AJEX - The Smollan Brothers

Discussion in 'War Cemeteries & War Memorial Research' started by Capt Bill, Apr 5, 2010.

  1. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    A wonderful illustration of assistance through the WWW.

    To assist Ron in his task - I ploughed through some of my photos from cemeteries, to see if I had any shots of Jewish servicemans resting places.

    Someone had previously asked me for photos from Becklingen, just east of Bergen-Belsen in Germany (scene of quite a fearse armour battle towards the end of the war) My friend Chris still lives in Bergen and he happily oblidged.

    In his shots is one of Harold Smollan - an Airborne soldier who died in 1945. On refering to the CGWC website - I noted that he had two other brothers who also died in WW2 (shades of Saving private Ryan).

    http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-grave-photographs/25027-ajex-headstones.html

    This has started both Ron and I digging for research - but i bow to Rons expertice in this - I am but a novice at this research malarky

    so, this one photo for a forum member, has lead to a bit of research

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    Commonwealth War Graves Commission records


    Name:SMOLLAN, HAROLD
    Initials:H
    Nationality:United Kingdom
    Rank:Private
    Regiment/Service:West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)
    Secondary Regiment:Parachute Regiment, A.A.C.
    Secondary Unit Text:attd. 7th Bn.
    Age:19
    Date of Death:07/04/1945
    Service No:14820558
    Additional information:Son of Henry and Annie Smollan, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada.
    His brothers Joshua and Dennis also died on service.
    Casualty Type:Commonwealth War Dead
    Grave/Memorial Reference:15. E. 12.

    His brothers,

    Name:SMOLLAN, DENNIS
    Initials: D
    Nationality:United Kingdom
    Rank:Aircraftman 1st Class
    Regiment/Service:Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
    Unit Text:51 Sqdn.
    Age:21
    Date of Death:07/02/1943
    Service No:1520153
    Casualty Type:Commonwealth War Dead
    Grave/Memorial Reference:Grave 175.
    Cemetery:HAZELRIGG JEWISH CEMETERY

    Name:SMOLLAN, JOSHUA
    Initials:J
    Nationality:United Kingdom
    Rank:Sergeant
    Regiment/Service:Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
    Unit Text:608 Sqdn.
    Age:29
    Date of Death:30/01/1944
    Service No:1109606
    Casualty Type:Commonwealth War Dead
    Grave/Memorial Reference:Panel 15, Column 2.
    Memorial:MALTA MEMORIAL
     
  3. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    which led to this - the three brothers were 3 of a family of 6 children

    News - from 2005

    On Thursday 23 June , the British High Commissioner will present WW11 campaign and service medals to the Smollan brothers at a reception for the Royal Commonwealth Ex Services League (RCEL).

    The medal ceremony will take place at Earnscliffe (140 Sussex Dr.) from 7:00p.m.- 7:15p.m followed by a sunset ceremony.During WWII all six children of Henry and Annie Smollan a traditional jewish family from Newcastle Upon Tyne (England) enlisted in the British Forces. By the end of the War, three of the six were lost. Dennis Smollan, who served in the RAF, was killed in 1943. Joshua Smollan disappeared in a Hudson Bomber over the Mediterranean in 1944. Harold Smollan was killed with 21 other paratroopers when a bridge was blown up in Germany in 1945.

    After the war, the other three children, (Rita ,Bert and Abby) emigrated with their mother to Canada. Because of the trauma of losing their brothers they did not apply for any of the family's medals. However, the interest shown by their grandchildren prompted the surviving Smollans (Bert and Abby) to apply for all the British medals to which their family members were entitled. The six sets of medals have now been obtained and will be presented to Bert (who lives in Vancouver) and Abby (who lives in Montreal) at the reception.

    Also attending will be the daughter of Rita and other close family.

    The RCEL delegates, representing over 45 countries are in Ottawa for a 5 day annual conference. The RCEL was founded in 1921 at the Empire Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. The League's aim is to ensure that no Commonwealth ex-serviceman or ex-servicewoman shall be without help if in need. The founding member countries of the League were Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Rhodesia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
     
  4. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    Kehilat Middlesbrough Newsletter and Archives

