A WOMAN has discovered her WW2 pilot dad died a hero after heavy rain miraculously unearthed his crashed plane.
For decades, Margaret Thompson believed her tragic father, Flight Lieutenant Frank Bolton, was just another “ignoble” casualty in the ill-fated Battle of Arnhem, part of Operation Market Garden.
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This month marks the 80th anniversary of the failed military op, which saw more troops killed than during the D-Day Landings.
But now Margaret knows the truth – her dad died saving dozens of innocent lives.
Heavy rain fell on the River Meuse in the Netherlands, with the resultant floodwater exposing the wreckage of a P-51 Mustang I, the plane Frank had been flying.
He quickly became a local hero in the town of Gennep, where the aircraft was discovered, and locals were desperate to track down his family.
Margaret’s son Paul was contacted by Han van Avensburgen, whose uncles had described what they had seen on September 26 1944 – when Frank had died.
A shot-down plane was hurtling towards the town and the pilot managed to divert it away from buildings and civilians on the ground at the last second.
It was a move that would have made Frank’s own survival highly unlikely, as he would have been too low for his parachute to be effective.
But it ensured he saved many lives.
Witnesses saw the brave pilot, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, clamber onto the wing and unsuccessfully try to launch his parachute into the air.
Margaret was yet to be born when her dad died – but most upsetting was none of the details of Frank’s death made it back to his family.
She went on to visit his grave at the Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s Jonkerbos War Cemetery with her mum and brother several times without knowing what really happened.
Speaking about the moment her son told her the truth about her dad, Margaret told the Times: “I felt incredulity, amazement, shock and disbelief.”
While the revelation has changed her view of what happened to Frank, she said his death remains bittersweet.
“I know it’s the done thing to say it was all for the greater good and the country is proud of them, but I felt that it was totally unfair and as I’ve got older I do question what he died for,” she said.
What was Operation Market Garden?
Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during WW2 fought in German-occupied Netherlands from September 17 to 25 1944.
It aimed to create a 64-mile salient into enemy territory with a bridgehead over the Lower Rhine River – which in turn could create an invasion route into northern Germany.
The op was split in two: the seizing of nine bridges by US and British airborne forces (Market) and then British land forces swiftly following over the bridges (Garden).
The 41,000 airborne soldiers – from the First Allied Airborne Army – were dropped at sites to capture key bridges and hold them until the land forces arrived who were advancing from the south along a single road.
However, 100,000 German soldiers were in the area and opposed the allied offensive.
A total of 11,500 Allied troops died in the nine days of the operation, more than during the D-Day landings two months earlier.
It failed to achieve its objectives but the determination shown by the airborne troops and assisting units made it one of the war’s most famous battles.
It was immortalised further in the film A Bridge Too Far.
“I am, however, full of admiration for all our armed forces and the sacrifice they made.
“It helps me to think that he is remembered by others and to know how heroically he died.”
Margaret has since travelled to Gennep again to meet Jacob van Tankeren, who was just a teenager at the time of the crash and found Frank as he was dying.
He held his hand as he passed away, and in turn Margaret held his hand and said they “wept together” and she added that Frank remains the “perfect father, the loving daddy of imagination”.
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