The Coalhouse Fort Project 

Memorial Garden Day At Coalhouse Fort

Saturday 6th May 2006  10.30am

Latest update 06 June, 2006

Saturday 6th may 2006 a dedication ceremony is to be held at Coalhouse fort for the opening of the new memorial garden that includes parts of the original World war 1 memorial that stood outside the fort, to military and civilian persons that served at Coalhouse Fort from 1861 until its
military personnel departed in 1962.
A further memorial in the form of a lady watching the gliders pass over on their way to Arnhem
has been made and presented by a member of The Dutch resistance who rescued Sgt. Eric Atkinson of the 1st Air Landing anti tank battery R.A. No.1 gun 'A' troop attached to 1st Parachute Battalion and the crew of the Horsa Glider.
The Horsa glider carried a 6 pound anti tank gun, a jeep plus ammunition total wt. 6000lbs approx. The 3 gunners and two pilots. It crash landed after having to separate from the towing Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle which developed engine trouble and returned safely to the U.K. The glider crash landed at Megen near the river Maas some 10 miles from Arnhem. The aircraft had taken off from Manston, Kent on Sunday 17th September 1944. The pilots and the other gunners were taken by the Dutch resistance members on their bicycles taking their arms and as much ammunition as possible, but Eric refused to leave until he had put a timed fuse in the petrol tank and witnessed the subsequent destruction of the glider. He was then taken by bicycle to a safe place and passed on over the next few days finally reaching the 8th army and the Americans at Nimegan.