    Family history -

    11. AISHE (HERSCH) (HENRY)3 SMOLLAN (CHAIM (HYMAN)2, ZELIG (DAVID)1) was born 1891 in MIddlesbrough, Yorkshire, England25. He married ANNIE CLAYMAN 1914 in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England26.
    Notes for AISHE (HERSCH) (HENRY) SMOLLAN:
    Henry was the name on his birth certificate
    Children of AISHE SMOLLAN and ANNIE CLAYMAN are:
    • i. ABBY4 SMOLLAN.
    • ii. HAROLD SMOLLAN, b. Abt. 1926, Canada; d. 7 April 1945, Germany.
    Notes for HAROLD SMOLLAN:
    Died in WW11, Private14820558, West Yorkshire Regt. (Prince of Wales's Own) attd. 7th Bn., Parachute Regiment, A.A.C. Buried in BECKLINGEN WAR CEMETERY, Germany
    • iii. JOSHUA SMOLLAN, b. 1915, Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England27; d. 30 January 1944, Malta.
    Notes for JOSHUA SMOLLAN:
    Sergeant 1109606, 608 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Died in Malta and commemorated on the Malta Memorial, Malta, Panel 15, Column 2
    • iv. RITA LILLIAN SMOLLAN, b. 1916, Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England28.
    • v. BENJAMIN (BERT) SMOLLAN, b. 1919, Newcastle, England29.
    • vi. DENNIS SMOLLAN, b. Abt. 1922; d. 7 February 1943.
      Notes for DENNIS SMOLLAN:
      Aircraftsman 1st class, 1520153, 51 Squadron Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Buried at Hazelrigg Jewish Cemetery, Northumberland, England, Grave 175
    [/LIST]
     
  5. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Captain Bill
    (for this, you get your full title !)

    I see you said:
    This has started both Ron and I digging for research - but i bow to Rons expertice in this - I am but a novice at this research malarky



    "But a novice" ?

    You could have fooled me mate !

    A first class piece of research that I will happily pass on to Martin Sugarman who is the AJEX Archivist.

    Many thanks for going the extra mile.

    Ron

    ps
    Just to show you how the data finishes up, have a look at my spreadsheets to date and note the Smollans at the top of Page 2.
     

    Attached Files:

  6. Verrieres

    Verrieres no longer a member

    Taken from;-
    Campaigners for War Grave Commemorations

    TR5/27193 Pte. David SMOLLAN

    9th Bn. East Yorkshire Regiment, died at home 30 September 1917.

    Soldiers Died in the Great War Records:- TR5/27193, Pte David SMOLLAN, 9th Bn. East Yorkshire Regiment. Died 30 September 1917, at home. Born Middlesbrough.

    The British Jewry Book of Honour 1922 (reprinted 1997) p.126, has him as
    27193 Pte D.SMOLLEN, 7th Training Reserve Battalion, died 28 September 1917, address 227 Newport Road, Middlesbrough. In this book he is not listed in the Nominal Roll of the East Yorkshire Regiment (pp.202-3) but he is listed in the Nominal Roll of the Training Reserve Battalions. On page 412 he is listed as 21793 Pte D. SMOLLAN, 5th battalion. [This would agree with his SDGW number, TR5/27193]

    There is confirmation of his family's existence in Middlesbrough. Isaac SMOLLEN was a committee member of the Midlesbrough Jewish community in 1873. Source: Lewis Olsover, The Jewish communities of North-east England,1981, p.311.

    In WWII three brothers named SMOLLAN were KIA.



    Verrieres
     
  7. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    It appears they are the same family. The dates of death are slightly different - but thats not unusual for the times


    • vii. DAVID SMOLLAN8, b. 1899, MIddlesbrough, Yorkshire, England9; d. 4 October 1917, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England.


    Notes for DAVID SMOLLAN:
    Buried in Middlesbrough Old Cemetery grave no. 114

    Kehilat Middlesbrough Newsletter and Archives
    [/list][/LIST]
     
  8. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    thanks to wtid45 for this info

    the scene of harolds death

    And from Para by Peter Harclerode this "Meanwhile, 7th Parachute Battlion was advancing on Neustadt after clearing the airfield at Wunstorf with the help of 13th Parachute Battalion having reached the town, it found the bridge intact.B company commanded by Major 'Tiger' Reid, was in the lead. As it started to cross the bridge Corporal Taylor, one of the sappers from 591st Parachute Squadron RE attached to the company , spotted that the bridge was prepared for demolition and shouted a warning .Tragically he was not heard.Seconds later as the leading platoon was halfway across the enemy blew the bridge, killing 22 men and wounding several others. However a bridgehead was established by Captain E.G. Woodman, Lieutenant G.B Gush and two men who had been the first to cross the bridge and thus escaped injury".

    so - now the search is on for pictures of the bridge over the river in neustadt am rubenberge, just north west of Hannover
     
  9. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    wtid45 likes this.
  10. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    last minute changes to plan for today means I ended up with my wife in Newcastle visiting family. Took the opportunity to visit Hazelrigg and look for Dennis's headstone ( the only military headstone in the cemetery).

    Suddenly realised that I will have passed this cemetery countless times when I lived in Newcastle - only about 3 miles away


    Aircraftsman Dennis Smollan, 51 Sqn RAF
    [​IMG]
    note: his brothers are mentioned at the foot of the headstone.

