John Frost

of, the imprimatur of, well, Horrocks himself...

John Frost and Boy Browning.

I mean, that is quite the item.

Boy in inverted commas.

Part 4 ended at midnight.

Lieutenant Colonel John Frost held the northern end of the road bridge at Arnhem with about 600 men.

The 3rd Parachute Battalion was halted at the Hotel Hartenstein in Oosterbeek with its brigade commander and the divisional commander.

Lieutenant Colonel David Dobie's 1st Parachute Battalion, entangled in the woods north of the railway, had abandoned its objective, and General-Lieutenant Hans von Tettau was preparing a dawn assault on the landing zones.

So let's start at the beginning.

It is midnight on Sunday, September 17th, 1944.

At the northern end of the road bridge at Arnhem, Lieutenant Colonel John Frost's men are digging in.

West of the town, a German line is closing, and on the roads between them, the rest of the 1st Parachute Brigade is trying to get through.

Now, there's a lot of combat in a way and, and like, uh, you know, aura of combat and, and destruction of course.

But of course, I, I think it might be fair to say that maybe the most famous battle scene centers around, um, Johnny Frost's 2nd Battalion and the, the Arnhem Bridge.

And Frost is played by the great Anthony Hopkins, who was already a big deal then, but has had obviously a legendary career now.

So the famous line associated with, uh, with that battle is what, Kevin?

I, I was, I was like, "Let me say it, let me say it."

Mm-hmm.

I mean, they're, you know, they're, they're in, uh, lightly armored vehicles, and they're really vulnerable then, certainly, especially to the, uh, to the PIATs.

So, uh, Johnny Frost says, "Bring up the PIAT." I mean, it's just iconic, isn't it?

Well, yes, so I'm writing...

Again, it's an- another airborne thing, but I'm writing about John Frost in North Africa-

Ooh

... where he takes his battalion into North Africa to, to seize an airfield at a place called Oudna.

Brigadier Gerald Lathbury has three routes to Arnhem.

Lieutenant Colonel John Frost's 2nd Parachute Battalion takes Route Lyon, the southernmost, which follows the river.

Lathbury's brigade headquarters goes with it.

Lieutenant-Colonel John Fitch's 3rd Parachute Battalion takes Root Tiger along the Utrechtseweg.

The bridge at Arnhem now depends on the three battalions marching for it, and the brigade expects Frost's to arrive first.

His men set off at the same hour as Gough's jeeps, but by the river, and their road is the quiet one.

Lieutenant Colonel John Frost's 2nd Parachute Battalion takes Root Lion.

It meets far lighter resistance than the rest of the brigade.

I think it was pretty good casting.

Now, interestingly, he's now playing Frost, who's gonna try to take the, uh, Arnhem bridge.

Right.

So he got his bridge in the end, just got it in a different movie.

You know, where, where Edward Fox talks about the party.

And, um- You know, this is sort of the joy of liberation, but for- I will enjoy- ...

John Frost and his paratroopers, it's the, uh- It will be ...

the calm before the storm.