Proud Paras: the 2023 Battle of Arnhem commemoration service. Croydon is Arnhem’s twin town, but does not have any plans to mark the 80th anniversary
Council has no plans to commemorate 80th anniversary of one of the most famous battles of the Second World War, which was centred on Croydon’s twin town in the Netherlands
In the early hours of September 17, 1944, tens of thousands of Allied troops were parachuted into occupied territory in the Netherlands. This was the start of Operation Market Garden, General Montgomery’s bold scheme to seize strategically important bridges through almost 70 miles of low-lying Dutch lands and on towards the Rhine and Nazi Germany.
Key to this was the final bridge, at Arnhem, where British glider-borne troops and paratroops from Poland and Britain were sent on a mission to secure and hold the position for 24 hours, maximum, until the cavalry – armoured cavalry, that is – could relieve them.
It all proved to be another British military misadventure, of course, with tragic outcomes for the troops thrust into the front line. The Allies held the bridge for three days and four nights, all to no avail.
Cornelius Ryan’s book on Market Garden, which was turned into an epic war film by Richard Attenborough, summed up the operation’s failings in its title: A Bridge Too Far.
The bridge too far: lightly armed British and Polish paratroops held central Arnhem against Nazi Panzers for almost four days
Some 17,000 British, American, Polish and Canadian troops were casualties during the course of the week-long action, half of those losses from 1st Airborne, the British and Polish paratroopers dropped in or around Arnhem. At least 500 Dutch civilians lost their lives.
Hitler exacted his revenge on the Netherlands by cutting off food supplies: around 22,000 civilians died of hunger.
Since the end of the war, the Battle of Arnhem has been marked by Dutch, British, American, Polish and, more recently, German veterans, with a range of activities, including an annual Airborne March, with more than 30,000 participants.
Croydon has been twinned with Arnhem since the bleak days immediately after the war. There was a time when the council would send a delegation, often including the ceremonial mayor, to the Netherlands to mark the anniversary and pay their respects.
In 2024, it appears that that solemn connection had been forgotten.
Our Dutch friends still take pride in their association with this bit of south London.
“These twinning schemes are based on the exchange of knowledge in the fields of sport, culture, economy and development,” according to the website of Arnhem’s local authority.
They call Croydon a city… bless.
Solemn: the war graves at Oosterbeek, outside Arnhem, where 1,700 allied soldiers are buried
“The connection with the city of Croydon (a suburb of London) was established after the Second World War, when both Arnhem and Croydon were completely destroyed. On 9 April 1985 an official agreement of friendship and cooperation was concluded between Croydon and Arnhem.
“Every year, various scouting and sports clubs from Arnhem go to Croydon. And young people from Croydon are coming to Arnhem as part of an exchange project. There are plans to strengthen economic ties with Croydon as well, by getting companies from both cities to work together more.”
This might be a bit out of date. But Arnhem at least still has its Croydonplein, or Croydon Square.
Here in Croydon, our crass council officials and gormless elected representatives have done their best to obliterate all references to Arnhem.
The council’s twinning budget was always modest – £10,000 10 years ago; the Tories wanted to cut even that. But since 2014, commemorations and twin town activities have dwindled into nothingness.
What was once an enduring memorial to the civic partnership, The Arnhem Gallery at the Fairfield Halls, was eradicated in the controversial refurbishment, to be replaced by “The Wreck”. Which says much for our council’s concept of continuity and respect.
There is a “Croydon-Arnhem Working Group”. Never has the word “working” been more misused.
There is no record of a single meeting of this group on the council website since 2016.
The only councillor assigned to this group is Labour’s “Thirsty” Clive Fraser. Fraser’s only known association with the Dutch is an over-fondness for their lagers.
Mayor Jason Perry does have one Tory councillor with some military background, the thuggish Tony Pearson.
Pearson loves to wrap himself in the union flag at every opportunity, perhaps to cloak his less-savoury antics when a steward at Selhurst Park, or his time as a fully paid-up member of the Democrats and Veterans Party, a far-right, Trump-esque splinter group with an unapologetic anti-Muslim stance (“We will fight to preserve our Judeo-Christian heritage,” the DVP said on its website).
Thuggish: Tony Pearson was made civic mayor and ‘military liaison’
Pearson and Croydon Tories kissed and made up just in time to win back a council seat in New Addington, and Mayor Perry quickly saw Pearson installed as the borough’s ceremonial mayor.
Now, Pearson describes himself as the council’s “military liaison councillor”. He once did a spell in the Pioneer Corps (the regiment filled with soldiers capable of little else than digging latrines). On the council website, Pearson – lists connections with six, mostly reservist, military groups, including “Mortar Platoon, B Company, 4th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment”.
Yes… the Paras. The regiment that did so much at Arnhem.
Inside Croydon asked the council’s propaganda bunker what are its plans for the Arnhem 80th anniversary commemorations. They failed to respond.
There’s no mention of Arnhem’s 80th anniversary commemorations on the council’s website. Nor is there any mention of this solemn occasion on Pearson’s Twitter feed.
Perhaps the Paras ought to get shot of this pompous little waste of space?
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