Private John Nicholas Bright
Unit : No.4 Platoon, "B" Company, 11th Parachute Battalion
Army No. : 14640550
Private Bright was captured on Wednesday 20th September, but escaped and, having been sheltered by the underground, was evacuated across the Rhine on the 22nd October 1944 with Operation Pegasus. The following is his MI9 report:
Name: 14640550 Pte. Bright, John Nicholas.
Unit: 3rd Parachute Battalion, 1st Parachute Brigade. [Note: Bright served with the 11th Parachute Battalion at Arnhem, but was posted to the 3rd Battalion on his return]
Captured: Arnhem, 19th September 1944.
Escaped: Apeldoorn, about 29th September 1944.
Left: Holland, 24th October 1944.
Arrived: U.K., 24th October 1944.
Date of Birth: 6th April 1925.
Army Service: Since July 1943.
Peacetime Profession: Quarry worker.
Private Address: 6 Coventry Avenue, St. John's, Worcester.
Map used: N.W. EUROPE, 1:250,000, Sheet 2A and 3A.
1. CAPTURE.
I was dropped with my Battalion on 19 Sep 44 about seven miles West of ARNHEM. We marched to ARNHEM, and in the attack on the morning of 20 Sep I was wounded and captured.
I was taken to a hospital in ARNHEM (name not known).
We were here until moved by the Germans by truck to APELDOORN (Z 70) on about 27 Sep. We were in APELDOORN hospital for one night, and on the following morning were put on a train to be moved to GERMANY.
2. ESCAPE.
The train was in a siding, and in the same compartment as myself were Sgt. KAY (S/P.G.(H)2857), L/Cpl. COOK, and Pte. KERR.
The details of the way we jumped from the train have been released by Sgt. KAY, and my experiences were the same as his up to 29 Sep, when I went to another house in APELDOORN, where I stayed until 22 Oct. Pte. KERR went somewhere else, and I did not see him again.
On the train were R.Q.M.S. MORRIS, Sgt. STONE, and L/Cpl. DUFFY, who were preparing to escape, but I am not sure whether they succeeded.
On 22 Oct I was moved to EDE (E 58), where I joined the main party, with which I was evacuated on 24 Oct.