page_title: Robert Henry Cain
section_title: Advance into Arnhem
hierarchical_section_title: Robert Henry Cain / Second World War / Battle of Arnhem / Advance into Arnhem
caption_attribution_description: Private L.H. Johnson and Sergeant D.R. Fairborn of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion with a PIAT anti-tank weapon, Lembeck, Germany, 29 March 1945.
context_page_description: Major Robert Henry Cain VC TD was a Manx recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
  Cain grew up on the Isle of Man and joined the Honourable Artillery Company in 1928. After working overseas he was given an emergency commission into the Army in 1940. He transferred to the South Staffordshire Regiment in 1942, and joined their 2nd Battalion, part of the British 1st Airborne Division. He saw action during the Invasion of Sicily in 1943 and again during the Battle of Arnhem the following year. During the battle Major Cain's company was closely engaged with enemy tanks, self-propelled guns and infantry. Cain continually exposed himself to danger while leading his men and personally dispatched as much enemy armour as possible. Despite sustaining several injuries he refused medical attention and for his gallantry he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
  Later in the war he took part in Operation Doomsday, where the 1st Airborne Division oversaw the German surrender in Norway. He left the army in late 1945 and returned to his pre-war job at Royal Dutch Shell. He died of cancer in 1974.
context_section_description: The Allies planned to fly the British and Polish to Arnhem in three separate lifts over three days.  Major General Roy Urquhart decided to deploy the 1st Airlanding Brigade first, as glider troops could assemble more quickly than parachute infantry and secure the landing areas.  Cain took off with the first lift along with two companies of the South Staffords but only five minutes after departing from RAF Manston the tow rope connecting the Albemarle tug to his Horsa glider pulled out of the leading aircraft.  After landing safely the glider's occupants were able to fly out the following day with the second lift.
  In Arnhem the Allied plan quickly unravelled.  Only a small group of the 1st Parachute Brigade, mainly elements of Lieutenant Colonel John Frost's 2nd Battalion, were able to reach the bridge. The 1st and 3rd Battalions were unable to penetrate the outer suburbs of the city and their advance stalled, so in order to support them the first lift of the South Staffords were sent forward on the morning of the 18th.  When Cain arrived with the second lift they too were sent forward, arriving at the outskirts of Arnhem on the night of the 18th.   Lieutenant Colonel David Dobie of the 1st Battalion proposed a concentrated attack on a narrow front between the Lower Rhine and the Arnhem railway line.  The South Staffords would advance toward the bridge, with the remnants of the 1st and 3rd Battalions on their right flank, while the 11th Parachute Battalion, remained in reserve.  The Staffords moved forward at 4.30am with D Company in the lead, followed by B and A Companies with C Company in reserve.  In the area around St Elizabeth Hospital, the lead company met heavy resistance clearing houses and B Company took the lead, getting as far as a dell near the Arnhem City Museum.  Here Cain and his men encountered enemy armour for the first time.  The company was only armed with PIATs and mortars and although Cain and several of his company opened fire on the tanks and guns, they did not manage to disable any.  By 11:30 they had run out of PIAT ammunition and the tanks now dominated the area. Their position was clearly hopeless and so Lieutenant Colonel McCardie, the commanding officer (CO) of 2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment, ordered them to withdraw from the dell. Cain fell back with several of his men but few of them were able to escape, while the men of the other companies were forced to surrender in their droves. Cain was the only senior officer of the battalion to escape in what he later described as the "South Staff's Waterloo".
  As the surviving men fell back through the 11th Battalion's positions, Major Gilchrist (A Company, 11th Battalion) met Cain, who told him that "The tanks are coming, give me a PIAT". Gilchrist was unable to oblige and so the Staffords regrouped behind the 11th Battalion's positions; roughly 100 surviving men forming into five small platoons under Cain's command. Lieutenant Colonel George Lea, commander of the 11th Battalion, ordered them to capture a piece of wooded high ground known as Den Brink to cover a fresh advance, and a bayonet charge quickly cleared the enemy there. However, the thick tree roots on the hill made it impossible to dig in, and after suffering severe casualties, Cain took the decision to withdraw back to Oosterbeek.
caption: Two Airborne soldiers demonstrate the PIAT anti tank gun
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