Sergeant Bernard John Frederick Haller
Unit : No.24 Flight, "G" Squadron, No.1 Wing, The Glider Pilot Regiment
Army No. : 14291815
Awards : Mentioned in Despatches
Bernard Haller was born on the 1st January 1922, and was from Bamford, near Sheffield. Before enlisting he was a Student [POW questionnaire. 11 May 1945]. He enlisted into The Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment on the 17th September 1942, and volunteered for The Glider Pilot Regiment in 1943, completing all his flying training by 1944. He did not take part in the Normandy landings, however, and was one of the crews selected to form the new No.24 Flight of "G" Squadron. He was paired with 1544962 S/Sgt. Nigel Frank Brown, and they would both participate in Operation Market Garden. The following is Sergeant Haller's personal account:
We were on the First Lift, 17/9/44. Chalk No, 435: First pilot S/Sgt. N.F. Brown. 2nd Pilot Sgt. B.J.F. Haller. Load: Major. P. Tower, Brigade Major, R.A. + Signals Section, Lt and 2 signallers, Jeep and trailer-borne radio. [This information is incorrect. The Chalk No was 516 and the load was a jeep & trailer of ammo under the command of L/Sgt. Thain, "F" Troop, No.3 Battery, 1st Airlanding Light Regiment, R.A.]
First Lift, tow rope broke (bloody fool of an overtaking tug/glider combination came right over the top of us - down blast of slipstream) force landed - very fortunately at South Cerney, [Down Ampney] undamaged. Tug (who nearly went into the deck before recovering) came and returned us on tow back to Fairford.
Second lift, 18/9/44. Took off and landed safely on First Lift LZ. Drove to Div HQ (Hartenstein).
19/20th am. Hartenstein, dug in alongside radio trailer. Increasing mortaring and to our shocked surprise a visit from 3 Focke-Wulf 190 fighters which circuited us leisurely at about 200 feet until small arms fire hastened their departure ( I had a Bren gun and had scrounged a couple of magazine loads of tracer - armour piercing - incendiary ammo from the R.A.F. armoury. Though rimless and meant for the Stirling rear guns we found it worked perfectly well in the Bren. The old hip held hose pipe method is effective so long as you keep your eyes on the target - and yes use it like a hose pipe). Where was the promised air cover?
20th pm. (Wednesday). Morale was already a bit low, sitting impotently awaiting the next mortar [stonk] and I was glad when I was invited to join a small ad-hoc group to go up onto the perimeter North of HQ. The group comprised, Lt. R (Bob) Palmer [95503 Lt Robert Victor Douglas Palmer. Section Commander, 24 Flight, 'G' Squadron], S/Sgt's T.J (Butch) Wilmot [6092888 S/Sgt Thomas John Wilmot. 24 Flight, 'G' Squadron] and Vickers (we knew him as Vic) [1086734. S/Sgt. Robert Edward Valter Vickers. 24 Flight, 'G' Squadron] and Sgt's 'Yanto' Evans [13040742. Sgt. Tudor Iewan Evans. 24 Flight, 'G' Squadron], R.M. Faulkner (Jock) [2696921. Sgt. Roland Maron Faulkner. 24 Flight, 'G' Squadron], and myself. We ended up guarding a cross-roads on the right wing of the remnants of [10th Para] (I think some 156 were around also) and held it, seems of S.S. Infantry fighting patrols and a succession of snipers until the afternoon of Saturday 23rd when a Tiger tank rolled up to just about the limits of P.I.A.T. range. A great little Para P.I.A.T. gunner joined us and hit it smack on the nose.
Our rejoicing was short lived - "after spitting out their loosened back - tooth fillings" the gun swung round and down onto our positions (like a bloody fool I'd pooped off some of the 'armour piercing' tracer, so he had a precise aiming point). Inevitably we were literally blown out and crawled away under heavy machine gun and further main gun fire. Miraculously only two of us were hit, Yanto Evans, severely in the thigh and myself through the arm. The Bren gun had gone and the position was untenable. Yanto and I were taken to Hospital which was in Enemy hands.
Of the remaining 4 of the party, Wilmot and Vickers were wounded later and were POW. Bob Palmer and Faulkner got back across the Rhine, but ironically both were subsequently killed in flying accidents. Palmer, together with Maj. Croot, our Sqn C.O and Lt. Telfer flying out over the Pyrenees.
