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

Johannahoeve 1939

Grave of Trochim

Polish anti-tank units The jeeps with the Polish anti-tank guns were flown in with gliders north of the Rhine. The first units landed on September 18 near Wolfheze on Landing Zone Z. The second group followed on September 19 and landed at the Johannahoeve on LZ-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 became hell. The Polish journalist Marek Święcicki, who had landed the day before, describes how the tow planes and gliders were attacked in the air by German fighter planes. On the ground, the British troops were overrun by the Germans at that moment, causing the Poles to land between the Germans.Crash landed A British report describes: “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 probably concerns Second Lieutenant Wróblewski and Gunner Semczyszyn in the glider with chalk number 124. The photos of this glider give a good impression of the devastation.A second British eyewitness account: “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 Poles were killed or wounded during this landing. Three of them went missing in the commotion of the landing, including Corporal Trochim. Together with Trochim were two British glider pilots and Gunner Uzlowski in the glider ‘Chalk number 133’. Uzlowski describes how the German troops first shoot the British crew, who want to surrender. Then Trochim and Uzlowski follow. The Germans leave them for dead. Uzlowski survives thanks to his armored vest and ends up as a prisoner of war via a German hospital.A gravestone with a name It takes until 2021 before it becomes known what happened to Trochim's remains. He is 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 becomes clear that the body in this grave is that of Edward Trochim. In 2021 he receives a stone with his own name in a moving meeting in the cemetery. His grave can be found in section XXV, row B, grave 12.Major losses in men and equipment In total, the 19th 18 gliders with 10 guns left with their jeeps for LZ-L. The remaining 10 contained jeeps with trailers. Only four jeeps with 2 guns and 2 trailers that reach the LZ and survive the unloading leave the landing zone in the direction of Wolfheze where they cross the railway to take up positions in Oosterbeek. The remaining material is lost when two gliders have to land prematurely when the tow cable breaks or during the landing.

Landing in de hel

Foto's