大象传媒

Hello,

My name is Andy Bellwood and my Father J.J.G Bellwood was a WW2 Glider Pilot.

He was born in 1922 in Dumfries,Scotland.As a young man he served in his local Territorial regiment the Lanarkshire Yeomanry.

Soon after the outbreak of War,his boyhood interest in aircraft led him to
apply to the R.A.F to become a pilot but due to a minor foot conditon he was unable to pass the rigourous R.A.F medical tests.

In late 1941,recruiting began for Britain's newly forming Airborne Divisions,my Dad saw this as his second chance.He applied for selection to and subsequently joined the Glider Pilot Regiment.He served with 'E' Squadron,No.2 Wing G.P.R,
and was based at R.A.F Down Ampney in Gloucestershire.

On the 17th of September 1944,he carried men of the 7th battalion Kings own Scottish Borderers to Arnhem in Holland.This was the ill-fated Market Garden Operation,the plan to capture and secure key bridges over the river Rhine so the allies could force a way into Germany and so end the War by Christmas.

The Operation was plagued with problems from the start and after 8 days of heavy fighting the order was given to pull out.My Dad who had shrapnel injuries was one of the lucky ones to get over the river to safety.Out of the 10,000 British Airborne troops that took part just over 2,000 managed to escape.

Following the end of hostilities,my Dad became a professional model ship builder and with clients ranging from the Admiralty to TV companies,his postwar career was almost as unique and diverse as his wartime one!.In a weird twist of irony, this knowledge of working with wood to such a fine and exacting standard enabled him to work for a short time with Slingsby sailplanes,a small aircraft company who produced their own military glider during WW2,the Hengist.

Andy Bellwood - October 2003

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