Chig. Sky Pilot to the Glider Pilots of Arnhem

Book Code:AIRBORNE0002
Availability:In Stock
  • £6.00

The Reverend Prebendary, Wilfred Rowland Chigwell - or 'Chig' as he was known - was born in June 1908. Ordained on Christmas Eve 1933, he settled to the life of a country Parson. In 1943 he became the unofficial Chaplain to a local Searchlight Battery in his Parish and by the Autumn of that year had joined up as a member of the Royal Army Chaplains Department and was initially assigned to the Parachute Regiments Training Battalion. Having requested re-assignment to the Glider Pilots Regiment, Chig flew into Arnhem on Operation Market-Garden as Padre to No2 Wing, GPR.

Enduring the whole of the Arnhem battle, Chig crossed the Rhine in the night withdrawal of the 25 of September and returned to England with the other survivors.

Post war he returned to his Parish and in addition to his duties there indulged in his lifelong passion for cricket, eventually becoming a Committee member of Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

The book is a life story of the man, based on letters that he wrote to his father over the years along with a contempory account of the Arnhem battle carefully typed up on his return from notes taken during the battle. Fresh accounts of Arnhem from men that were there are few and far between now and this, taken from the perspective of a non combatant who endured all with the 1st Airborne Division, gives a little seen take on the events.

First published in 2017 by Helion Books, hard back with printed covers. The book contains 190 pages on high quality paper with many illustrations in the form of black and white photographs throughout.

Published price £25.00

ISBN; 978 1 911512 33 2

Stock No; AIRBORNE0002

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