Highlander Division in Schijndel. 

Hotel van Roessel (old Market square). 

Jansen de Wit factory. 

<p>Around midnight on 22 October 1944, the 5/7th Battalion Gordon Highlanders attack Wijbosch. At 03.00 hours the report comes in that the positions have been secured. At 06.25 hours, the 5th Battalion Black Watch led by Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Bradford, together with the Sherman tanks of the 144th RAC, move towards Schijndel. They move behind an artillery barrage. A company manages to take the two mills of the Pegstukken at 07:30 hours. B Company captures the Janssen-de Wit factory. A and B Company suffer two casualties, unfortunately as a result of friendly fire. Meanwhile, Schijndel itself is shelled intensively to weaken any German resistance. Because of the smoke and dust of the artillery shelling, the leading companies lose their way. They have advanced a little too far south. As soon as the British artillery shelling stops and the clouds of smoke lift, to their amazement, their own commanding officer and his staff are suddenly in front of them, at Janssen-de Wit's factory (now demolished) in Plein 44. The simple reason: Bradford did take the right route through the exploding shells.</p><p>Bill Bradford is a remarkable officer. During the fighting in May, April and June 1940 in France, as an officer in the 51st Highland Division, he is captured by the Germans near St-Valery. After nine days, he manages to escape and tries to cycle across the Pyrenees. He is captured again, this time by the French, and imprisoned in Vichy-France. Once more, he manages to escape again and hides on a boat and arrived in Algiers. In Algiers, he steals a small boat to sail to Gibraltar, without any experience whatsoever. A few weeks later, Bill Bradford is back in England. From 1943, he will start working for the General Staff in London regarding planning for D-Day in Normandy. On 6 June 1944, he is a liaison officer for US general Omar Bradley. After the bloody landing at Omaha Beach, where Bill Bradford is also present with the Americans, he works for General Bradley until 24 July 1944. He is then given command of the 5th Black Watch at Caen until the end of the war in Europe in 1945. After World War II, he commands some other British units until his retirement in 1959. After that, Bill Bradford keeps himself busy managing his estate, Kincardine Castle in Kincardine, until his death in 1996.</p>

Is dat onze commandant niet?

Foto's