The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans spoke with Geoff Roberts about WWII, and especially his role in Operation Market Garden.
In the video, introduced by London cab driver and Taxi Charity volunteer, Brian Heffernan, Geoff speaks movingly about his involvement in Operation Market Garden.
Geoff joined the army in 1942 and after training in Scotland he volunteered for Airborne and was posted to the 7th Battalion Kings Own Scottish Borderers as one of the replacements for a glider that had crashed.
After glider training at Brize Norton and on the Yorkshire moors and being briefed for several operations that were cancelled, he was one of the men who flew into the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden.
On a sunny afternoon, Geoff’s glider flew into the Netherlands. He was sitting in seat 28 and when they encountered a bit of flack over the Dutch coast, his friend sitting next to him in seat 29 ended up with some shrapnel in his behind.
After landing, they moved to Ginkel Heath to hold the landing strip.
In the video, Geoff talks about his time in Arnhem, digging trenches at the White House, and the retreat to Oosterbeek when he was one of the last to leave in a jeep.
He recounts feeding prisoners and a pregnant woman with a stew made from a rabbit they had caught. Forty years later, Geoff was delighted to meet the ‘baby’ as a 40-year-old woman.
Geoff talks of being captured and the German officer giving him a packet of Woodbine cigarettes and telling him in perfect English “For you the war is over”.
They were sent to the POW camp Stalag 12 A and after a few days were moved to Stalag IV-C where they worked in coal mines.
When the Russians came through, they left food and told the men to wait for the Allies but impatient for his freedom, Geoff and two other prisoners liberated some bikes and cycled to find the Americans. They were fed, clothed and flown into France from where the RAF flew them to an aerodrome near Worthing.
After being de-loused. Geoff was given eight weeks leave... …...more
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