Lieutenant T. Moffatt Burriss by a C-47, June 1944
In the tense atmosphere that existed in Nijmegen, the crossing of the road bridge by Sergeant Peter Robinson around 1830 hours on 20th September 1944 led to the hope that, by pressing on, Arnhem might yet be reached. He had four tanks across. About three hours later Lord Carrington the Squadron Second in Command joined Robinson. Con-jointly the American 504th Parachute Regiment had made repeated assault crossings of the River Waal in canvas boats under heavy German fire. The Americans and the British met at the northern end of the bridge. Peter Robinson, thinking that they were Germans, briefly opened fire on them. The 504th were imbued with a spirit of On, on to Arnhem and could not understand why the British did not intend to move any further north until the following day. Moffatt Burriss, then a Captain in the 504th, claims to have pointed his tommy gun at Lord Carrington and threatened to blow his damn head off if he did not get moving. Lord Carrington described the claim as unlikely'. Burriss tells his story in his book Strike and Hold
