[h=1]Singaporean World War II veteran: War in Europe was ‘hell’[/h]
In November 1944, British lieutenant George Creighton was about to experience his first action of World War II (WWII) in the Netherlands. Given an order to storm a German position, he could have been a war casualty just one day after reporting for combat duty.
The then 19-year-old officer was handed a German machine gun and a spare magazine before leading a platoon from the Seaforth Highlanders, a British infantry regiment, in the Dutch city of Eindhoven for the attack, Creighton told Yahoo Singapore in a recent interview at his bungalow in Bukit Timah.
The platoon did not encounter any resistance when it reached the position as the Germans had already fled. Feeling relieved, Creighton test-fired his gun but it didn’t work.
“When I looked at it and took the magazine out, it was full of sand. I checked the spare magazine, it was also full of sand. So my first attack could have been my last,” Creighton, now 91, recalled.
Creighton, who was born in Greenock, Scotland, could be the only surviving Singaporean WW II veteran who fought in Europe. Pointing to his left arm, Creighton showed the area where two bullets tore through his arm muscles during a German attack.
The battles that Creighton participated in the Netherlands and Nazi Germany were part of a massive campaign by the Allies to defeat German dictator Adolf Hitler and bring an end to the Third Reich.
After the war, Creighton was posted to Gillman Barracks in Singapore. He later found love in a swimming pool when he was a coach, got married and became part of the pioneering generation living in pre-independence Singapore.
View photos
In November 1944, British lieutenant George Creighton was about to experience his first action of World War II (WWII) in the Netherlands. Given an order to storm a German position, he could have been a war casualty just one day after reporting for combat duty.
The then 19-year-old officer was handed a German machine gun and a spare magazine before leading a platoon from the Seaforth Highlanders, a British infantry regiment, in the Dutch city of Eindhoven for the attack, Creighton told Yahoo Singapore in a recent interview at his bungalow in Bukit Timah.
The platoon did not encounter any resistance when it reached the position as the Germans had already fled. Feeling relieved, Creighton test-fired his gun but it didn’t work.
“When I looked at it and took the magazine out, it was full of sand. I checked the spare magazine, it was also full of sand. So my first attack could have been my last,” Creighton, now 91, recalled.
Creighton, who was born in Greenock, Scotland, could be the only surviving Singaporean WW II veteran who fought in Europe. Pointing to his left arm, Creighton showed the area where two bullets tore through his arm muscles during a German attack.
The battles that Creighton participated in the Netherlands and Nazi Germany were part of a massive campaign by the Allies to defeat German dictator Adolf Hitler and bring an end to the Third Reich.
After the war, Creighton was posted to Gillman Barracks in Singapore. He later found love in a swimming pool when he was a coach, got married and became part of the pioneering generation living in pre-independence Singapore.
View photos
George Creighton (front row, second from right) in Gillman Barracks in Singapore (Photo: Amritpal Khaira/Yahoo Singapore)
From the Netherlands to the Rhine
As the harsh winter of 1944 descended on Europe, Creighton and his company were holed up in an area in the Netherlands for months.
Being the sniper officer for his battalion, Creighton would go out late at night and position himself on a tree or elsewhere to gain a vantage point and observe enemy movements. Given the wintry conditions and low visibility, he and his men lived in constant fear of bullets suddenly whizzing from any direction.
“Everybody was frozen. There was no (direct) fighting. We were just facing each other and shooting and shooting. Too horrible,” Creighton said.
During one skirmish, Creighton was seriously injured as a result of icicles and wire mesh ripping through his legs while his batman, or personal servant, was shot to death, he recounted ruefully.
With the failure of the Allies to capture the Dutch town of Arnhem and other areas after the disastrous Operation Market Garden, the advance towards Germany was delayed. As the Seaforth Highlanders moved closer to the German border, the resistance became fiercer.
Finally, in March 1945, shortly after his 20th birthday, Creighton and his regiment took part in the coordinated Rhine River crossings by the Allies into the heart of Germany. A landing craft was being prepared to bring Creighton over to the east bank of the Rhine and before the crossing, he was given an instruction on avoiding “friendly fire” from the air.
“We were told to put our thumbs into our pants and pull out our orange strips because the British Air Force was coming over, thousands of them. This was to let them know that we were British,” Creighton said.
End of Creighton’s involvement in WWII
The first objective for Seaforth Highlanders after crossing the Rhine was to capture a farmhouse in the German village of Mehr.
Creighton showed this reporter a sketch of the pincer manoeuvre that was carried out by his platoon and the rest of the regiment against a German machine-gun position in the area.
