I have a lovely picture of my Dad enjoying a bit of the so-called R&R in Blankenberghe (his spelling on the back of the photo) in a bar or pub somewhere not defined. He is sat with his beer, a fag hanging limply from the corner of his mouth, looking quite the charmer! Then left to right he describes his mates: "Self - Fred - Bill - Tojo - Ken - Reg" . 'Tojo' got his nickname from the Japanese Emperor because he wore similar small round-rimmed glasses - hardly politically correct these days! No idea of his real name I'm afraid. Not sure how to upload a photo to this site, but if you can tell me how, I can do so. He was in the RA 344 Indep Searchlight Battery, B Troop. They were certainly there not long after being in the Berlin Victory Parade in July, and before he spent time in Hamburg as part of the occupying forces (and from where he found a copy of Mein Kampf in a house, which sits sheepishly on a shelf at my Mum's as a piece of history, thankfully not as a reference manual! I have a detailed day by day account of the Battery's movement from when they landed at Courseulles (Juno) in July 1944 (my Dad's troop landed there on August 7th) but sadly it ends at the Victory Parade in July, so i can't help as to why there were there, but I'm sure the Royal Artillery would know if you contacted them. Good hunting! Ross
This is an old topic so I'm not sure if it will be noticed by anyone, but I've been doing some research on my Grandfather's time in Blankenberge. He was in the RAF and I would love to find out more about his time, the people he was there with etc. Here's the full story...
Hi greenchicken - interesting blog. Done a little digging - your wing commander could well be Acting Wing Commander Stewart Mackenzie, service no. 43397, awarded the OBE in the 1945 Birthday Honours List (LG issue 37119, page 2948 - LG of 14 June 1945, Supplement to the LG of 8 June 1945). This chap may be able to get you the award citation for the OBE, which might reveal whether it was anything to do with Blankenberge - www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?750-Awards-14-June-1945 The RAF Commands thread lists him as 2 TAF BPC. "2 TAF" is 2nd Tactical Air Force but I'm not sure what BPC is (possibly "Base Personnel Centre"?). Interesting that the RAF were involved in clearing mines from Blankenberge - as far as I know, the RAF Regiment were sometimes tasked with that job. Cheers and good luck hunting down more about your grandfather Ian
Thanks very much for this, that does indeed sound like the chap. I'll try and get more info on his OBE.
My late grandfather was in the RAF 98 Squadron and I have a few photos that he took enjoying the sightseeing in Blankenberge no doubt after VE day. I'm not sure where the following photo was taken though? I'm assuming this is an air raid shelter. Could this be in Blankenberge?