Geel (stelen) cemetery, belgium

GEEL (STELEN) CEMETERY TODAY

 

If anyone requires a copy of a headstone photo from this cemetery, please let me know.

 

Hello, Does anyone have a photograph of the gravestone marker for Sgt. Deryk Frank Abraham, #7618766, of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps., who is buried at Geel War Cemetery. Plot III, Row B, Grave 5. He died 11 September, 1944. Many thanks in advance!

 

Hello, Does anyone have a photograph of the gravestone marker for Sgt. Deryk Frank Abraham, #7618766, of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps., who is buried at Geel War Cemetery. Plot III, Row B, Grave 5. He died 11 September, 1944. Many thanks in advance!

Photo as requested. By the way, he is not buried at the place in this thread. If you don't mind me asking, what is the story behind this person. It's always interesting to know something if at all possible.

Regards - Rob

Name: ABRAHAM, DERYCK FRANK
Rank: Serjeant
Regiment/Service: Royal Army Ordnance Corps
Age: 27
Date of Death: 11/09/1944
Service No: 7618766
Additional information: Son of Frank P. and Winifred F. K. Abraham; husband of Dorothy Maud Abraham, of Lake, Isle of Wight.
Grave/Memorial Reference: III.B.5.
Cemetery: GEEL WAR CEMETERY

 

Many, many thanks Rob. Deryck Abraham was a cousin of my father's. He was born and grew up on the Isle of Wight, married in 1941 and his wife was expecting their first child when Deryck was killed in action. I appreciate you posting this photo of his head stone.

 

Many, many thanks Rob. Deryck Abraham was a cousin of my father's. He was born and grew up on the Isle of Wight, married in 1941 and his wife was expecting their first child when Deryck was killed in action. I appreciate you posting this photo of his head stone.

Memorials and Monuments on the Isle of Wight - Newport - County Secondary School memorial : biographies

Ex pupil of Carisbrooke High School, Newport, Isle of Wight
Deryck Frank Abraham was a Sergeant in the RAOC, son of Frank and Winifred Abraham, and husband to Dorothy. He was killed on 11th September 1944 at Geel, which was the scene of the heaviest fighting encountered by British troops since they left the Normandy beaches. He was 27 years of age.




Also commemorated on the - Newport Corporation & Gas Undertaking Memorial ex-employee?


Memorials and Monuments on the Isle of Wight - Newport - Corporation & Gas Undertaking

and again here

Memorials and Monuments on the Isle of Wight - Newport - Borough War Memorial WW II Panel 1

 

Thanks for the extra information Jim. I know Jeaniology will appreciate it.

Cheers - Rob

 

As a side snippet, I used to belong to the Hockley Royal British Legion Pipe Band and our secretary had been stationed in Geel just at the end of the War. He was asked to "volunteer" to either be part of the guard at the Nuremberg Trials or the exhumation team recovering the dead in the area. He chose the latter, and the cemeteries in Geel and adjacent areas were filled with the bodies his team recovered, including some 1940 casualties.
Brings back some memories of playing there (is there also one with a terrace type of layout?), also the moules marinier suppers!

 

As a side snippet, I used to belong to the Hockley Royal British Legion Pipe Band and our secretary had been stationed in Geel just at the end of the War. He was asked to "volunteer" to either be part of the guard at the Nuremberg Trials or the exhumation team recovering the dead in the area. He chose the latter, and the cemeteries in Geel and adjacent areas were filled with the bodies his team recovered, including some 1940 casualties.
Brings back some memories of playing there (is there also one with a terrace type of layout?), also the moules marinier suppers!

Was this the place Kevin?

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-grave-photographs/29216-kasterlee-war-cemetery-belgium.html

Part of it drops down. I can't recall seeing any others that have a terrace.

 

hi...nice pix...My Grandfather Trooper William Reid Sherwood Rangers kia gheel 10th sept...k

 

Hi Karlmcd,

Here is a nice up to date pic of your GrandFathers resting place. A very peaceful and well kept plot.

Name: REID, WILLIAM ANTHONY
Rank: Trooper
Regiment/Service: Royal Armoured Corps
Unit Text: Nottinghamshire Yeomanry
Age: 21
Date of Death: 10/09/1944
Service No: 14427894
Additional information: Son of John and Annie Reid; husband of Kathleen Reid, of Inchicore, Dublin, Irish Republic.
Grave/Memorial Reference: Brit. Plot, grave 15.
Cemetery: GEEL (STELEN) CHURCHYARD

 

ah fair play to you man, many thanks...we heading over again this Sept...Stelen is indeed a nice quiet spot....the Regiments Padre Leslie Skinner buried these chaps on the 11th under mortar fire, not so quiet then ...k

 

My pleasure K. I have been there the last two Septembers. Not this time though, as my work is done. Have a great visit.

Kind regards - Rob

 

ramacal: Yes, that's the place!
(I DID reply earlier, but that message seems to have gone AWOL!!)
Corralling our pipers to ensure they didn't go off on private "buskings" for beer money (for themselves) was a particular aspect of that trip!! Just about sober by the time we paraded in Arnhem..