I ended up in the King Willem III Barracks in Apeldoorn which was used as a makeshift POW Hospital. After sorting myself out for 2 - 3 weeks (I'm not really sure of dates, it's all a bit blurry), I decided that I was not going to a POW Camp in Germany and after reconnoitring the perimeter wire, in charge of a potato picking gang of walking wounded, managed to escape in the company of a Para Medical Orderly, Pte 'Jim' Hardy [1556339. Private. James Hardy. 16 Parachute Field Ambulance, R.A.M.C.]. Eventually we contacted the Dutch Underground. We chose to go NW up to the Zuider Zee Coast, rather than back South direct to the Rhine [as] several other escapers had been recaptured and brought back to Apeldoorn to discourage the rest of us.
It's a long story thereafter and I didn't get back to the UK until the end, but I still have a lot of Dutch friends.' [Letter from John Haller to Bob Hilton. 27 August 1997.]
Sergeant Haller was taken prisoner on the 23rd September, then transported to Apeldoorn on the 26th September and escaped from there on the 6th October 1944. The following is his Escape & Evasion Report:
SECRET. M.I.9/S/P.G. (H) 2991. (I.S.9/WEA/1/405/3047 incorporated).
ESCAPE FROM GERMAN HANDS IN HOLLAND.
The information contained in this report is to be treated as SECRET.
ACCOUNT OF ESCAPE OF:- 14291815. Sgt. HALLER, Bernard John Frederick. 'G' Sqn, Glider Pilot Regt. Captured: 23 Sep 44, ARNHEM. Liberated: 8 May 45.
Date of Birth: 1 Jan 22. Peacetime Profession: Student. Army Service: Since 17 Sep 42. Private Address: Glenn Villa, Clough Road, BAMFORD, Sheffield.
1). CAPTURE. I was dropped near WOLFHEZE (15 km's West of ARNHEM) on 18 Sep 44. I then moved to Div H.Q. at OOSTERBEEK, where I remained until 20 Sep 44 when I went out on patrol. On 23 Sep 44, I was wounded in an engagement with a tank and withdrew with the party to a hospital in OOSTERBEEK, which, unknown to them, was in German hands.
2). HOSPITALS. OOSTERBEEK. 23 - 24 Sep 44. ARNHEM. 24 - 25 Sep 44. APELDOORN. 25 Sep - 6 Oct 44.
3). ESCAPE. On the night 6/7 Oct 44, Pte. HARDY, James, R.A.M.C., attached 1 Bde Parachute Regt, and I remained in hiding in the mess-hall under a table and avoided notice by the German guards who came round to see that all P/W were back in their quarters. About midnight we went through the door when the two German guards were asleep and made our way to the perimeter wire. We crawled along a ditch to a weak spot in the wire which I had noticed the previous day when out on a working party. We crawled through the wire in brilliant moonlight and did not see any sentries about.
We found ourselves in a wooded area with the aid of a compass from our escape kit and a small map which HARDY possessed we headed in a N.W. direction for approximately 16 hours. On 7 Oct 44, we approached an outlying farm, where we were given food and sheltered until 9 Oct 44. After half an hour's walking we met a Dutch Forester who provided food and shelter in a hide-out in the forest. On the morning of 11 Oct 45, the forester informed us that the Germans were searching the forest and that we must leave. The German patrol came along and we crawled into a thick clump of young trees, and so avoided detection. We then went into the part of the forest already searched and hid up until the Germans departed.
We returned to the forester, knowing where his cottage was, and obtained food and made off towards VIERHOUTEN (15 km's east of HARDERWIJK) which we reached at 2200 hrs on 11 Oct 44.
We approached a farm at HULSHORST on 12 Oct 44 and the son of the farmer put us in touch with an organisation. We were liberated on 8 may 45 at GOUDRIAAN after having been passed on to various organisations. Pte. HARDY, James, R.A.M.C. became separated from me near EDE (20 km's N.W. of ARNHEM) about 24 Nov 44, when HARDY went off with another party.
For his successful escape Sgt. Haller was awarded a Mentioned in Despatches, which was listed in the London Gazette on the 1st November 1945:
After being wounded during fighting at Arnhem on 23rd September 1944, Haller was taken to Oosterbeek hospital which was then in German hands. On 5th October 1944 when many of the Prisoners of War were being evacuated to Germany Haller hid in the cookhouse, and here he was joined by a medical orderly. The next day, to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible, they joined a fatigue party, returning to the cookhouse in the evening. Later they succeeded in crossing the courtyard and reaching the outer wall without attracting the attention of the two sentries. An observation post was located nearby, but they reached an opening in the wire which in some parts replaced the wall. Before they gained open country they had to climb over two barbed wire barriers. They made their way to Hurlsherst where they found help. Haller remained hidden until liberated on 8th May 1945.
He transferred to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on the 26th September 1946.
My thanks to Bob Hilton and John Howes for this account.