Varsity: Unidentifyable casualty. Who can help?

Discussion in 'NW Europe' started by alberk, Oct 23, 2020.

  1. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    I am interested in a casualty of "Operation Varsity". On a concentration sheet he was idetified as:
    Bamford J L - Royal Artillery - KIA 24/03/1945 (the last entry on the form below)
    However, there is no Bamford J L to be found on the CWGC Website. What could the following entries mean:

    GHQ 2nd Echelon unable to trace

    He was found in the vicinity of DZ "A" - apparently in a single grave (grid reference is given) and was re-interred on the Reichswald Forrest Cemetary.

    Thanks for any suggestion that could be of help for my Research! Bamford Kopie.JPG
     
  2. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    only a guess:
    Higher Organisation
    Adjutant General's Branch
     
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  3. jonheyworth

    jonheyworth Senior Member

    Is the grave “ unknown “ in reichswald today ?
     
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  4. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    From the below it looks like they backtracked on the ID when they couldn't match him up with any casualties

    doc3019336.JPG
     
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  5. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Thanks everybody. I will have to check about the grave in the Reichswald - but judging by the form that AB64 attached this casualty is most likely listed as "unknown".
    AB64 - which search term helped you to find that form? Can one enter "unknown"? I never tried that...
    Best regards
    Alex
     
  6. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

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  7. jonheyworth

    jonheyworth Senior Member

    That’s exactly what I meant Alistair, couldn’t bring it up on my old dog n bone. ID rescinded, buried as UBS. Cheers
     
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  8. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    I had a check at one of the identified soldiers beside him (Waine) in the hope that their forms overlapped and this one did. I had hoped the form would maybe explain the ID as sometimes they note the ID was from "disc", "paybook" or whatever but nothing

    I had initially identified that Waine was in 32.D.7, so assumed "Bamford" was in 32.D.5 so looked up casualties in the cemetery and did a download and tried search for this grave in case it showed him (maybe with a variation on the name) but couldn't get a hit so assumed it was now an unknown.
     
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  9. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    Thank you, AB64.
    I am collating - or have done so and am checking again - the fatal casualties for Op. Varsity between March 24th and 26th, the time span which I define as the actual battle for the airborne bridgehead. It's been done before but I am actually making interesting discoveries- for myself at least. I am also relating the fallen soldiers to the locations on the battlefield.

    Based on the CWGC concentration forms I have 29 "unknown" British casualties on my list (available information followed by grid reference):

    Soldier 216493

    Soldier same location

    Soldier RA same location

    Soldier RA same location

    Soldier Airborne 171509

    Soldier Airborne same location

    Soldier 6 AB Div 171513

    Soldier 6 AB Div same location

    Soldier 6 Ab Div same location

    Soldier 188492

    Soldier 13 Para Pte same location

    Soldier 17799?

    Soldier 7 Para Pte same location

    Soldier 12 Para 191512

    Soldier 216493

    Soldier 3 Para/R Sigs 158471

    Soldier 3 Para 158471

    Soldier Arirborne Div 207488 on 1/25.000

    Soldier RA 172485 (= „Bamford“ = unknown)

    Soldier 216493

    Soldier RA 216492

    Soldier RA 216492

    Soldier RA 216492

    Soldier Sjt 6 A/B Div 159523 Sheet 7057

    Soldier Sjt 6 A/B Div 159523 Sheet 7057

    Soldier Glider Pil. 157529 Sheet 7057

    Soldier RA 189480

    Soldier 189480

    Soldier 184508
     
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  10. travers1940

    travers1940 Well-Known Member

    Am unable to trace a J L Bamford Royal Artillery on ancestry in either, index to War Office: Roll of Honour, Second World War , or index to Royal Artillery Tracer cards.
     
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  11. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    The fact there isn't a number suggests the identity wasn't from ID discs or a similar strong source, so possibly from a name in uniform etc which might have been mixed up with someone else in the unit or a reissue from a previous owner etc or some scrap of paper in pockets, maybe another soldier dropped something next to him, so many possibilities - I think "J L Bamford" may be a total red herring, I tried looking at men commemorated at Groesbeek from the 24th March with a similar name but none jumped out.

    Checking Births etc on Ancestry between 1915-25 there are no B L Bamfords (just a John L St J Bamford who died in 2011)

    Would local archives hold any kind of records of bodies recovered? maybe if he was found by civilians first rather than the Graves unit would it initially go through Police and be recorded by them
     
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  12. alberk

    alberk Well-Known Member

    I will check with the Municipal Archives at Hamminkeln... 33 and 35 GRU started their work on April 3rd or 4th 1945. Some weeks later the local authorities were ordered to record all field graves and collect all available information of Allied soldiers buried in the area. An official order in writing came on June 20th 1945. Auxiliary policemen, elderly men (who had not served as soldiers and were therefore not interned as POW) as well as schoolchildren were recruited to do this. The lists collated back then are available in the local archive.
     

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