Left for Dead at Nijmegen

This WWII biography chronicles an American paratrooper's harrowing role in Operation Market Garden and his heroic survival as a POW.

 


During World War II, Gene Metcalfe served in the 82nd Airborne. After his recruitment into the military at Camp Grant, he trained with the 501st Paratroop Infantry Regiment at Camp Toccoa. It wasn't until D-Day that he first arrived in England to join the 508th PIR.


 


On September 17th, 1944, the 508th PIR embarked on Operation Market Garden to establish a salient in the Netherlands. Flying over Groesbeek Heights, just outside of Nijmegen, Holland, Metcalfe was among the first to jump into what swas thought to be an empty meadow. Instead, it was defended by German antiaircraft cannons.


 


As he jumped into a hail of bullets he watched his plane roll over and plummet into the ground. Badly injured by a shell explosion, Gene was listed as Killed In Action and left for dead by his patrol. He became a POW held outside Munich, moved between various dieses-ridden camps. After a nearly successful escape attempt—he was captured within sight of the Swiss mountains—Gene was liberated by American troops in 1945.