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Auction: 20002 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Space Exploration
Lot: 435

The campaign group of three awarded to Lieutenant E. J. Markwick, 2nd Wing, Glider Pilot Regiment, Army Air Corps, who took part in Operation Market Garden and died of wounds received in action on 22 September 1944

1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; War Medal 1939-45, with O.H.M.S. box of issue with typed label to 'Mrs D. Marwick, 156, Moreton Road, Wallasey, Cheshire.', and condolence slip to 'Lieut Eric John Markwick', note spelling of surname to box, very fine (3)

Eric John Markwick was born on 23 December 1917 at Wallasey, the son of James and May Catherine Markwick of Wallasey, Cheshire. Originally enlisting for the Cameron Highlanders, he was appointed to a commission in the King's Regiment and subsequently volunteered for airborne forces. Following the completion of Glider Pilot training, he was posted to 'A' Squadron, 2nd Wing, Glider Pilot Regiment and took part in Operation Market Garden. Historian Rod Gibson describes his final moments:

'Lt. Markwick was in the Hartenstein area, when it was heavily mortared. Mortally wounded, he was taken to the Regimental Aid Post (RAP) in the Tafelberg Hotel where he died, aged 26. He was given a field burial in a mass grave in the grounds of the hotel and was re-interred to Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery on 20 August 1945' (Airborne Assault, ParaData, refers).

British and Polish forces suffered approximately 1984 men killed and 6854 captured during the Battle of Arnhem from 17-26 September 1944. After nine days of fighting, the shattered remains of the division were withdrawn during Operation Berlin. Having lost nearly three-quarters of strength, the British 1st Airborne Division did not see combat again. A contemporary account details the scene witnessed by Markwick at the Tafelberg Hotel regimental aid post (RAP) in the final days of the battle:

'As we drove up to it, I got one of the terrible shocks of the Arnhem Battle: the garage doors were open and I could see that it was full of dead bodies awaiting burial. That has stayed in my mind ever since. When they moved me in, I was put upstairs and had a bed on the first day. My head was all bandaged, just holes for my mouth, eyes and nose, my arm was in a sling too. More and more wounded came in, so on the second night I was on the floor. Third night was even worse, I just had a stair to sit on. And that was how it was until the place was eventually overrun' (Arnhem 1944: The Human Tragedy of the Bridge Too Far, refers).

By 21 September 1944, the scene around the hotel had become desperate, not least during a sudden attack by a company of SS troops which managed to reach the slit trenches skirting the building. In retaliation, the Commanding Officer, Major Alexander Verner Cochran, decided to launch a 'deluge of fire' against the enemy consisting of 3-inch mortars on the woods, machine gun fire on the trenches and anti-tank guns from the hotel. Following a two minute 'crescendo', he then led men of the King's Own Scottish Borderers in a bayonet attack which cleared the enemy from the garden:

'When the Germans showed themselves, the Borderers rose in the wrath and slew them - uttering the most blood-curdling howls meantime. The enemy were picked SS troops and put up a most gallant fight to the last, but they had taken on rather more than they had bargained for.'

What later became known as the 'Battle of the White House' - with a nod to the paintwork of the building - proved a localised success, but only succeeded in stalling the eventual outcome. Three British officers died, including Cochran, the attrition of Allied manpower proving decisive. The fighting had also advanced to the very fabric of the hotel:

'The body of Major Cochrane (sic) was found on the hotel veranda with a revolver in his hand, lying head-to-head with a dead German officer who was holding a Luger pistol.'

Markwick died the following day amid such scenes. His gravestone bears the poignant inscription:

'In Memory's Garden we meet each day and always think of you smiling.'

Sold together with original Army Form B.104-82B., dated 17 October 1944, notifying Mrs Dorothy Marwick of the death of her husband, No. 293609 Lieutenant Eric John Markwick of the 2nd Wing, Glider Pilot Regt, A.A.C., which occurred 'in the Netherlands' on 22 September 1944.


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Sold for
£1,300

Starting price
£170