Hi. With regards to the temporary graves all over the area do you know how far the search went by the locals? I’m thinking about the glider at Loikum I pointed out, do you think that area was searched?
I will have to check - I can just say that I checked all Varsity airborne casualties in the CWGC. My search revealed those that I sent to you previously with regards to the Loikum area. Furthermore, the GRU did not solely rely on the local contribution - the effort by the local authorities was just an additional check and an attempt to make sure that remote graves were not forgotten.
The RAF crew killed on March 24th flew from Woodbridge in a Halifax, towing a Hamilcar. From the war diary of 298 Squadron:# "F/O MCGILLIVRAY and crew were shot down after dropping their glider. Two Halifaxes were seen to crash, four parachutes were seen to open from one. It has not yet been established to which Halifax these four parachutes belonged." and: "Halifax VII 8AK NA.311. Crew: F/O MCGILLIVRAY D. R.C.A.F. (Captain), F/S WALKER J.B. (Navigator), P/O HALES E.M. (Air Bomber), F/O DIXON G. (WOP/AIR), W/O BUNN J.E. R.C.A.F. (Air Gunner), F/S AHERNE A.A. (Flight Engineer). Time Up: 07.43. Time Down: . Details of sortie or flight: Operation "VARSITY" Hamilcar glider. MISSING. As two free aircraft only were seen to have been shot down Duty assured to have been carried out."
Hi Alex. until 1975 Loikum was not part of "Amt Ringenberg", it belonged - in administrative terms - to "Amt Haldern" which was part of "Kreis Rees". The City of Rees has its own Municipal Archives, I could ask whether they also have a post-war list of British war graves. All I found in the Hamminkeln List was the handwritten addition at the bottom of this page - and it is barely decipherable: What I can read is this: "An der Grenze Ringenberg-Loikum bei Haus Nr. 72 Heinr. van der Linde unbek. engl. ???? (Sanität) angemeldet durch Herrn ????? Ringenberg am 8.11.47" (On the Ringenberg-Loikum border at house no. 72 - Heinrich van der Linde - unknown english (medic) reported by ???? Ringenberg on November 8th, 1947)
I am now trying to establish where the border between Ringenberg and Loikum was. And where Heinrich van der Linde lived. Asking the Rees Archives for a post war list might help for the area to the north of the LZs.
Thank you all for these very interesting posts. I was unaware of Operation Varsity. I realise that a lot of servicemen died in this and other actions (Varsity seemed well planned and executed, but the losses seemed high, probably due to the daylight approach), but it makes it all the more poignant when you see the lists of lads all killed on the same day. Obviously, the same goes for the Germans too. There is also a big debt of thanks to the CWGC or those that were involved in reburying the men after a couple of years in the ground. Not a pleasant task.
Paul, I absolutely agree. The work of the Graves Registration Units and the CWGC is very commendable - they pay respect to those who paid the highest price.
The three medics of 225 Para Field Ambulance (Kennedy, Matthews, Townend) buried at 143528 were - according to a local source - killed in the crash of a C47 on 24 March 1945. Looking at the arial photo above this sounds plausible - it could very well be the debris of a crashed C47 that we see in the field.
hello! just found this topic, i live a few kilometers from wesel, in dinslaken, and i was at hingendahl's wäldchen a few years ago. a friend is a local historian. if you need help, call me.
Welcome to the forum, Mardai! I am from the area, too. Do you have a special field of interest or research topic? Best alberk
hello alberk! i am just curious about our local history and in individual fates from soldiers of both sides and people of our area. as a kid i grew up with the leftovers in the 70th in wesel. later i learned about the autobahn A3 lines. it is sad to see the old trenches and crates. what is yours? regards marc
Hello Marc, I grew up in Bergerfurth - so my interest is mainly Operation Varsity and Operation Plunder. I am now researching the losses of the US Troop Carrier Command - especially where the aircraft came down. best regards Alex
I came across this post operation report for the 6th AARR on Paradata which gives some map references for the AARR Hamilcars and Horsas. 6 AARR RAC Varsity Report | ParaData. It shows Freebury was in CN 406. Cross referencing with the CWGC Graves Concentration Report https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/f.../2031461/leslie-george-freebury/#&gid=2&pid=1 Freebury was originally buried at MR 157522 . Presumably this is near to where the glider crashed. Glider Pilot S/Sgt JL Ellison is listed at the same spot so it would be reasonable to assume they were both in the same glider. Jenny
Hi Jenny, I cannot view the document as I am not registered with them. Which map reference does it give for CN 406? Best Alex
Alex, Here the file Jenny mentioned. No reference of CN 406 is mentioned is only "Trp Freebury with jeep and trailers missing"
Unfortunately there is no MR for 406. Let me transcribe in brief:- Hamilcars 259 -187513 260 - 195485 261 - 178488 262 - never traced 263 - 187496 264 - in the LZ area, no MR given 265 - 184510 266 - north of LZ, no MR given Horsas 403 - 208486? (The "?" is written on the report, not added by me) 404 - no MR given 405 - very wide of the LZ, no MR given 406 - never traced 407 - 188505 408 - 191495 Jenny