    Name:SMOLLAN, DENNIS
    Initials: D
    Nationality:United Kingdom
    Rank:Aircraftman 1st Class
    Regiment/Service:Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
    Unit Text:51 Sqdn.
    Age:21
    Date of Death:07/02/1943
    Service No:1520153
    Casualty Type:Commonwealth War Dead
    Grave/Memorial Reference:Grave 175.
    Cemetery:HAZELRIGG JEWISH CEMETERY
     
  11. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    Aircraftman Dennis Smollan died with 6 of his colleagues from 51 Squadron, based at Snaith when the coach they were travelling in was involved in a collision on 07 Feb 1943

    Source: index

    [​IMG]
     
  12. Ian Lockwood

    Ian Lockwood Junior Member

    Harry Smollan did not die on the bridge at Neustadt.
    He was blown up by a mine on the road between Neustadt and Wuntsdorf on the morning of April 7. My father was his friend in the 7th Parachute Battallion and witnessed his death.
    In 2005 I took my father back with the Heroes Return campaign to the spot and an elderly German came out and filled in the gaps.
    Harry Smollan was buried by the family in their garden. He laid there until the mid-1950s when he was reinterred at Becklingen.
    My dad formed a friendship with the family who buried him. We have just been back (dad is now 84). Dad says a prayer over the spot where he was blown up and then visits him in Becklingen.
    If anyone, such as the Smollen family, wishes to know more about Harry's final days get in touch via this thread.
    Dad witnessed the Neustadt bridge blown up later on the 7 April. he then buried the corpses on a small piece of ground by the bridge. We have photos of that if anyone wishes to get in touch. In particular Dad remembers Edward 'Lofty' Wagstaffe, his great friend who was blown up. Both he and dad were both 18.
    the battallion ended up deep in East Germany at Wismar. They had to pull back a fortnight after VE Day and the land was handed over to the Russians.
     
    Capt Bill likes this.
  13. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Ian

    Firstly, welcome to the forum.

    The additional information re Harry Smollen makes truly sobering reading and your father is to be commended for his ability to add this new slant on what has previously been written.

    I shall pass this on to Martin Sugarman, Senior Archivist to AJEX, for his attention.

    Best regards

    Ron
     
  14. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    Ian,

    May I extend a warm welcome to the forum

    I am greatful you placed the details here (i accidently deleted your email, sorry)

    Your piece of the jigsaw to the story of the Smollan Brothers, and this part about Harry is a very valuable and important one and adds great detail and a touch of humility too

    Would it be possible for your father to allow you to add the photographs to our story?

    I have tried to contact the family in Canada via various forums etc with little success I am afraid
     
  15. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    .
    In particular Dad remembers Edward 'Lofty' Wagstaffe, his great friend .

    [​IMG]

    Name:WAGSTAFF, EDWARD
    Nationality:United Kingdom
    Rank:Private
    Regiment/Service:West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own)
    Secondary Regiment:Parachute Regiment, A.A.C.
    Secondary Unit Text:attd. 7th Bn.
    Age:18
    Date of Death:07/04/1945
    Service No:14838109
    Casualty Type:Commonwealth War Dead
    Grave Reference:15. E. 10.
    Cemetery:BECKLINGEN WAR CEMETERY
     
  16. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    Name:SMOLLAN, JOSHUA
    Initials:J
    Nationality:United Kingdom
    Rank:Sergeant
    Regiment/Service:Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
    Unit Text:608 Sqdn.
    Age:29
    Date of Death:30/01/1944
    Service No:1109606
    Casualty Type:Commonwealth War Dead
    Grave/Memorial Reference:Panel 15, Column 2.
    Memorial:MALTA MEMORIAL

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG][​IMG]


    Sgt Joshua Smollan was a crew member onboard Hudson FK733 (sqn code 6T) which took off from airbase Monte Corvino / Anzio,
    Italy and failed to return 30 January 1944
     
    Smudger Jnr likes this.
  17. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Ian, Hello and welcome to the forum.

    Although a very sad thread when you consider the sacrifice of the three young lives, the thread has been fascinating to read and to see the co-operation of members providing information.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  18. Capt Bill

    Capt Bill wanderin off at a tangent

    At last - I like to put a face to a name

    This is Joshua Smollan in 1942 :poppy:
    he is photographed with his aunt on a trip to New Year[​IMG]
     
    4jonboy, Smudger Jnr and dbf like this.
  19. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Thanks for posting that up Capt Bill.
    Can't help but comment that he looks very dashing.
    Wonder how often that photo was looked at and his time at home on leave recalled.
     
  20. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Capt Bill,

    A great photograph that brings the story to life.

    Regards
    Tom
     

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