I also recall our coach stopped off alongside a canal (?) and there was a grave in the grass verge by the roadside..... Can't remember where now, though....

 

kevin

As you leave the village of Geel (Stelen) you turn left and go over a Canal. Must have been here you refer to.

 

Possibly.... to be honest, our Band master was reliving his time in Geel and visiting places and people he knew.. I recall him saying that a patrol entered the village/town and was ambushed, several dead, then either the next day or shortly thereafter the town was captured. By that time I think this soldier had been buried where he fell and the townsfolk felt he should stay and not be relocated.... It's about 20 years or more ago now and I don't know if he's been moved to a CWGC cemetery.
Our Bandmaster was responsible for the recovery and concentrating of various graves from all around the area. He stayed there for about 2 years.
We used to joke about how many looked like him!!!

 

I would think that casualty was moved. Can't see it remaining outside somehow.

 

here is an interesting recollection from a sherwood ranger who died just over a year ago....k

Trooper Edwin James Douglas Riches
1943 – April 1944 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry
June 1944 24th Lancers
July 1944 – Dec 1945 Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry
Jan 1946 – Feb 1947 1st Royal Dragoons

I was transferred to the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry in June 1944 after a brief spell with the 24th Lancers (they were disbanded, and my troop was posted to the SRY- Lt Cowans, Sgt Roberts and others). Almost all my action was with the SRY and I hav always been proud of serving with the regiment. I have a vivid memory of the slaughter we drove through in the Falaise area, but even more so of the action at Gheel. I was the troop leader’s wireless operator and we were knocked out by a Panther at 11.30 pm on September 10th – hit by an HE round (presumably what the commander already had up the spout when he spotted us) on the turret, opposite my head, which was followed by an AP about 5 – 8 seconds later, on the same spot, by which time I had moved – very rapidly! I was looking out of the hatch, and saw the sparks fly as the AP hit. The driver (Wally Blaxall) was killed by the HE – he always went into action with his hatch open for fear of being trapped in a burning tank if the gun fell across a closed hatch lid, as sometimes did the lap gunner Arthur (Raffles) Lake – who died of wounds a few hours later.
On bailing out I found Lt Cowans laying on the ground, unconscious. I managed to get him to the nearest tank (the troop corporals’) on which I found our gunner, whose name I cannot recall, had climbed.. He had a leg wound, probably from the HE, via the driver’s open flap. Lt Cowans never returned to the SRY; I believe that his wounds were very serious, but though I picked him up – and I don’t know how – my clothing was clean of bloodstains.
That tank then drove off, leaving me behind but probably unaware of that. Apart from a burning building nearby, and a German flare, it was very dark. And there I stood, on my own, deafened by the HE hit, shocked and disorientated. Fortunately I saw a faint light about a hundred yards away, so I made my way to it. It was the MO and his helpers in action, so I sat in a corner and smoked endless cigarettes. At some point I saw an officer brought in with an obvious and serious eye wound, and I thought that it was Major Gold, but this recollection does not agree with the notes of the timing of his wound which occur in Stuart Hills’ book ‘By Tank to Normandy’. But my recollection is as pictorially vivid as if it had happened yesterday.
When we withdrew on Sept 12th to a nearby village I saw the graves of Wally and Arthur. I had the misfortune to encounter two young military policemen, pink faced, scrubbed, shaven and polished. I was without any kit, unshaven and without a beret, which I had lost when I bailed out. They threatened me with arrest, and told me I must stay within the squadrons tank park or what was left of it! However, later in the day, after dark, I went to a local ‘estaminet’ in a nearby wood, obviously without a hat. This place was packed with Durham Light Infantry, who had suffered very heavy casualties, and a sprinkling of Sherwood Rangers. Incidentally, the beer was like ditch water. Who should walk in a few minutes later but the two MPs? I immediately crouched down to avoid being seen, and my mates smuggled me out. We had the impression that there might be trouble between the MPs and the Durhams, and we moved the following day.
The end of that situation came to my attention in 1947 or 1948. I was reading one of the national papers when I noticed a paragraph, which said that the bodies of two British Military Policemen had been found in a shallow grave in a wood near the town of Gheel. I mentioned it to my Dad, who told me of a similar incident during the troubles in Ireland. My feelings were mixed: obviously the MPs had been upsetting the Durhams, but I felt sad for their parents.
I carried on as an operator, and was in a tank hit by a panzerfaust close to Groesbeek (I think). Following that I was taken out of tanks because my eardrums were badly ruptured, and I became a driver (wheels). I finished my service with the Royal Dragoons, in the orderly room, but my heart was, is and always will be with the SRY.

 

We have a member who researches and has a site for the Corps of Military Police. Wonder if he has any info on this matter.

 

We have a member who researches and has a site for the Corps of Military Police. Wonder if he has any info on this matter.

would be interesting to find out....could the "grave" that kevin said he saw actually be a memorial stone to these two on the spot where they were found??...