A new website – www.soldiersfromthesky.co.uk – documents the remarkable back-stories of how south Lincolnshire hosted Airborne Forces from three nations ahead of two major World War II operations.
It is part of Soldiers From The Sky, a project supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund gathering largely untold accounts of how Allied Airborne soldiers from Britain, America and Poland prepared for D-Day and Operation Market Garden (Arnhem) – two of the most audacious military actions of 1944.
Thanks to National Lottery players, South Kesteven District Council was awarded £147,500 to illustrate how the district absorbed thousands of troops, witnessed their training and saw paratroopers leave from local airfields aboard giant airborne armadas.
Ferrying them into battle were the unsung heroes of America’s IX Troop Carrier Command, launching waves of C-47 transport aircraft from airfields around Grantham at Fulbeck, Folkingham, North Witham, Saltby and Barkston Heath.
Stamford rang to Polish voices and American troops charmed local communities as South Kesteven was transformed into a combat training area with the British 1st Airborne Division centre stage.
The skies were regularly full of US C-47 Dakota aircraft manoeuvring for paratrooper practice drops.
Elite American Pathfinders spearheaded the D-Day airborne invasion, flying from a local airfield to set up drop zone location markers in enemy territory to guide in their countrymen.
It’s a story that has won support from the highest military levels.
Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison, formerly Colonel Commandant of the Parachute Regiment, backed the project from the outset and narrates a video on the website.
He said: “As a Regiment, we embrace our Airborne heritage in the Netherlands and what happened as our Airborne soldiers fought to seize and secure key river bridges at Arnhem in 1944.
“What is exciting to discover, thanks to this project, is how much of our British 1st Airborne Division history and that of our Allies lies in this quiet corner of Lincolnshire, which has been largely undiscovered until now.
“It’s very rewarding to think that so many more people will now gain an awareness of what happened in South Kesteven in 1944.”
Thanks to Soldiers From The Sky, South Kesteven has a new visitor trail of national and international significance.
It includes evocative airfields, pubs where Airborne troops of three nations supped English ale, cherished churches where they worshipped, soldiers’ wartime accommodation still welcoming visitors today – and a host of stories.
Lt John Grayburn, posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery holding the road bridge at Arnhem against overwhelming odds, spent the build up to Arnhem on the Easton Estate near Grantham.
Others were killed in training, including 26 Polish Paratroopers and eight American aircrew who died in a mid-air collision near Stamford.
Dogs of war included Major Jerry, the Dalmatian killed with decorated American veterans in a mid-air training collision near Grantham in December 1944 and sheepdog Smokey, rescued from a bomb site in London to become a much-loved mascot for Polish troops.
War diaries have revealed gruelling training marches and mock battles, with trails inviting travel through beautiful countryside once familiar to airborne troops preparing to join the fight for freedom.
Places of interest include sites with airborne heritage still welcoming visitors today, including Easton Walled Gardens, the Hare and Hounds in Fulbeck (the heart of British 1st Airborne Division activity) the Angel and Royal Hotel in Grantham and St Vincent’s Church in Caythorpe.
The website also has an informative education pack for KS2 pupils as part of its Poppies on Pebbles creative initiative that encourages art, poetry and Remembrance.
The 18-month project has included commemorative events, development of a smartphone app, visitor-friendly information for Airborne-related sites, the planting of 2,400 maroon Airborne Tulip Memorial bulbs and new information boards.
Cllr Bridget Ley, SKDC’s Armed Forces Champion, said: “We are delighted to offer this unprecedented and exciting chance for people to discover, explore and share the back-stories to this amazing chapter of our military heritage.
“We are extremely grateful to National Lottery players and The National Lottery Heritage Fund for enabling us to celebrate this amazing chapter in the District’s history.
“The website is a living legacy to those who briefly called this District home, those men of three nations who trained here and left for battle, many never to return.”
Historic Detail
Two of the most daring and iconic Airborne operations of the war were planned and launched from South Kesteven:
- D-Day, 6 June 1944: Elite American Pathfinder paratroopers were the first into the air from RAF North Witham – now Twyford Wood near Colsterworth. spearheading the US Airborne assault, setting up beacons for the main US Airborne force. US aircraft from local airfields then dropped more than 6,300 paratroopers of the US 82nd Airborne Division in Normandy.
- Operation Market Garden (Arnhem): the largest Airborne assault of WW2, memorialised in the film ‘A Bridge Too Far’. US aircraft flying from local airfields dropped more than 8,600 British, US and Polish paratroopers, and towed more than 3,000 US glider troops to their landing zones in the Netherlands.
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