Hi I was hoping someone might be able to help. I have a POW Liberation report to 6848274 Roland Janovsky who was a member of the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment and was captured at Arnhem on the 21st September 1944. Although I have a date of birth for him of 15/7/1919 I am unable to find any more on him. I know he was not as far as I can see a member of either 'S' Company and he does not appear in the nominal roll in 'B' Company arrived. Does anyone by any chance know which company he was in or anything else about him. Duxford (IWM) have no knowledge of him and neither have any of the researchers on any of the other forums /sites that concentrate on Arnhem. As I am unable to even trace a date of death for him or any trace of him anywhere I cannot apply to see his service records. If anyone can tie him down to a company I might at least be able to work out his movements before his capture on 21st September. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Arnhem
If you grab a copy of his marriage cert it might have date of birth, if not it will say how old he was at that time England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 Name: Roland Janovsky Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1940 Registration district: West Ham Inferred County: Essex Spouse: Patricia Farrell Volume Number: 4a Page Number: 345 UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 Name: R Janovsky Rank: Private Army Number: 6848274 Regiment: Army Air Corps Camp Type: Stalag Camp Number: XII-A Camp Location: Limburg, Baden-Württemberg TD
Theres a bit of an odd ball in the 1939 Register - it always throws up his wife in maiden name form, this is overwritten with Janovsky which would mean that at the time of the NHS starting she was registered under that name, but then it been overwritten a second time with the surname Brooker Name: Brigid P Farrell [Patricia Eugene Janovsky] [Brigid P Brooker] Gender: Female Marital Status: Single Birth Date: 24 Jan 1919 Residence Year: 1939 Address: 71 Calverton Rd Residence Place: East Ham, Essex, England Occupation: Provision Shop Saleswom?? Schedule Number: 89 Sub Schedule Number: 4 Enumeration District: CAPX Registration district: 188A-2 Household Members: Name Alice W Gibbs Edith M Gibbs Georgina J Gibbs Brigid P Farrell OK so this seems odd as I then checked for a marriage between Brooker and Janovsky which resulted in 0 zero - so tried Brooker and Farrell and that resulted in 1 England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 Name: Roland M Brooker Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1940 Registration district: West Ham Inferred County: Essex Spouse: Farrell Volume Number: 4a Page Number: 344a but her details for the same marriage certificate show: Name: Patricia Farrell Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1940 Registration district: West Ham Inferred County: Essex Spouse: Janovsky Or Brooker Volume Number: 4a Page Number: 345a So I would suggest you are actually looking for a Roland M Brooker - who is/was Roland M Janovsky So the plot thickens England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007 Name: Roland M Brooker Registration Date: 1919 Registration district: Marylebone Inferred County: London Re-registration Year: 1919 Mother's Maiden Name: Brooker Volume Number: 1a Page Number: 671 methinks you may need to obtain some of these certiciates to find out who is who TD
Thanks very much TD. I did try and research him on Ancestry but completely missed the Brooker connection. I will apply for a marriage certificate and follow up with any findings I have.
Well as you see the Brooker connection only comes via the 1939 Register, which may not have been around when you tried before and also an oddball thought of mine to trace her line Good luck - will be interested to see what comes of it, theres some head scratching left to do on this one I think TD
That is all I have at the moment. All this information came from Ancestry with a bit of inspired guess work of my own and from TD's research on my behalf. If anyone has any ideas how to progress my search from here so I can get some more information on his time in the Airborne Forces I'd be very glad to hear from them. Cheers Arnhem
I've a few I came across that tried to anglicise their names. I had a Jeeteman that morphed into Jutman after WW1 and as WW2 approached, the surname became Goodman. Just a thought.
Ancestry also provides the following : Janovsky name meaning. Jewish ( eastern Ashkenazic ), variant spelling of Janowski. Source : Dictionary of American Family Names 2013 Oxford University Press. If he was Jewish I wonder if AJEX may have details of him? Worth a try.
Thanks everyone for the help and pointers they have given me. I think I have come to the end of this particular search for information. But if anyone should come across a photograph of him please let me know. Cheers Arnhem
Hi I know this is an older thread but as with most people may still be interested. Someone asked for Pte Janovsky’s Company? He was A Coy, 2 Para, at Arnhem in 1944 and a bridge assaulter/ defender. Captured at the bridge 21 September then POW. Hope this helps in some way. Stay safe all.
