Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry
Robson being supported at Arnhem, having been wounded and captured
Responsible for three members of Battalion HQ, including the 2nd in command Major Brennan, and a number of men of the 2nd Battalion South Staffs (Air Landing Brigade), this was to be Robson’s first glider-born operation and is given the duty description in his log book ‘Sousse “A” Sicily “Op 1.” (Air Landing Brigade)’.
After a successful departure from Sousse in Tunisia, Robson’s Waco Hadrian glider was towed by a Dakota of the U.S. Transport Command to a position off the coast of Sicily south of Syracuse where it was released for the glide in towards the shore. Although a number of the 136 Wacos and 8 Horsas were released too early by the towing craft and crashed too far out to sea, Robson was amongst those that successfully landed 250 yards from the beach. Immediately coming under fire and taking casualties, they swam for shore, with Robson assisting those unable to swim. Despite these exertions, he then joined the other five survivors in snaking through a twenty-foot belt of barbed wire, avoiding enemy fire, before embarking on a ten mile march punctuated by adventures. By the time they reached their parent element, they had taken twenty-one prisoners, three machine guns and an anti-tank gun, as the War Diary of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment records:
‘Battalion HQ was carried in 4 Waco gliders, 3 of which landed in the sea. The first glider containing Lieutenant-Colonel McCardie, Captain Connellan and Lieutenant Roberts crashed in the sea 2 miles offshore; the party swam ashore losing 2 men drowned and the C. O. and Major Murray, the senior glider pilot after running the gauntlet of enemy patrols and fire reached Ponte Grande which was then held by us. The remainder were picked up by naval craft and taken to Suez... The second glider carrying the 2nd i/c - Major Brennan, the R.M.O. Captain Miller and Lieutenant Austin, crashed in the sea 250 yards offshore; Lieutenant Austin was killed by machine gun fire while on the glider. They swam ashore and Major Brennan, Captain Miller, the 2 glider Pilots, Lieutenants Impey and Robso,n and 2 men moved off to join the Battalion. This involved a crawl through 20 feet of barbed wire covered by a pill box; clear then of the beach defences, they marched 10 miles collecting 3 men of the Anti-Tank detachment and 6 of E Company, and captured 2 pillboxes, 21 prisoners, 3 machine guns and 1 Anti-Tank gun and reached Ponte Grande in the evening. Lieutenant Impey accidentally shot himself with an enemy rifle and subsequently died. The 3rd glider carrying S Company Commanded by Major Hargroves and Captain the Rev. A. A. Buchanan landed on Cape Murro di Porco, surrounded by enemy machine gun posts and were captured... They rejoined the Battalion on 11 July. The 4th glider crashed in the sea 4 miles out. Lieutenant Warneford and 2 other ranks were drowned. Lieutenant Ashburnham, the R.S.M. and remainder of the party were picked up by naval craft and taken to Malta.’
Robson made a return to operational flying on 22 July 1943, and continued to serve at Sousse, Tunisia, throughout August. He returned to the UK, and was posted to R.A.F. Shrewton in January 1944. Advancing to Temporary Captain in March 1944, he served at R.A.F. Brize Norton before being posted to 19 Flight, F Squadron, Glider Pilot Regiment, at R.A.F. Broadwell. He transferred to 16 Flight in April 1944, and was appointed to the command of the Flight prior to it’s participation in Operation Market (the airborne element of the Operation Market Garden).
On the night of 16-17 September 1944, Captain Robson piloted Horsa Glider No. 589 as part of the airborne landing at Arnhem. On 20 September he was wounded in both legs and taken prisoner, his Log Book records ‘17 Sept 1944 Op. Market. Arnhem. [and later annotated] Sept 20 (Wounded L & R Legs & Taken Prisoner).’
In his book, I Was A Stranger, General Sir John Hackett recalls sharing a room with the recipient at Gronau Hospital, although ‘he was moved out before too long.’
A newspaper cutting included in the lot offers the following on Robson: ‘As a glider pilot of the 1st Airborne Division, he was wounded at Arnhem on September 20th, 1944, where he was picked up by the Germans and taken to Gronau Hospital, where he stayed for about 10 days, during which time he was operated upon. In an undermined condition, he was removed by cattle truck to Stalag 11B, where he had to wait for two days before being taken to Oflag IX/AH. “The distance between these two camps,” Captain Robson said, “was approximately 100 miles, and, due to the R.A.F.’s handiwork, the painful journey lasted 31 hours. There were 10 in my party, all of whom were in a grim state - we were just barely able to crawl along. We were placed in the camp hospital, where we stayed until well enough to hobble about. In this camp, there were more than 2,000 British prisoners, some of whom were the oldest inhabitants of any German prison camp, having been captured at Dunkirk in 1940...” In the teeth of the Western onslaught, Captain Robson was hastily removed from his camp and marched 20 miles a night for three consecutive nights, penetrating further into the heart of Germany. Most of the men forced to march were well over 45 years of age, and many dropped by the wayside, unable to go any further in their weakened state. Negotiations were in progress for the continuance of their “flight,” when the Americans overran them.
“They just went mad, so crazed were they with relief and joy,” Captain Robson told the Guardian.’
After his release from captivity by the 261st Infantry, U.S. Army, Captain Robson served as part of a Defence Unit at Eschwege, under the command of Colonel R. T. Holland, D.S.O., M.C., and thus qualified for ‘the special award of the France and Germany Star’ (War Office letter refers). Robson eventually returned to the UK on leave, and was able to see his new-born son for the first time.
Sold with the following original documents: Two Royal Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Books (13 August 1942 - 30 January 1944 and 6 February 1944 - 17 September 1944 respectively); prisoner of war identity card, complete with photograph of recipient and dated 11 January 1945; three P.O.W. camp postcards all sent from Oflag IX A, two of which are dated 10 October 1944 and 21 November 1944, and all are addressed to the recipient’s wife at ‘Colvin, Woodlands Road, Handforth, Cheshire, England’; a contemporary news cutting ‘Arnhem Hero is Home Again’; several photographic images of recipient, and various other related documents, including a cutting from a magazine which has an image of the recipient shortly after being taken P.O.W. at Arnhem.
www.dnw.co.uk all lots are illustrated on our website and are subject to buyers’ premium at 24% (+VAT where applicable)
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