Evening folks, I'm trying to find some information on my fathers late cousin who fought at and was taken prisoner at Arnhem in 1944. He was called Maurice Webb and from the information I can find on Ancestry he was Private 5392996 of the Army Air Corp. My father remembers Maurice talking about parachute jumps and the fact that he was taken prisoner at Arnhem would support he was in the Parachute Regiment. My father is keen to find out which unit he was attached to so we can try and trace his movements during the MG operation. Many thanks, Mark
Hi Mark Assume this is the Ancestry record you found: Name: M W Webb Rank: Private Army Number: 5392996 Regiment: Army Air Corps Camp Type: Stalag Camp Number: XII-A Camp Location: Limburg, Baden-Württemberg Record Office: Army Air Corps and Army Catering Corps Record Office, Drill Hall, East Claremont St., Edinburgh 9 Record Office Number: 45 Also England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 Name: Maurice William Webb Birth Date: 12 Jan 1924 Date of Registration: Dec 1997 Age at Death: 73 Registration district: Leeds Inferred County: Yorkshire Register Number: K13C District and Subdistrict: 0921K Entry Number: 39 You could always apply for his service record Requests for personal data and service records: a detailed guide - GOV.UK TD
I've edited thread title , as the chap being discussed was not an American soldier I've changed Pvt to Pte.
findmypast.co.uk There's three entries for him at findmypast in the Casualty records. Subscription for a month is on offer today for £1.
Maurice William Webb was a member of 2 Para Bn and was captured on the 18th September. Given the date I would suspect that he was part of Major Dover's "C" Company and that he was captured in Arnhem as they attempted to fight their way to join Frost at the Bridge. Victor Dover wrote and excellent book about his Company's action "The Silken Canopy" which is quite easy to obtain on Abehbooks. I will post a copy of his POW Liberation report later where he states that he was unwounded when captured so I do not understand why FindmyPast should have a casualty record for him. John
Thanks for all your help and advice. It points me in the right direction to do more research. Regards, Mark
As promised his POW Liberation report. I see that he received his Escape and Evasion talk from Major Dover. (page 2). This supports my earlier comment that his date of capture would indicate that he was part of Major Dover's Company at Arnhem John
Thanks for all the information and help. Is there anyway of finding out which platoon he would have been in?