Special sadness at this year’s Melton paratroopers reunion services

Members of 151/156 Battalion The Parachute Regiment Association gather every year for a service at St Mary’s Church and another at Saltby Airfield, where the men flew off from to fight at the Battle of Arnhem.

And on Saturday they paid particular tribute to the memory of the last two surviving paras with 156 Battalion, Maj Jeffrey Noble and Col John Waddy, who both passed away this year.

Both men were regular attendees of the reunion services until recent years and John, who died only last month, was instrumental in initially starting them up.

John O’Reilly, whose father also fought at Arnhem and who has written several books about the battalions, told the Melton Times about this year’s commemoration: “These reunions flash by pretty quickly but this one really did put a strong marker down as it was not just a reunion of the battalion but also a service of remembrance for the last two 156 members who flew to Arnhem from Saltby on September 18, 1944.

“Colonel Waddy died on September 27 and Major Jeffrey Noble, who was officer commanding Machine Gun Company at Arnhem, died on Thursday, June 4.

“He lost more than half his men, 18 of whom were killed when their Dakota aircraft was shot down on its approach to the drop zone.

“Both these officers were billeted in Melton, Waddy at Newport Lodge Stables and Noble at The Spinney.”

This year’s reunion almost did not go ahead due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it was decided to hold a small church service and a wreath-laying at Saltby Airfield for 30 people, given the loss of two of the battalion’s most revered veteran officers.

Air Marshall Phillip Sturley CB, MBE, FRaeS Retired, Saltby Gliding Club’s deputy CFI and a very well respected instructor, was in attendance at the airfield service.

In the 1970s he was the base commander at RAF Cottesmore, from where the 156 Parachute Battalion carried out most of their parachute training in 1944.

Military Chaplain Brian McAvoy conducted this service and the one at St Mary’s Church, where Dr Andrew Montgomery gave a moving talk about his father, Cpt Hector Montgomery, who lost an arm whilst attacking a tank at Wolfheze.

Several association members also attended Col Waddy’s funeral in Somerset on October 6. Col Waddy, who had celebrated his 100th birthday in June, was laid to rest by a burial party from the 4th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, with his famous slouch hat on top of his coffin.

We published an obituary for Col Waddy earlier this month and Mr O’Reilly has this week been giving an insight into what kind of man he was.

The Arnhem hero was a military adviser for the 1977 Hollywood movie A Bridge Too Far, directed by Richard Attenborough and which was based on the battle.

Mr O’Reilly said: “Looking back on his six months as adviser Waddy considered Lord Attenborough had all the qualities of a great leader.

“Waddy had frequent arguments with the producers – particularly when the entire fleet of aircraft was painted the wrong colour – and became good friends with Edward Fox, Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine, who all mucked in with the crew.

“On the other hand, he thought Sean Connery never took any interest in anybody and remembered Robert Redford repeatedly misfiring his gun.”

Col Waddy, who met wife Ann during the war when she worked at the Melton Remount Depot, was badly wounded in fighting after parachuting into Ginkel Heath in 1944.

It was the second day of the battle when Waddy flew to Arnhem. A full set of the plans for Operation Market Garden had been captured by the Germans the day before so they were well prepared.

When Col Waddy spoke about his experiences in the battle he recalled that the American pilots and crew of the Dakota aircraft which carried his men to Holland were as green as his battalion.

He said: “The flak was becoming more intense as we travelled across the Dutch countryside when the aircraft to my right was hit on the port wing and caught fire; it began a steep dive of around 45 degrees.

“When it hit the ground, it exploded into a fireball.

“I looked at my men who were seated each side of the aircraft who, in the din, had not noticed what had just happened – I said nothing.”

The day after landing on the outskirts of Arnhem, Waddy, who was the commander of B Company, was advancing through a wooded area under heavy fire from elements of the 9th SS Panzer Division.

He was hit by gunfire before and was taken to the Hotel Tafelberg at Oosterbeek, where doctors began operating on him on a billiard table.

For five days Waddy watched a stream of casualties brought in as the battle raged outside and bullets smacked into the walls of the room.

A mortar bomb scored a direct hit, killing six other patients and wounding him again.

He was captured by the Germans and woke to hear two German doctors discussing amputating his foot.

A German nurse then pulled out a two-inch mortar splinter in a moment of excruciating pain.

Recovering after six weeks, Waddy was put on a hospital train for Stalag Luft VIIA at Moosburg, Bavaria.

There he was sentenced to five days in solitary confinement for cheekily slowly walking with his hands in his pockets past the office of the kommandant.

From the mid-1980s Col Waddy played a leading role in establishing 156 Battalion reunions each autumn in Melton.

He was the last surviving member of his battalion, as well as the last officer who fought at Arnhem.

His battalion suffered the highest casualty rate – 75 per cent - with more than 100 men killed. Only 37 men, some escaping on Operation Pegasus, would return to their base in Melton, and the battalion was disbanded in October 1944.