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At 84years old, Willemien Rieken still pays tribute to a fallen WW2 British soldier

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by Helm, Sep 18, 2020.

  1. Helm A Fixture

    Country:
    England
  2. Chris Oldfield A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Arnhem is the only one I've ever visited, & it is full of stories & surprises like this one.
    I believe the schoolchildren of Arnhem & Oosterbeek still lay flowers on the graves every year, & there are many other poignant things I noticed when I visited the cemetery in 1990 - for instance, the pair of twin brothers who joined The Parachute Regiment on the same day; they had consecutive Regimental numbers, & fell within an hour of each other during the battle. They are buried together in the same grave.

    Also, the German Jews who fled Nazi Germany before WW2, & enlisted in the Airborne Forces under assumed names to protect members of their families who remained behind in Germany. There were quite a few of these graves, & these soldiers' assumed names & their real names were quoted on their headstones.
    RIP all who fell during Operation Market Garden.
    housecarl, fogie and Helm like this.
  3. 1969 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Nice to see those graves so well maintained and looked after so long after the event, also reflects the good nature of the local people to do so.
    Cheers
    Steve
    housecarl, fogie and Helm like this.
  4. fogie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Admirable and moving stuff... has anyone else read 'The Englishman's Daughter' by
    Ben Macintyre - a true account of something similar that happened during the First
    World War.

    Mike
    housecarl and 1969 like this.
  5. Chris Oldfield A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    I defy anyone who has visited one of these cemeteries not to have had slightly moist eyes at some stage.
    1969, housecarl and Paul Kernan like this.
  6. OldTaff PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    "Moist eyes" is understating it, mate,.....when we found my great uncle's grave in Etaples , I cried like a baby. BTW, Etaples MC has many Commonwealth graves, young chaps who'd made through only to die of Spanish 'Flu right at the last knockings, like great uncle Evan David Rowlands. Heartbreaking stuff, certainly.

    Alan
    Chris Oldfield and 1969 like this.
  7. housecarl Moderator

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    My great, grandfather joined the Cheshire Regt in 1914, wounded then ended up in the Cycle Corp, wounded again relocated into the Labour Corp he died of the flu.
    He's buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery. :(

    068.JPG
    Helm, Chris Oldfield and 1969 like this.
  8. Chris Oldfield A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Alan,

    Tidworth Military Cemetery is much the same - many of the graves in it are those of Australian & New Zealand soldiers who died in the flu epidemic of 1918/19, a few months after the end of WW1.

    Chris.
    OldTaff likes this.

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