Leicester Regiment at Arnhem

Discussion in 'Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy' started by roodymiller, Oct 6, 2017.

  1. roodymiller

    roodymiller Senior Member

    Hello...

    I'm researching a friend's uncle who was died of wounds in Arnhem.

    I'm looking for the war diary of the 1st Bn Leicester Regiment for Sept and Oct 1944.

    Also (a bit of a long shot) I'm after the missing in action files for October 1944... he was captured on the 10th and wondered if he was mentioned in there...

    Thanks

    Andrew
     
  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Hi Andrew

    If you get stuck I can copy the Missing Men file for you covering NW Europe. The gamble is it may only mainly focus on one battle like Normandy or if you are lucky Arnhem but on the other hand it may cover all of 1944 and 1945. I already have a copy of the 1944 war diary. Drop me a PM if you'd like to place an order.

    Cheers
    Andy
     
  3. ClankyPencil

    ClankyPencil Senior Member

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  4. roodymiller

    roodymiller Senior Member

    Yes mate. I sent them an email... no reply as of yet though
     
  5. horsapassenger

    horsapassenger Senior Member

    Surely the Leicesters were attached to 147 Infantry Brigade which was on the left flank, along the channel coast. As such they should have been nowhere near Arnhem
     
    stolpi likes this.
  6. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Correct - The Bn diary between the 16th and 25th September has them moving from France to Belgium passing through Arras, Tournai, Brussels ending up south of Herentals.
     
    horsapassenger likes this.
  7. roodymiller

    roodymiller Senior Member

    Cheers... this is what I want to find out. I'd really like to find out where they was on the 21st Oct. The man I'm looking into was wounded on that day. He was captured and then died in Apeloorn hospital and buried in oosterbeek cemetery.
     
  8. horsapassenger

    horsapassenger Senior Member

    Can you give his name? There was more than one hospital in use in Apeldoorn. Above you stated that he was captured on the 10th October but now say that it was the 21st when he was wounded.
    The only 1 Leicester Regiment members that I can find buried in Oosterbeek Cemetery are:
    Robert Ashcroft who died 12/12/44 moved from Apeldoorn Municipal cemetery 4/10/45
    James Corbishley who died 14/4/45 and was first buried in Arnhem
    Victor Rule who died 15/4/45 and was buried in the grounds of St Elisabeths hospital, Arnhem
     
    roodymiller likes this.
  9. smdarby

    smdarby Well-Known Member

    I had a quick look at Delaforce's "The Polar Bears - Monty's Left Flank". It states the Leicesters suffered heavy casualties from a German counterattack on 21/10/44 somewhere between Wuestwezel and Esschen (Wuustwezel and Essen on modern maps), suffering 111 casualties, including 25 dead. This was in Belgium and nowhere near Arnhem or Apeldoorn. The 49th Div were stationed on "The Island" just south of Arnhem from late 1944 and did liberate Arnhem and some of the area around there in 1945.
     
    roodymiller likes this.
  10. roodymiller

    roodymiller Senior Member

    Yes sorry about the date mix up... it was the 21st Oct.

    It is Robert Ashcroft. He was captured wounded and died later in Apeldoorn... that's pretty much everything I know.
     
  11. Tom Wallace

    Tom Wallace Junior Member

    Don't forget my order when you go, cheeky. :D.
     
  12. horsapassenger

    horsapassenger Senior Member

    I would suggest applying for a copy of Ashcroft's service records. This is the only way that you can be certain of what unit he was serving with at the time of death. I note that, in addition to being shown as wounded and captured on the 21st October, there is also reference to him being wounded on 17th July 1944. It may be that he was posted to another unit within the Division on recovery from those wounds but would still have been badged as Leicester.
     
    Mike L likes this.
  13. roodymiller

    roodymiller Senior Member

    Cheers horsa. We've applied for his records but I know they take a good while to come...

    Where did you find about his other wounding.
     
  14. horsapassenger

    horsapassenger Senior Member

    On the Casualty lists. Last time I applied for the Service Records of a WW2 casualty they arrived within a couple of weeks
     
  15. Wayne White

    Wayne White New Member

    Hi there is a book calling Tigers never sleep written by a gentleman who was involved in the battle to free the port of Antwerp in Sept/Oct 1944 featuring the 1st battalion leicestershire regiment I have a copy if anyone wants any info I will gladly look and get back to you my great uncle died aged 20 on the 21st October 1944 during this battle
     
  16. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 and 1939-1947
    Name: Robert James Ashcroft
    Age: 18
    Birth Date: abt 1926
    Death Date: 12 Dec 1944
    Cemetery: Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery
    Burial Country: Netherlands
    Father: Samuel Thomas Ashcroft
    Mother: Elizabeth Ashcroft
    Regimental Number: 14427877
    Region or Memorial: Netherlands

    UK, Army Roll of Honour, 1939-1945
    Name: Robert Ashcroft
    Given Initials: R J
    Rank: Private
    Death Date: 12 Dec 1944
    Number: 14427877
    Birth Place: Lincoln
    Residence: Warwickshire
    Branch at Enlistment: Infantry
    Theatre of War: Western Europe Campaign, 1944/45
    Regiment at Death: Leicestershire Regiment
    Branch at Death: Infantry

    Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current
    Name: Private Robert James Ashcroft
    Death Date: 12 Dec 1944
    Cemetery: Arnhem (Oosterbeek) War Cemetery
    Burial or Cremation Place: Oosterbeek, Renkum Municipality, Gelderland, Netherlands
    Has Bio?: Y
    https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12731899

    TD

    Just to add - cant find an R J Ashcroft in any of the POW databases I have access to, which is not unexpected. If he was wounded in Oct and captured died in Dec I doubt that the system would have caught up with him - I'm afraid to say
     
  17. Wayne White

    Wayne White New Member

    In a book I have there is an R J Ashcroft listed possibly killed at Wuustwezel but cemetery not known
     
    JimHerriot likes this.
  18. If you're still searching for the 1st BN. Leicester's war diary — I have it. It's a photocopy of a typed-out diary, but I'm not sure if it was ever published.
    My source was my father, who was the battalion's doctor '1944-45.
     
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  19. As a quick follow up to my earlier post, on Oct. 21 they were defending Stonebridge, just north of Wustwezel on the Antwerp-Breda Road. They were shelled heavily, and then attacked by a strong force iincluding tanks. They suffered 111 casualties that day, dead, wounded and missing. The Germans were driven back, leaving behind 13 knocked-out tanks and self-propelled guns
     
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  20. The war diary reads this: "The battalion had arrived in a static period after the initial hard fighting after D.Day. It first went into the line on 13 July at Fontenay-le-Pesnil.
    From 24 July to 10 Aug it held the line at Le Poirier, SE of Caen, facing a German SS Division over 2,000 yds of open plain. Patrolling was very active, as was enemy shelling and mortaring.
    This was a most difficult time for the Battalion. It was six weeks before it got a proper fight with the enemy, and during this period it suffered (blanked out) casualties almost entirely from shelling and mortaring.
    Among these was Lt Col Novis who was evacuated to England. Major R.J. German took command of the Battalion until relieved by Major I.D.M. Liddell."

    The next entry is headlined: Advance to R. Seine and crossing R Touques (16 August - 28 August)
     
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