thedrifter
09-21-09, 09:08 AM
Pacific Grove man recalls 'Bridge Too Far' jump behind enemy lines
Man jumped behind enemy lines in WWII
By KEVIN HOWE
Herald Staff Writer
Monterey County Herald
Updated:09/15/2009 10:25:28 AM CDT
On Sept. 17, 1944, Cpl. Jerome "Jerry" Morse parachuted into Holland from a C-47 transport plane that had an engine trailing smoke. He landed on his back in a cornfield.
Bullets immediately began whizzing overhead, chipping off bits of cornstalk that rained down on him.
"I was too scared to sit up to unbuckle my parachute," he recalled.
Instead, he slashed off the straps with a knife, inadvertently cutting away the pack that contained his extra socks, grenades, blanket and field rations. He left all of it behind as he crawled away under fire.
"I didn't take off my boots for a month," he said.
Morse is a veteran of Operation Market Garden, in which thousands of British, Polish and American infantrymen dropped by parachute or glider behind German lines in an attempt to seize bridges throughout the Netherlands and open the way for an invasion across the Rhine River into the German lowlands.
Now 84, he still maintains a private pilot's license and flies. He and his wife, Audrey, whom he married nine years ago after both were widowed, live in Pacific Grove.
Audrey Morse has planned a party Thursday to celebrate the 65th anniversary of her husband's jump over Holland.
"We're inviting all the ex-service people we know," she said.
The tale of Market Garden is told extensively in Cornelius Ryan's account "A Bridge Too Far" and in a 1977 film based on the book.
That "Bridge Too Far" was the bridge at Arnhem spanning the Rhine River, the target of the 1st British Airborne Division. The attack ended after days of bloody and bitter fighting with the evacuation of the British from Arnhem and the bridge uncaptured.
Morse and other members of the 82nd Airborne Division were tasked with capturing the bridge at Nijmegen. His unit had jumped 60 miles behind German lines, the plan being that follow-up ground forces would link up with the paratroopers after the bridges were captured.
His unit captured the Nijmegen bridge by paddling across the Waal River in collapsible boats, suffering horrendous losses in the process.
Morse recalled roads blocked by stalled British tanks during the attack. Troops were pounded by enemy mortar fire after occupying positions the Germans had held, a chaotic and confused battle that foundered on a lack of supplies and coordination among allies.
Before nightfall, Morse said, he saw a patch of red showing from beneath some debris, pulled it out and discovered a big German battle flag with a swastika and iron crosses.
"It was made of wool," he said. "I used it for a blanket."
He still has the flag, along with a Luger he took off a dead German later in the battle.
"My CO (commanding officer) told me I'd be in trouble if I was captured with the flag and the pistol," he said.
Morse said he had been declared 4-F — unfit for service — because of allergies. But after his school friends all enlisted and his father joined the Navy Seabees — construction battalions — he tore up the rejection letter from his draft board and went from his home in Redwood City up to San Francisco to volunteer for the airborne.
"I saw a film, 'This is the Army,' and I liked the paratroopers' boots," he said.
After his fifth training jump at Fort Benning, Ga., Morse said, he and his buddies got the right to wear those spit-shined boots tucked into their uniform trousers, and were given a four-hour pass to town.
"I was looking at myself in a store window as I was walking down the street," he said, "and I walked into a telephone pole."
He recalled that he and his fellow troopers were quarantined in Britain for about three weeks before their jump into Holland.
"We knew we were going in on Sept. 17," he said. "I sent a letter to my mother telling her to wish my sister Pat a happy birthday on the 17th. She turned on her radio that day and heard a live broadcast about our jump into Holland."
His father, Morse said, was supporting the Marines on Tarawa, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, at the same time he was fighting Germans in Europe.
Morse's combat tour ended when a cannon shell from a German tank passed so close to his head he was sure he was grazed by it.
Medics at an aid station determined he had no wounds, but he did have a severe case of trench foot after leaving those valuable socks behind when he landed in the cornfield. Morse was evacuated back to England.
After the war, he worked construction and sales, last with a firm in Los Angeles that provided offshore drilling equipment. He retired at age 60.
Morse still has his old paratrooper's uniform, and it still fits. He'll wear it to the party.
