On 28 january an uncle of mine was killed on "The Island". His grave was marked with an English cross stating "Killed in action 28-1-45" The location was near an house called "De Esch", close to the northern bank of the river Waal. At that day the 49 (WR) Recce was on duty at that location. Since never could be reconstructed what has happened that day I'm looking for the war diaries of that day and that unit. Because of the English cross on the grave I think my uncle was killed by English fire, and this should be noted in the war diaries. However, I am unable to find them Is somebody able to help me? I'm Dutch, so please forgive me for "murdering the Queen's english"
Is this not the one you need: Recce.Regt. | The National Archives From this search link - Search results: 49 recce | The National Archives Recce.Regt. War Office: Allied Expeditionary Force, North West Europe (British Element): War Diaries, Second World War. DIVISIONS. 49 Infantry Division. Recce.Regt. Held by: The National Archives - War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies Date: 1945 Reference: WO 171/4234 Subjects: Armed Forces (General Administration) | Army | Conflict | Diaries | Europe and Russia | Operations, battles and campaigns TD
Relevant page attached. Maybe your uncle was killed in the incident on the 27th - note the later handwritten note referring to a third body being recovered
Thank you. Especially Horsapassenger. I'll try to find out if that burned house on the 27th was the house called "De Esch", because the body of my uncle, as well as those of two German solders was found in the garden of that house.
Jan It's probable that after the bodies had been discovered in the house they were buried in the garden.
Jan This map might assist you to identify the location of the house. The War Diary gives the map reference for the building as 545695. The top row of the map is the 69 grid. Hence halfway across and halfway up the square to the right of the 54 vertical line, by the building marked De Temple, should be the area you're looking for.
We know that my uncle was buried in the garden of a house called "De Esch". In that garden two German soldiers were buried too. So that does fit the war diary. I'm attaching a part of a similar map whit the location of the house. It is still there, but situated more to the east. By the way: on the map it's also marked where my uncle's brother was found died, after the war. He is assumed to be killed on the same day as his brother. The guide of the two brothers was found dead on the same location. Probably they were killed by a nearby hit of a granate. We assume that my uncle did survive this hit, and decided not to keep moving in the direction of Nijmegen, but chosed to go in the direction of Dodewaard. Is it possible that the buried bodies were moved from the location where they were shot to the garden of "De Esch"? By the way: I have several books about he subject, but do not have the map you did sent me a part of. I would be very happy to have the complete map, since in the books many coordinates are given, but with no proper map at hand it's quite difficult to identificate the locations
Jan The map that you posted puts De Esch not on the Druten map but on the adjacent Renen map where its location is marked as 'Den Esch'. You should be able to download this map from the American Library of Congress at Renen, Holland
The Renen-map (Rhenen) covers the region west of Dodewaard. The identification report describes the location of the grave as: Front garden of the house called "Den Esch", owned by C. van Hattum, Kerkstraat, Hien (community of Dodewaard). This is not on the Renen-map. On the screen shot yuo attached the house is visible, but that screen shot does not come from the Renen map, does it?
Jan The last screen shot that I posted showing the house Den Esch comes from the bottom of the Rhenen (Renen) map where the building is shown at map reference 576702. You should be able to download this map from the link that I attached. You will see that the Rhenen map sits directly North of the Druten map
Sorry, my mistake. The house De Esch indeed is visible on that map. In the front garden two Germans and a civilian were buried: "killed in action". The cross is dated 28 januari, but these people seems to be killed the day before, west of Dodewaard. I do trust the war diary, but cannot explain the difference between date an d place of killing and date and place of burial.
