myself I had an escort of an NCO and 6 men. Before they had handed me over to my new custodians there, however, they had each slipped me a couple of cigarettes and a packet of matches, which I was able to share with a Major (again I can’t remember his name) from 10 Bn [C] who was also having a series of interrogations.

At the various Transit Camps I had a number of interesting companions, ‘Freddie’ Gough, Col Haddon of the Dorsets [1st Bn, The Border Regiment], Col Lea, 11 Para & David Gilchrist 11 Para. I was astounded at one of my final interrogations when, after about half an hour of ‘Name, rank & number’, the German Major (accompanied by a gorgeous, blond, SS woman officer), very quietly said (can’t remember exact words) ‘you are Capt JL Brown of 1st Forward Observation Unit, RA commanded by Major. Wight-Boycott and I can inform you that Captain’s Bowerman, Buchanan, Stevens and Gow are dead . . .’

I do remember bursting out, ‘We weren’t formed until July, so how the hell do you know that?’

I could afterwards only presume that somebody else had been put into the bag & had talked a bit.

Anyway, I reached Oflag VIIB after they must have got fed up with me and stayed there until April when they marched us to Moosburg in Bavaria. We were shot up by US Mustangs on our first day and lost 40 officers killed and many wounded. General Patten’s Army relieved us there in May”. [5]

After release from captivity John was granted a permanent commission, as a Lieutenant, on the 6 February 1946, with his seniority backdated to 2 December 1941. During this period he served as the Air Liaison Officer for the 62nd Anti-Tank Regiment, RA at that time stationed at Celle in Germany.

However his appointment was cancelled on the 7 June 1946, and he left the Army and became an Officer with HM Customs & Excise.

John Lloyd Brown died on the 22nd December 2013.

NOTES:

[1], [2], [3], [4] & [5] Answer to a questionnaire from Ken Greenhough. 118 July 1995.

[A] The 11th Para Bn had moved off immediately towards Arnhem after the drop, so Capt. J.L. Brown must have been held at Wolfheze overnight. Capt. R.H. Stevens was not killed on 18/09/44, and fought alongside the 156 Para Bn (as an infantry officer) until the 24/09/44, when he was killed. The exact reason that he was moved to provide further fire-support for the 156 Para Bn therefore remains a mystery.

[B] This description would fit with the next day, when they were South of the railway line and moving away from Wolfheze, as the route back from the ‘A’ Coy, 156 Para Bn attack was due West.

[C] This was very probably Major. George Widdowson, the Second-in-Command of the 10th Parachute battalion, who was also sent to Ofalg 7B, and had the POW No. 91001.