Kevin Howe can be reached at 646-4416 or khowe@montereyherald.com.
Ellie
Man jumped behind enemy lines in WWII
By KEVIN HOWE
Herald Staff Writer
Monterey County Herald
Updated:09/15/2009 10:25:28 AM CDT
On Sept. 17, 1944, Cpl. Jerome "Jerry" Morse parachuted into Holland from a C-47 transport plane that had an engine trailing smoke. He landed on his back in a cornfield.
Bullets immediately began whizzing overhead, chipping off bits of cornstalk that rained down on him.
"I was too scared to sit up to unbuckle my parachute," he recalled.
Instead, he slashed off the straps with a knife, inadvertently cutting away the pack that contained his extra socks, grenades, blanket and field rations. He left all of it behind as he crawled away under fire.
"I didn't take off my boots for a month," he said.
Morse is a veteran of Operation Market Garden, in which thousands of British, Polish and American infantrymen dropped by parachute or glider behind German lines in an attempt to seize bridges throughout the Netherlands and open the way for an invasion across the Rhine River into the German lowlands.
Now 84, he still maintains a private pilot's license and flies. He and his wife, Audrey, whom he married nine years ago after both were widowed, live in Pacific Grove.
Audrey Morse has planned a party Thursday to celebrate the 65th anniversary of her husband's jump over Holland.
"We're inviting all the ex-service people we know," she said.
The tale of Market Garden is told extensively in Cornelius Ryan's account "A Bridge Too Far" and in a 1977 film based on the book.
That "Bridge Too Far" was the bridge at Arnhem spanning the Rhine River, the target of the 1st British Airborne Division. The attack ended after days of bloody and bitter fighting with the evacuation of the British from Arnhem and the bridge uncaptured.
Morse and other members of the 82nd Airborne Division were tasked with capturing the bridge at Nijmegen. His unit had jumped 60 miles behind German lines, the plan being that follow-up ground forces would link up with the paratroopers after the bridges were captured.
His unit captured the Nijmegen bridge by paddling across the Waal River in collapsible boats, suffering horrendous losses in the process.
Morse recalled roads blocked by stalled British tanks during the attack. Troops were pounded by enemy mortar fire after occupying positions the Germans had held, a chaotic and confused battle that foundered on a lack of supplies and coordination among allies.
Before nightfall, Morse said, he saw a patch of red showing from beneath some debris, pulled it out and discovered a big German battle flag with a swastika and iron crosses.
"It was made of wool," he said. "I used it for a blanket."
He still has the flag, along with a Luger he took off a dead German later in the battle.
"My CO (commanding officer) told me I'd be in trouble if I was captured with the flag and the pistol," he said.
Morse said he had been declared 4-F — unfit for service — because of allergies. But after his school friends all enlisted and his father joined the Navy Seabees — construction battalions — he tore up the rejection letter from his draft board and went from his home in Redwood City up to San Francisco to volunteer for the airborne.
"I saw a film, 'This is the Army,' and I liked the paratroopers' boots," he said.
After his fifth training jump at Fort Benning, Ga., Morse said, he and his buddies got the right to wear those spit-shined boots tucked into their uniform trousers, and were given a four-hour pass to town.
"I was looking at myself in a store window as I was walking down the street," he said, "and I walked into a telephone pole."
He recalled that he and his fellow troopers were quarantined in Britain for about three weeks before their jump into Holland.
"We knew we were going in on Sept. 17," he said. "I sent a letter to my mother telling her to wish my sister Pat a happy birthday on the 17th. She turned on her radio that day and heard a live broadcast about our jump into Holland."
His father, Morse said, was supporting the Marines on Tarawa, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, at the same time he was fighting Germans in Europe.
Morse's combat tour ended when a cannon shell from a German tank passed so close to his head he was sure he was grazed by it.
Medics at an aid station determined he had no wounds, but he did have a severe case of trench foot after leaving those valuable socks behind when he landed in the cornfield. Morse was evacuated back to England.
After the war, he worked construction and sales, last with a firm in Los Angeles that provided offshore drilling equipment. He retired at age 60.
Morse still has his old paratrooper's uniform, and it still fits. He'll wear it to the party.
Kevin Howe can be reached at 646-4416 or khowe@montereyherald.com.
Ellie