6th. Bn. The Royal Welch Fusiliers were to secure the village of Reusel, 133rd. Field Regiment, Royal Artillery and 2nd. Bn. The Monmouthshire Regiment’s orders were to guard their left flank. They were to clear the opposition, if any, from the small village of Voorheide. 

This was two miles West of Reusel and on the banks of the Dessel-Schoten Canal. The Royal Artillery felt their way gently forward from Postel. The column soon came insight of the church tower at Reusel, which had caused much trouble previously to other battalions. There was no shelling this time and the Royal Artillery turned northwards on the canal bank. 

After some 500 yards they came to what was shown on the map as a dynamite factory. The Royal Artillery and 2nd. Bn. The Monmouth Regiment were on the towpath of the canal, with trees and a bank on their right and water on their left. They did not know who was on the other bank, but they knew it was not held by them and so felt very exposed. They were warned that the towpath was mined, and about 800 yards beyond the dynamite factory lay the village of Voorheide. “D” Company under command of Captain Prince Dimitri Galitzine found some Germans in the dynamite factory and shot them up, so it was plain that there was going to be trouble at Voorheide itself. 

133rd. Field Regiment’s infantry, 2nd. Bn. The Monmouthshire Regiment, started to move forward, and from his observation post in the dynamite factory Major Richard Hughes watched their progress. He had his glasses fixed on the “B” Company subaltern leading a platoon up the road. Suddenly there was a flash and Major Hughes saw him, or pieces of him, whirl through the air. It was horrible, and his immediate thought was that one of their guns must be firing short. A superficial check showed that to be impossible, then two more explosions occured with more casualties and they realised that they were treading on mines. 

Pte. A. Anderson, who comes from Birmingham, 2nd. Bn. The Monmouthshire Regiment
(IWM No. BU 1238) 

On September 24th. 1944, the other companies were making good headway, and by 20:00 Hours “C” and “D” Companies were established at Voorheide. “B” Company was still moving ahead and “A” Company remained with battalion Headquarters, giving them protection. It was now quite dark, and the situation at Voorheide suddenly became unpleasant. Hardly had “B” Company arrived when it was challenged. In the resulting spurt of fire both the officers were wounded, leaving the company under command of an NCO. There was a very gallant diplay by the bearer officer and first aid men who went up and brought the wounded back from Voorheide, in the full knowledge that there were many Fallschirmjäger around. 

On September 25th. 1944, at 03:00 Hours, “C” Company under command of Major John Chaston reported a number of Fallschirmjäger passing by them at Voorheide. When “B” Company reported the same thing, it became obvious that a serious counter attack was under way. Heavy fighting was developing all around them, so Major Hughes called down defensive fire on the German line of approach. As it was now getting quite light, and the observer who was on top of the dynamite factory could see the action and started directing some fire. “C” Company called in some targets, and their guns really started to lay into them. The Fallschirmjäger now found themselves in a very uncomfortable position, being shot at from all sides, and pulled out leaving sixty or seventy casualties. It was an outstanding display of artillery skill. 

Major Alfred John Chaston 

Meanwhile the battle of Reusel had not gone well, so their position was far from comfortable. They were alone, 2.000 yards ahead of their own lines, with Germans on all sides. They spent three windy nights there. Unreliable civilian reports claimed thousands of German reinforcements were approaching. Eventually the Brigadier decided to pull them back into their own lines until the Reusel battle was settled. 

Alfred John Chaston was born at Bedwellty, Monmouthshire, on December 17th. 1916 and was educated at Monmouth School. He was commissioned into the Monmouthshire Regiment in 1937. In 1940 John married Sybil Byers, they had four children, two sons and two daughters. 

In 1944 he commanded “C” Company when the 2nd. Battalion landed in France on June 26th. 1944. Major John Chaston won an Military Cross in Belgium in 1944. 

On September 24th. 1944, 2nd. Bn. The Monmouthshire Regiment was ordered to occupy the village of Voorheide on the Dessel-Schoten Canal. Chaston was in command of “C” Company. The previous night had been spent under gas-capes in wet, windswept fields intersected with ditches. Sleep had proved elusive and many were tired. “Weary men dealing with a nightmare”, was how one of them described it. 

Breakfast at dawn was a foot-stamping affair of hard biscuits and sardines, with fish oil running down frozen fingers and wrists, under the gas-cape sleeve, to be absorbed in a sweat-stale pullover. The wind was bitter, and the only evidence of heat was the wisps of steam from the tea dixies. The approach to Voorheide along a narrow towpath beside sunken barges and blitzed pillboxes was a matter of trudging on foot or grinding along in a vehicle. Pressure mines were concealed along the verges, and two of the leading carriers blew up. 

Chaston and his men cleared the houses despite awkward crossfire from enemy positions. As evening fell, the area was lit by fires from burning farms before heavy rain came down, leaving everything in darkness. At 03:00 Hours four companies of Germans, most of them Fallschirmjäger, made a concerted counterattack using spandaus and bazookas. A period of confused and bitter fighting followed. For a time the village was in complete pandemonium. Soldiers seeking to survive crouched in slit trenches and shot the enemy against the skyline; others hid indoors and shot intruders off windowsills. At one time Voorheide was held by both Germans and British, one outside the houses, the other inside. Invitations to “Surrender! You are surrounded!” always met the same response – a stream of obscenities and a burst of automatic fire from skylight or cellar peephole. Platoons running out of ammunition lost men captured by the enemy when trying to make their way to Headquarters to replenish; on some occasions men taken prison contrived to turn the tables on their captors and brought them back to company or battalion HQ. 

One of Chaston’s platoons was overrun, and the positions of the remainder of the company – including its HQ – were penetrated by large parties of Germans. Chaston organised the defence with great skill and determination. He sent back cool and accurate reports by wireless until he was forced to close down the set as some Germans were at his window. But he and his men held firm and at 05:30 Hours the Germans began to withdraw, leaving many dead, wounded, and some prisoners behind them. Chaston was awarded an Military Cross for his spirited leadership during the action. 

In February 1945, in hard fighting in the Reichswald, Major Chaston was wounded and invalided home. He rejoined 2nd. Bn. The Monmouthshire Regiment in 1947 as second-in-command and was appointed commanding officer in 1950. He became deputy commander of 160 Infantry Brigade in the rank of colonel in 1956 and served as a member of the Monmouthshire and, subsequently, Wales Territorial, Auxiliary and Volunteer Reserve Association for more than 30 years, acting as chairman from 1974 until 1981. Settled at Newport, Pembrokeshire, he was managing director of the family motor business, Chastons of Blackwood, for many years. After selling the business to the Howells Motor Group in the 1970’s, he became managing director of the parent company until he retired. He was appointed OBE (military) in 1954 and CBE (civil) in 1981. He was appointed ADC to the Queen in 1968, Honorary Colonel 2nd. Bn. The Monmouthshire Regiment in 1959 and Deputy Lieutenant of Monmouthshire in 1954. John Chaston died on July 20th. 2010 aged 93. 

Major Chaston receiving his Military Cross from Montgomery in 1944