Hi, I have been reading an online transcribed copy of the 4th Bn., King's Own Scottish Borderer War Diary covering the action fought a Flushing. It can be seen here- https://a8b7715a-b2de-462e-a4f9-1dd...d/29af12_1e7bbd43cc394ceebe8a7aebad20be68.pdf The diaries says that in the appendices that there is a map, but this is not included in the online transcribed version, neither are any of the other appendices. In the War Diary, they make various mentions of Blokes, such as "Bloke 8" etc. The diary makes mention of at least 12 such numbered blokes, which I am keen to know the location of. [ Note so far are Blokes 8,9.19,23,43,44,51,54,55,56,58 and 65] It also seems that they have given different features code names such as Bexhill, Dover, Cod, Grouse etc. Once again I would like to know where these are in Flushing. Does anyone have either a copy of the map that went with this war diary or even a wartime map of Flushing? A wartime map would be useful as occasionally map references are given in the war dairy. Also, if anyone happens to have an actual copy of the War Diary I would be more than happy to pay for a copy of it. Many thanks, Stewart
But I might suggest, that you go to the War Diaries of the 155 Brigade, and Look for Op Order No 1, Map Trace ‘A’ for that date.
Stewart Flushing, when i translate to Dutch i get something strange, so i did a bit of research. But what they mean with Flushing is the city of VLISSINGEN. In this document some more details, i think i have more details. Will have a look in that tomorrow. The assault on Flushing Page 141 DOVER is west of town. In this report of 4 Commando, they also mentioned DOVER, HOVE, UNCLE But definitly you need the wardiaries of 155Bde, as these are Code words for certain areas or lines.
wow, that was quick! Temujin, Thank you very much for the link to those online maps and the suggestion regarding the 155 Bde map. I will follow that up. It is great to see period maps with the German defences included. Bedee, Dank u wel for the two links. I have only had a very quick scroll through the Canadian document. It looks very interesting and will spend a bit of time reading it tonight. The 4 Commando map is great and has really helped. I will be able to use that in conjunction with the maps Temujin provided. I have a copy of the history of the 52nd Division which has also helped and has a very nice Aerial photograph of the area which has a transparent overlay but does not mention all of the locations that are in the War Diary. Many thanks to you both. I hope to visit Vlissingen next year.
Just noticed a typo in my original post, it should read Blocks and not Blokes! Should have spotted that one.
Stewart, Answer on your questions about DOVER, COD etc you will find here on page 39 33squadronassociation Battlefield Tour 2017 Walcheren I'm not the specialist, my intrest is more OP Veritable, but this area has some relations, because of the Brittish and Canadian units who participated in both. So, Happy to help. So this is from a specialist i can see, but it is in Dutch, have a look maps included. De Slag om Vlissingen - 4th King's Own Scottish Borderers
Stewart Good that it was ‘blocks’, not ‘blokes’ - I was worried it was my typo! I have a copy of the maps referred to in the diary - I took quick photos of them (in bits) as I was photographing the actual war diaries to do the transcription. The quality’s not brilliant in some images but it’ll give you an idea of what’s there. You could perhaps get TNA to do you a good quality copy/print of the original maps. These are just examples of what I’ve got - I can send you the rest by WeTransfer or something if you PM me an email address - together with the original diaries, if you’d like. The maps are what’s referred to as Appendix VI (1/10,000 overprint) and Appendix VII (Town Plan) at the end of the November ward diary. Adam (adbw)
Hi Bedee, Thank you very much for the two links. Both have lots of the sort of details I was hoping to find, but could not. I see the man who put the De Slag om Vlissingen site together has also written and published a book about it. I wonder if he plans to do an English language version? I only know a little Dutch, which I have learned from my Flemish-speaking friends in Belgium. I have found that I understand a lot more than I can speak. Adbw, Thank you very much for sharing your maps, they are great to see. It would be great to see more and also copies of the War Dairy, but I have never used any of the Document Transferring websites before. Do you need to have a subscription to use one, how does it work? I thought my daughter had used them in the past, but she has not. I have been researching a chap who was in the 4th KOSB and was killed, with two others, while on patrol near Empel on the 26th of November, 1944. Their bodies could not be retrieved by the battalion and on the 28th the War Diary states that their bodies are no longer visible and they believe they must have been removed by the enemy. Very many thanks once again to everyone for all of your help and assistance. I am always amazed by the amount of information people have managed to collect and the work that has gone into presenting research carried out.
