Together They Lived and Together they Died

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The tragic story of Cornish twins Thomas and Claude Gronert who died fighting for their country on September 17, 1944

By Sue Bradbury

Sunday, September 17, 1944 dawned clear, bright and warm. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, there was little wind and, with a temperature of about 20°, it still felt like summer.

It was a perfect day for the start of Operation Market Garden – one of the boldest plans of World War II. Thirty thousand British and American airborne troops were to be flown behind enemy lines to capture the eight bridges that spanned the network of canals and rivers on the border between Germany and Holland. Experts believe success would have shortened the war by up to 6 months. As it was, German resistance proved far stronger than anticipated and the plan, conceived by General Montgomery, ultimately failed.

For Cornish twins Thomas and Claude Gronert, the day must have begun with a sense of excitement - combined with apprehension. They were serving with the Parachute Regiment’s 6 Platoon B Company and, having been woken at 0530, would soon be on their way to Saltby aerodrome. First, though, came food and a chance to muster their kit.

‘We ate a good breakfast after which we assembled in slow time at our billet, a country house in Colsterworth, with our complete kit, ‘chute etc,’ reports Lieutenant Hugh ‘Loopy’ Levien in David G Buggenum’s book B Company Arrived. ‘We were then taken by lorry to Saltby aerodrome where we debussed at our respective planes that would be taking us to Arnhem.’

The twins were 21 years old. As South Crofty miners, they hadn’t had to join up. Like so many of their generation, however, they had wanted to do ‘their bit’.

B Company took off at 1115 and, by 1350, they were jumping out of their planes. ‘We carried out a perfect formation drop on the correct dropping zone, five minutes later than the scheduled time,’ wrote Lieutenant Levien. ‘Up to this point everything had gone like clockwork, seeming almost like an exercise.’

Joined on their perilous mission by fellow Cornishman Private Jack Edwards, Thomas and Claude trekked towards Oosterbeek with the rest of the Company. Dutch people, jubilant at the prospect of liberation, cheered them on – showering them with orange flowers and any food or drink they could find. The atmosphere was celebratory - until the platoon’s arrival in the area around the town’s railway station saw dreams replaced with reality.

The situation was both confusing and dangerous. C Company had carried out an assault on the railway bridge and, having taken the northern end, had begun to cross when the Germans blew it up. B Company was ordered to advance up the west side of the railway line and occupy the Den Brink area while A Company was to advance along the road and attack from the south east. Sniper fire was everywhere. A scouting party was needed to investigate – Thomas Gronert and Jack Edwards were among those selected for the task.

‘After receiving our orders Lieutenant Cane led us through a few back gardens towards the railway viaduct,’ remembered Jack in B Company Arrived. ‘We turned left onto a track opposite the railway station. Tommy Gronert and I were the forward scouts and were shot at almost immediately. We took cover behind a rise. The order came through to push on, which we did. Virtually straight away a bullet hit the track exactly between Tommy and myself. It looked as if there was a sniper in the vicinity.’

Jack and Thomas dived for cover but, in doing so, the pickaxe on Jack’s back became entangled in brambles and he couldn’t get to his feet. Thomas and the rest of the scouting party carried on whilst someone from the second section of the platoon helped Jack up. Minutes later, disaster struck.

‘I heard Tommy shouting that there were Germans approaching us from the other side of the railway track,’ wrote Jack. ‘The Germans were holding their weapons in the air, as if they wanted to surrender. Again the order came to advance and Tommy left his cover and moved onto the railway track along with Lieutenant Peter Cane, Sergeant Hacker and Corporal Edgar Rogers.’

Claude, Thomas’s twin, was with the second section nearby. He must have watched as his brother walked into open space. Watched as the Germans started firing. Watched as the sibling he adored fell. Ran as he heard him shout.

Thomas was hit in the mouth. Claude, having reached his side, was shot in the head. The brothers died as they had lived – side by side. For Jack Edwards, their friend from Cornwall, the sight was almost unbearable.

‘Tommy and Claude Gronert lay close to one another. Both dead. Claude had received three bullets through the top of his tin hat. For me it was a shattering personal blow because we had been friends for a long time. All three of us came from the same region, Cornwall, and had joined the paras in 1943 from the same unit. Their army numbers were 5511523 and 5511524. My last three were 508.’

The twins are buried in the Arnhem-Oosterbeek Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery. When the Queen visited in 1988, she is reported to have wept at the sight of their headstones.

It is an emotion that Bernard Gronert no doubt shared when he first visited his brothers’ graves during the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem in 1994.

Bernard was just 12 when he said goodbye to Thomas and Claude. At the time, the family lived in the small village of Beacon – where Jack Edwards and his family also lived. Now 72 and living in Redruth, Bernard has just memories – and a box of carefully collected box of mementoes – of the two boys who once played with him on the top of Carn Brea.

‘We used big, smooth stones as slides and had to sit on a bag so that we didn’t tear our clothes.’

It was six months after their deaths that Bernard’s family finally learned the worst.

‘My mother was devastated and I’d never seen my father cry before. From then on, he didn’t want to talk about it. He kept it all to himself. My mother, on the other hand, couldn’t stop talking about what happened. It haunted her – she never really got over it.’

2004 marks the 60th anniversary of Arnhem. Like the Gronert twins, many Cornish people died defending their country. Others thankfully – and against the odds – survived.

We pay tribute to them all.

The story of the Gronert twins forms part of a special 60th anniversary commemorative exhibition being staged at The Flambards Experience in Helston. For further information, please phone 01326 573404.