38. Digby’s Umbrella Came in Handy
Upon landing near Arnhem, Digby led his company to the bridge, wending his way through backstreets to avoid German armored cars on the main thoroughfares. In heavy fighting over the next few days, he was often seen strolling through the wrecked town, wearing a paratrooper’s red beret instead of a helmet, with a pistol in one hand, and an umbrella in the other.
The umbrella actually came in handy, when a German counterattack placed armor on the Arnhem Bridge. Digby led his men in a charge, bearing a pistol and his trusty umbrella, and adding to the incongruity of it all by wearing a bowler hat. He reportedly even managed to disable a German armored vehicle by thrusting his umbrella through its viewport, poking out the driver’s eye, or otherwise incapacitating him.