18th September 1944

Initially, the first wave of 2 South Staffs dug in and secured the landing zones and were due to await the second wave on the afternoon of the eighteenth, but at 09:00 hours, orders were given to advance to Arnhem to relieve 1 Para Battalion at the road bridge. En route, near the Wolfhezen Hotel, they came under sporadic sniper fire, and more seriously, were strafed by German fighters patrolling after heavy bombardment the previous day by RAF Lancaster bombers. Fortunately they suffered only a few casualties in this attack, before they managed to enter the built-up area around a cross-roads, where they picked up a good number of stragglers from 1 Para Brigade. These were unable to give much of a clue as to what lay ahead, but it was beginning to appear obvious that the Germans had used the intervening twenty-four hours since the first incursion of paratroopers to significantly reinforce their positions, and this became perfectly obvious when they came under heavy-machine-gunfire from the high ground surrounding Mariendaal.

In fact the line of trees running due south from Mariendaal to the Utrechtshe Weg was completely held by the opposition. It was obvious that without the remainder of the battalion, which had landed at 15:30, and [the majority, anyway] were on their way to regroup with them; a push straight down into Arnhem via this route would simply not be feasible. A recce found an alternative route and at 17:30 hours, B Company with Battalion HQ & Support Companies made their way toward Arnhem itself via that route, covered in its early stages by D Company from their rearguard position, attempting to suppress the fire from the entrenched German troops surrounding them. As darkness fell, the forward group joined up with about seventy troops from the 1st Para Battalion, who had been involved in heavy fighting and were exhausted. It was obvious that any further advance towards impending heavy street fighting within the narrow confines of the town would be unwise at best until the rest of the battalion rejoined them. More tomorrow.