This image has recently appeared on eBay :- It reads :- "(Hier) Ruhen 4 unbekannte Englander Stanley Bell 4391912 aus tank HMC 447 Tpr. Agyle 320579" gef(allen) 19.5.40 I assume therefore that it is actually the grave of six men, of whom four unknown. 4391912 Bell is straightforward to trace. Actually Leonard Stanley Bell of 5th Battalion Green Howards, he is now buried at Ath :- BELL, LEONARD STANLEY Rank: Private Service No: 4391912 Date of Death: 23/05/1940 Age: 21 Regiment/Service: Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment) 5th Bn. Grave Reference: B. 2. 20. Cemetery: ATH (LORETTE) COMMUNAL CEMETERY Additional Information: Son of John Crawford Bell and Jane Bell, of Blyth, Northumberland. 320579 was also a correct service number and indicates that the other known casualty was Trooper Albert Argyle M.M. of 4th/7th Dragoon Guards. Sadly he has no known grave and is listed on the Dunkirk Memorial, although he must surely be one of the four unidentified casualties in Ath Cemetery (although five would be expected if this marker indicated four plus two known), or perhaps one of those buried as unknown was subsequently identified. The only other Royal Armoured Corps casualty there is from the Fife & Forfar Yeomanry so it may well be that some of the unidentified bodies here were the other crew of the 4/7 RDG Nuffield-built Scout Carrier Mk1 HMC 447. Trooper Argyle was mentioned, with details of how he earned his MM, on an earlier thread :-http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/8194-transcript-of-journal-belgiumfrance-may-1940/ ARGYLE, ALBERT Rank: Trooper Service No: 320579 Date of Death: 19/05/1940 Age: 20 Regiment/Service: Royal Armoured Corps 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards Awards: M M Panel Reference: Column 2. Memorial: DUNKIRK MEMORIAL Additional Information: Son of James and Rose Argyle, of Kingstanding, Birmingham.
The Green Howards history has the 5th Bn leaving Ath between 6am and 7am on the 18th May. Nothing of note in the 5 GHs war diary either. I did identify the 2/Lt in the Glosters as being aprt of 2nd Bn and he was shot in the back entering a deserted house at night in Ath.
A photograph has now appeared of a burned-out Scout Carrier marked to 2nd Infantry Division and which appears to bear the numberplate HMC ?47 which may well be the HMC 447 referred to on the marker cross. The letters HMC are more clearly visible on an earlier photo (but the '47' wasn't) and in the image above the '2' Arm of Service plate indicating Divisional Cavalry has been turned round to show 'Pass' CWGC records have also been improved to include the Graves Registration Card which shows that one of the Ath casualties at least was 4th /7th Royal Dragoon Guards. I think there is a good chance that this is indeed Trooper Albert Argyle M.M. The complete original images include a charred body and I have therefore cropped them to post on the forum.