HELP - Riddle of RA Glider Officer Killed D-DAY

Camulard

To add a photo, use the option at the bottom right to 'Upload a File'

TD

 

Hi Camulard,

Using the map reference "282825 " the Coordinate Translator puts it at "49.318399974145, -0.026318813688716"

Google Maps, satellite view - 49.318399974145, -0.026318813688716

So right on the beach with substantial boulders and a steep cliff just west of Villers-sur-Mer downtown.

The cemeteries (ancient and new) at Villers-sur-Mer are located here on Google Maps.

Regards

 

Camulard,

I know the book you refer to: "Zone cotière interdite". When the author (a friend of mine) wrote the book we exchanged quite a lot about John MACHIN, but the conclusion in the book are not correct.
Since, the missing personnel files at the National Archives in London confirms Gnr John Machin being a passenger in Horsa CN99. The only Survivor of Horsa CN99, Bdr G.R. LEATHERBARROW gives a detailed account in which he describes what happened after the glider ditched in the sea. Gnr Machin was one of the men who later drowned and later his body found at Villers sur Mer.

 

I didn't know this book. I had the text by the town of Villers-sur-Mer. For them, the official story of Machin is to landed in Les Meurdries area at Villers-sur-Mer. I read the account of Leatherbarrow first, it's for that I was surprised to read the story of Villers. Thanks for your help all!

I found this location with the reference 282825:

 

Camulard,

I used the French Lambert Zone 1 grid and box "vU" in the Coordinate Translator. It's the only combination that gave results close to Villers-sur-Mer for me. These map references are not always accurate, but it is curious it gave a location on the beach.



Regards ...

 

Hi,

Photos of a wartime map.

Regards

Danny

 

The graves of the Chalk No 99 crew.

 

Odd piece of info here Lt. Lyons has a POW card and is said to have died 11th July 1944?!

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17093111

 

Brithm - Be very wary of the information from these cards as they have been Catalogued. Apart from their primary use as POW cards they were also used by the Germans as burial records (Denoted by a black rubber stamp of a cross in the top right hand corner). The date shown in the Catalogue description is almost certainly the date that the body was buried by the German authorities. This will also give the first burial location.