“I blew my whistle, the men knew and they rose up and climbed up the bank of the bund, screaming and shouting their heads off. It was terrifying. And immediately, the German machine gunners stood up and held their hands up in the air. Surrender.” For his role in the successful operation, Creighton was recommended for promotion to captain.
George Creighton (front row, second from right) in Gillman Barracks in Singapore (Photo: Amritpal Khaira/Yahoo Singapore)
From the Netherlands to the Rhine
As the harsh winter of 1944 descended on Europe, Creighton and his company were holed up in an area in the Netherlands for months.
Being the sniper officer for his battalion, Creighton would go out late at night and position himself on a tree or elsewhere to gain a vantage point and observe enemy movements. Given the wintry conditions and low visibility, he and his men lived in constant fear of bullets suddenly whizzing from any direction.
“Everybody was frozen. There was no (direct) fighting. We were just facing each other and shooting and shooting. Too horrible,” Creighton said.
During one skirmish, Creighton was seriously injured as a result of icicles and wire mesh ripping through his legs while his batman, or personal servant, was shot to death, he recounted ruefully.
With the failure of the Allies to capture the Dutch town of Arnhem and other areas after the disastrous Operation Market Garden, the advance towards Germany was delayed. As the Seaforth Highlanders moved closer to the German border, the resistance became fiercer.
Finally, in March 1945, shortly after his 20th birthday, Creighton and his regiment took part in the coordinated Rhine River crossings by the Allies into the heart of Germany. A landing craft was being prepared to bring Creighton over to the east bank of the Rhine and before the crossing, he was given an instruction on avoiding “friendly fire” from the air.
“We were told to put our thumbs into our pants and pull out our orange strips because the British Air Force was coming over, thousands of them. This was to let them know that we were British,” Creighton said.
End of Creighton’s involvement in WWII
The first objective for Seaforth Highlanders after crossing the Rhine was to capture a farmhouse in the German village of Mehr.
Creighton showed this reporter a sketch of the pincer manoeuvre that was carried out by his platoon and the rest of the regiment against a German machine-gun position in the area.
“I blew my whistle, the men knew and they rose up and climbed up the bank of the bund, screaming and shouting their heads off. It was terrifying. And immediately, the German machine gunners stood up and held their hands up in the air. Surrender.” For his role in the successful operation, Creighton was recommended for promotion to captain.
In November 1944, British lieutenant George Creighton was about to experience his first action of World War II (WWII) in the Netherlands. Given an order to storm a German position, he could have been a war casualty just one day after reporting for combat duty.
The then 19-year-old officer was handed a German machine gun and a spare magazine before leading a platoon from the Seaforth Highlanders, a British infantry regiment, in the Dutch city of Eindhoven for the attack, Creighton told Yahoo Singapore in a recent interview at his bungalow in Bukit Timah.
The platoon did not encounter any resistance when it reached the position as the Germans had already fled. Feeling relieved, Creighton test-fired his gun but it didn’t work.
“When I looked at it and took the magazine out, it was full of sand. I checked the spare magazine, it was also full of sand. So my first attack could have been my last,” Creighton, now 91, recalled.
Creighton, who was born in Greenock, Scotland, could be the only surviving Singaporean WW II veteran who fought in Europe. Pointing to his left arm, Creighton showed the area where two bullets tore through his arm muscles during a German attack.
The battles that Creighton participated in the Netherlands and Nazi Germany were part of a massive campaign by the Allies to defeat German dictator Adolf Hitler and bring an end to the Third Reich.
After the war, Creighton was posted to Gillman Barracks in Singapore. He later found love in a swimming pool when he was a coach, got married and became part of the pioneering generation living in pre-independence Singapore.
In November 1944, British lieutenant George Creighton was about to experience his first action of World War II (WWII) in the Netherlands. Given an order to storm a German position, he could have been a war casualty just one day after reporting for combat duty.
The then 19-year-old officer was handed a German machine gun and a spare magazine before leading a platoon from the Seaforth Highlanders, a British infantry regiment, in the Dutch city of Eindhoven for the attack, Creighton told Yahoo Singapore in a recent interview at his bungalow in Bukit Timah.
The platoon did not encounter any resistance when it reached the position as the Germans had already fled. Feeling relieved, Creighton test-fired his gun but it didn’t work.
“When I looked at it and took the magazine out, it was full of sand. I checked the spare magazine, it was also full of sand. So my first attack could have been my last,” Creighton, now 91, recalled.
Creighton, who was born in Greenock, Scotland, could be the only surviving Singaporean WW II veteran who fought in Europe. Pointing to his left arm, Creighton showed the area where two bullets tore through his arm muscles during a German attack.
