Just a general comment really from the latest newsletter of the Arnhem Veteran Club..... September 2010 the Club has a strength of 359....a loss of 56 which is about 13.5% of the membership. As the Secretary said they actually lost 67 but gained 11 members who came back..... Of this 359: 282 1st Airborne Division 50 Glider Pilots 19 RAF/Air Despatch 3 1st Polish Brigade 2 4th Dorsets 3 Dutch Nationals Around 12,000 went to Arnhem.....a band of brave men slowly fading away.....How many Battle of Britain aircrew are still around for example??? Then the same newsletter gives the names of 14 men who were at Arnhem in the 'Last Post' section.......
I heard yesterday of a George Kay from the SAS who is still alive(90) and apparantly dropped prior to the Battle near Arnhem. He has been on the bridge then, at least, thats the story. Maybe others know more. Ron....
Don't wish to decry this but is this another of those myths about Arnhem......??? I recall the municipal archivist of Arnhem having to get Dutch newspapers to print apologies for 'fanciful' stories around Arnhem that surfaced in 2004.....
Well, I know relatives from him come to Arnhem each year so I would say it's very early to call it a Myth.. Ron...
I heard yesterday of a George Kay from the SAS who is still alive(90) and apparantly dropped prior to the Battle near Arnhem. He has been on the bridge then, at least, thats the story. Maybe others know more. Ron.... Can you tell us more abour George...when did he land, what he did on the bridge and how he got back etc etc????
George is on the left! I met him and his pal, Ricky Clitheroe when they came to London to hand in a petition to the PM. Seems he still has a lot of fight in him!
Can you tell us more abour George...when did he land, what he did on the bridge and how he got back etc etc???? AM, the only thing I know is he has been on the south side of the bridge and probably this was shortly before the Battle. If it is a myth so it is, but it might be true as well, who knows?? I will try to find out more... Ron...
AM, the only thing I know is he has been on the south side of the bridge and probably this was shortly before the Battle. If it is a myth so it is, but it might be true as well, who knows?? I will try to find out more... Ron... I found this."An if you’re good I will introduce you to a good mate George Kay. He was with 3 Para during Arnhem managed to get back to UK then went SAS during Normandy. After the SAS was disbanded for a time he moved to Africa and was involved in formation of the Rhodesian SAS a true gent." Who is 'Bob Spour'???? - Page 66 Only trouble with this "WENT SAS DURING NORMANDY" that was June Arnhem was in September
Just to bring this thread back on track. There are still nearly 400 veterans of the Regiment who are Assn members. The Assn has around 600 members in total. There are others who aren't members, and of course their number is unknown. Steve W.
Sorry, to knock it back of thread again, but having met GK a number of times thought this might bring some fact to the myth etc. Pte George Kay remembers hell of Dunkirk on 70th anniversary of retreat | Mail Online George's SAS days where post WW2, and as said above he was 3rd battalion at Arnhem. P
Sorry, to knock it back of thread again, but having met GK a number of times thought this might bring some fact to the myth etc. Pte George Kay remembers hell of Dunkirk on 70th anniversary of retreat | Mail Online George's SAS days where post WW2, and as said above he was 3rd battalion at Arnhem. P Great Now there are only 2 questions left and the Myth has become true. 1. Did he reached the bridge 2. If so, has he been on the southside I know, no 2 is unlikely but that is what i have been told. Ron...
Seemed appropriate to move this to the Airborne section because of it's particular focus chaps, hope that's OK. More General thread on British WW2 Veteran demographics here: How many British WW2 Veterans are still around ? ~A
I found this pic on the Paradata website and I've added the names that were given on the site. I wonder if the G Kay, fourth from the right on the back row is our man?? All the best...........
I found this pic on the Paradata website and I've added the names that were given on the site. I wonder if the G Kay, fourth from the right on the back row is our man?? All the best........... Nice one Paul Would make sense mate ties in being 3 Para.
Whilst trawling through the National Archives I came across George Kay's POW questionairre filled in and signed by him which states that he was captured on 20th September at Arnhem and remained a POW until his escape on 24/4/45 when he returned to Allied lines. I don't know if this helps as to whether he was either on the bridge or not. As an aside all the POW reports for Arnhem I have seen have shown the place of capture as Arnhem so far I have never seen any mentioning Osterbeek but this is probably not suprising as quite possibly most of those involved thought of the whole operation as being in Arnhem. If anyone has seen any showing a different place of capture I'd be interested to hear from them. Cheers Arnhem
Airborne Medic You may,or may not know, that if you go into EDIT mode on your first posting on this thread and then go into ADVANCED you have the opportunity to amend the thread title. If it's not asking too much, could you alter the title of this thread from "Veterans still with us" to "Veterans fortunately still with us" ? Every time I see this thread title I have to resist the urge to see if there is a list and that I am still on it Best regards Ron Further thoughts on the same subject: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/general/13549-how-many-british-ww2-veterans-still-around.html
