The first parachute course was held at Texel in 1994. All jumps were carried out from a Cessna Caravan using British GQ Aero conical parachutes.. Of the thirteen jumpers on the course nine went on to become Pathfinder members. This course was not completed because of bad weather.
This was a well attended course with over 50 jumpers attending. A detachment of Danish Long Range Recon troops from the Danish reserve forces joined the large Pathfinder group. The ground training went well. The socialising was going even better as the Danes seemed to pull out a never ending stream of beer from the boots of their cars. The British group did not complain. It would have been bad manners to refuse another nations hospitality.. The Danes were in a strange situation. Their government would not pay for Airborne reserves to be par trained. Only the regular airborne units received this training. This was embarrassing for them to turn up on an exercise with their regular counterparts and while they parachuted in the reservist were bussed into the training area. So taking the initiative many of their members attended other countries parachute courses at their own expense to gain their wings ,just to show they had as much guts as the regulars .They were a good bunch of blokes. Spoke good English and had a great sense of humour. The sticks were mixed up to encourage everyone to work together. This worked well with. Everyone helping the next guy. The group was lead by Frede Korsack a grizzled Staff Sergeant with a lot of years of military experience. We worked well together and so it was a unanimous decision to ask the Danes if they would like to join Pathfinder. This was the start of our continued partnership with the Danes. All jumps were completed with only a few bruises. Wings awarded and we hit the long road home.
This course was the start of Pathfinder Denmark with Fred as the group leader and Paul Monggaard as his 2i/c.
Sgt Instructor Adrian Simms, Sgt. Instructor Andrew Hampton and myself set off from Northern Ireland in the early hours of Saturday the 25th April 1998 to attend the Dutch Military Parachutist Course in Holland. We arrived on Texel Island at approximately 1330. As soon as we arrived we had to get changed into combats to begin ground training. There were three other British jumpers on the course, two ex regular soldiers and one currently serving in the T.A. There were also eight Italian soldiers on the course with us. To pass the course and gain your Dutch wings all you have to do is complete five static line jumps with a round parachute from a AN-2 Antonov troop carrier. We managed to complete by Tuesday thanks to good weather. The jumping was exhilarating, once you hit the ground you wanted to go back up again. I knew what it was like as I had jumped before in Northern Ireland, but Adrian and Andrew did not know what to expect. They both passed the course and enjoyed the experience. If we had not passed the course due to bad weather or mechanical failure then we would have had two years in which to return and complete the course at no extra cost.
At Ground School we were taught exit training, parachute landing falls, parachute theory, emergency procedure, steering the parachute and how to pack it. The last subject had us all worried and after the first jump it took four of us over two hours to pack one chute. On the Thursday we had to return all the parachutes back to the packing store. These had to be repacked first and so we had a private competition. We paired off, Andy and myself were partners and completed our chute in 13 minuets 4 seconds. The whole course was very safe at all times, the centre was very professional and the instructors helpful and friendly.
Because we finished the course early we managed to fit in a trip to the Airborne Forces Museum at Arnhem. I would highly recommend the course to anyone who was interested. A good time was had by all. We hope to fit in the Estonian course next time round.
By Sgt. Inst. Lee McDowell
E Company
Our
group had worked for nearly three years to get permission to jump at Arnhem
When it happened it came out of the blue. from an unexpected source. Due to
a bit of back stabbing from another organisation, we had lost the use of the
Dakota jump ship we had planned to use. This however went in our favour as
our sponsor agreed we could use his donation to put towards the use of an
AN-2.. And so it ended up with us getting two jump ships instead of one. We
still had the same number of jumpers but in my opinion, two aircraft on the
run in made for a better display
We had started off with a basic course at Texel where most of the jumpers completed five jumps for their Dutch B wing. On the course we had two injuries. Steve Gee broke his ankle on his second jump which was our most serious. At least six of the qualified jumpers were unable to get to Holland for one reason or another so we were making frantic phone calls to fill the slots. We were still doing this right up to the Friday night when we moved to Arnhem. Five of our Dutch friends volunteered to fill some of the places in the second aircraft.
Due to circumstances beyond our control we missed our first window for the drop but were re-scheduled for a little while later. Once again this went in our favour as the ground mist that was the cause of our delay cleared in favour of Blue Skies. Our entrance was the more spectacular as we now followed 4 Para and the veteran jumpers into the DZ behind the Polish Airborne Brigade and the Dutch Airborne.
The aircraft exits were smooth and professional, considering half our jumpers had never received British Paratrooper training. The exits could only be described later by one of the Paras as "Fast as shit of a shovel". This shows the high standard of training we get from our instructors at Texel. We had been joined at Deelen airfield by Ron, Paul and the rest of our in-date jumpers, most being experienced military jumpers which went a long way to improve the standard of our display. It had been strange standing on the airfield pan drawing and fitting our chutes. On one side were the two ancient AN-2 "Colt" aircraft whilst a short distance away were hundreds of modern soldiers entering their C130 Hercules. One group dressed in WW2 uniform and the other in modern uniform. It was like being in a time machine gone wrong. Old and new brought together for one fleeting moment in time. The ground mist swirling around the aircraft gave it an eerie effect
The sky was clear as both AN2s lumbered along the runway and bounced into the air together. They flew in a loose formation over the Rhine at approximately 3000ft AGL. It was an emotional moment. The drop was better than we expected and for all our jumpers the sight of thousands of spectators stretched along the edge of Ginkle Heath drop zone watching us descend was a fantastic moment. One veteran came up to me as I field packed my chute and commented on the Pegasus shoulder flash on my battle dress blouse. He had seen them clearly across the DZ and he was angry that the emblem had now been taken away from our own regulars paratroopers. I agreed with him. It had been a bad move and a blow to our morale.
Old and young alike patted us on the back and congratulated us. Another veteran with tears in his eyes thanked us for representing him and his comrades. I felt very humble. We must not forget that we were there to keep alive the memory of all the young soldiers who jumped into battle that long time ago. It was a courageous act which, had it worked, would have shortened the war by several months. It had gone terribly wrong and cost a lot of lives on both sides. Many Dutch people had lost their lives in the battle and in the months to follow, but still they thanked us.
Personally I believe this battle should never be forgotten and we in Pathfinder will do our best to keep these memories alive. A big thank you to all that helped make Arnhem the success we had hoped for. This includes the wives and girlfriends who worked hard behind the scenes, helping to get uniforms to fit misshapen jumpers-not an easy task. Thanks to our sponsors and our Dutch friends and to Para Centrum Texel for the refresher training and technical support. Last but not least our grateful thanks to the veterans who's sacrifices we remember and honour by jumping on this day.
Bruce Cox our Arnhem veteran after his second parachute drop into
Ginkle Heath. This time he was not shot at.
