September 20, 1944
Stanley Maxted (August 21, 1895 – May 10, 1963) was a Canadian soldier, singer, radio producer, journalist and actor. He worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and later for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a war correspondent during World War II.
On September 16, 1944, Maxted was summoned to a briefing regarding Operation Market Garden, an attempt by the Western Allies to gain a foothold in German-held territory in the Netherlands. Maxted was told that he and other members of the press would be accompanying British troops of the United Kingdom Royal Army First Airborne Infantry Division (the “Red Devils”) as part of an invasion on the far side of the Rhine River. The objective was to secure the bridge at the Netherlands town of Arnhem. Maxted and the other journalists were given seats aboard a glider plane that was loaded with equipment and supplies, while most of the division landed as paratroopers. After initial success upon landing, the Battle of Arnhem became increasingly desperate for the British. The planned reinforcements never arrived by land, and Allied supply planes inadvertently dropped ammunition and food rations right into German hands. Maxted sent dispatches almost daily to report on the action at Arnhem. Eventually the remaining soldiers of the 1st Airborne Division were completely surrounded at Arnhem, and were ordered to withdraw in a midnight escape. Maxted recounted crawling with the men through mud and rain to reach the Rhine River where Allied boats under machine gun fire carried them to safety on the other side. This recording is just one of four records that survived a hit from Nazi German artillery.
Just weeks following his escape from Arnhem, Maxted returned to Canada on November 2, 1944, where he told his story widely. Maxted’s account of the Battle of Arnhem can be read in a Maclean’s article from November 15, 1944 entitled “I Was at Arnhem.”
Transcript
“Just a few minutes ago the fighter cover showed up and right behind them came those lovely supply planes that you can hear up above us now. Yesterday and this morning our supplies came and they were dropped in the wrong place. The enemy got them. But now these planes have come over and they’ve dropped them right dead over us. Everybody is cheering and clapping and they just can’t give in to their feelings about what a wonderful sight this is. All these bundles and parachuted packages and ammunition are coming down here all around us through the trees, bouncing on the ground, the men are running out to get them and you have no idea what this means to us to see this ammunition and this food coming down here where the men can get it. They’re such fighters that if they can only get the stuff to fight with it’s a wonderful sight. It’s a shame when they can’t get the stuff to fight with. You can hear the kind of flames that those planes are flying through. It’s absolutely like hail up there. These enemy guns all around us are just simply hammering at those planes but so far I haven’t seen anything, I haven’t seen any of them hit. But the bundles are coming down, the parachutes are coming down, that’s all that these men have.”
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