The battles that Creighton participated in the Netherlands and Nazi Germany were part of a massive campaign by the Allies to defeat German dictator Adolf Hitler and bring an end to the Third Reich.
After the war, Creighton was posted to Gillman Barracks in Singapore. He later found love in a swimming pool when he was a coach, got married and became part of the pioneering generation living in pre-independence Singapore.
George Creighton (front row, second from right) in Gillman Barracks in Singapore (Photo: Amritpal Khaira/Yahoo Singapore)
From the Netherlands to the Rhine
As the harsh winter of 1944 descended on Europe, Creighton and his company were holed up in an area in the Netherlands for months.
Being the sniper officer for his battalion, Creighton would go out late at night and position himself on a tree or elsewhere to gain a vantage point and observe enemy movements. Given the wintry conditions and low visibility, he and his men lived in constant fear of bullets suddenly whizzing from any direction.
“Everybody was frozen. There was no (direct) fighting. We were just facing each other and shooting and shooting. Too horrible,” Creighton said.
During one skirmish, Creighton was seriously injured as a result of icicles and wire mesh ripping through his legs while his batman, or personal servant, was shot to death, he recounted ruefully.
With the failure of the Allies to capture the Dutch town of Arnhem and other areas after the disastrous Operation Market Garden, the advance towards Germany was delayed. As the Seaforth Highlanders moved closer to the German border, the resistance became fiercer.
Finally, in March 1945, shortly after his 20th birthday, Creighton and his regiment took part in the coordinated Rhine River crossings by the Allies into the heart of Germany. A landing craft was being prepared to bring Creighton over to the east bank of the Rhine and before the crossing, he was given an instruction on avoiding “friendly fire” from the air.
“We were told to put our thumbs into our pants and pull out our orange strips because the British Air Force was coming over, thousands of them. This was to let them know that we were British,” Creighton said.
End of Creighton’s involvement in WWII
The first objective for Seaforth Highlanders after crossing the Rhine was to capture a farmhouse in the German village of Mehr.
Creighton showed this reporter a sketch of the pincer manoeuvre that was carried out by his platoon and the rest of the regiment against a German machine-gun position in the area.
“I blew my whistle, the men knew and they rose up and climbed up the bank of the bund, screaming and shouting their heads off. It was terrifying. And immediately, the German machine gunners stood up and held their hands up in the air. Surrender.” For his role in the successful operation, Creighton was recommended for promotion to captain.
George Creighton (front row, second from right) in Gillman Barracks in Singapore (Photo: Amritpal Khaira/Yahoo Singapore)
From the Netherlands to the Rhine
As the harsh winter of 1944 descended on Europe, Creighton and his company were holed up in an area in the Netherlands for months.
Being the sniper officer for his battalion, Creighton would go out late at night and position himself on a tree or elsewhere to gain a vantage point and observe enemy movements. Given the wintry conditions and low visibility, he and his men lived in constant fear of bullets suddenly whizzing from any direction.
“Everybody was frozen. There was no (direct) fighting. We were just facing each other and shooting and shooting. Too horrible,” Creighton said.
During one skirmish, Creighton was seriously injured as a result of icicles and wire mesh ripping through his legs while his batman, or personal servant, was shot to death, he recounted ruefully.
With the failure of the Allies to capture the Dutch town of Arnhem and other areas after the disastrous Operation Market Garden, the advance towards Germany was delayed. As the Seaforth Highlanders moved closer to the German border, the resistance became fiercer.
Finally, in March 1945, shortly after his 20th birthday, Creighton and his regiment took part in the coordinated Rhine River crossings by the Allies into the heart of Germany. A landing craft was being prepared to bring Creighton over to the east bank of the Rhine and before the crossing, he was given an instruction on avoiding “friendly fire” from the air.
“We were told to put our thumbs into our pants and pull out our orange strips because the British Air Force was coming over, thousands of them. This was to let them know that we were British,” Creighton said.
End of Creighton’s involvement in WWII
The first objective for Seaforth Highlanders after crossing the Rhine was to capture a farmhouse in the German village of Mehr.
Creighton showed this reporter a sketch of the pincer manoeuvre that was carried out by his platoon and the rest of the regiment against a German machine-gun position in the area.
“I blew my whistle, the men knew and they rose up and climbed up the bank of the bund, screaming and shouting their heads off. It was terrifying. And immediately, the German machine gunners stood up and held their hands up in the air. Surrender.” For his role in the successful operation, Creighton was recommended for promotion to captain.
