Johanna hoeve Oosterbeek-Arnhem, Polish gliders on the ground. September 1944. 

Johannahoeve 1939

Grave of Trochim

Polish anti-tank units Jeeps containing Polish anti-tank guns were flown in with gliders north of the Rhine, with the first units landing on 18 September near Wolfheze on Landing Zone Z. The second group followed on 19 September, landing at the Johannahoeve on Landing Zone L.Landing in hell When the gliders with the Polish anti-tank units arrived above the landing zone on the afternoon of the 19th, the landing was hellish. Polish journalist Marek Święcicki, who had landed the day before, described how the tow planes and gliders were attacked in the air by German fighter planes. On the ground, the British troops were at that moment overrun by the German forces , causing the Polish to land among the German troops.Crash landed A British report described: “One glider had crash landed; Jeep and trailer had broken loose and shot into cockpit killing both pilots. Poles in back thrown clear but badly injured. Given morphine and stretchered off LZ by Bren carrier.” This account likely refers to Second Lieutenant Wróblewski and Gunner Semczyszyn in the glider with chalk number 124. Historical photos of this glider give a good impression of the devastation.A second British eyewitness account said: “As it was, the area in which they landed was made murderous by two machine guns and a number of snipers on the north side and the crashing of flak-hit gliders all round. I saw one glider literally torn in two on landing and the men inside, were in some cases, likewise.”Corporal Trochim killed and missing Several Polish troops were killed or wounded during this landing, and three of them went missing in the commotion. One of these was Corporal Trochim. Along with Trochim, in the glider ‘Chalk number 133’, were two British glider pilots and gunner Uzlowski. Uzlowski described how the German troops first shot the British crew, who wanted to surrender. Then Trochim and Uzlowski also followed. The German forces left them for dead, and Uzlowski survived thanks to his armoured vest, ending up in captivity via a German hospital.A gravestone with a name It was not known what had happened to Trochim's remains until 2021, who was buried on the north side of the landing site and interred as an unknown soldier in the Airborne Cemetery. Thanks to detective work by amateur historian Mroz, it became clear that the body in this grave was that of Edward Trochim. In 2021, Trochim received a stone with his own name during a poignant gathering in the cemetery. His grave can be found in section XXV, row B, grave 12.Major losses in men and equipment On 19 September 1944, a total of 18 gliders with 10 guns left with their jeeps for Landing Zone L . The remaining 10 included jeeps with trailers. Only four jeeps with two guns and two trailers that reached the Landing Zone and survived the unloading managed to leave the landing zone in the direction of Wolfheze, where they crossed the railway to took up positions in Oosterbeek. The remaining material was lost when two gliders had to land prematurely due to the tow cable break in or during landing.

Landing in de hel

Foto's