Unknown Soldier (Airborne) CWGC/8/2/8/4/2/8

Very much agreed Cee.

Extracts below from an old (well known) source.

Kind regards, always remember, never forget,

Jim.

 

And, not withstanding the age of the Roll of Honour (above) or wanting to muddy the waters further but.....

This unknown could be 5957181, Staff Sgt Alan White (last entry on page 18 above) maybe?

If only I could make out the initials on those signet rings more clearly!

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

The newer Roll of Honour has Picton and Higham first buried at the corner of Benendendorpsweg and Kneppelhoutweg

 

Hello TD,

In all my (many) years I've never come across any other than "walking wounded" who made it back across the river from the Oosterbeek perimeter.

The remains of this unknown, interred in Jonkerbosch, must surely have been found within the vicinity of same/Nijmegen?

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Hi Jim good work keep it up so many men still waiting to be found ,regards Brian

 

I guess we are all saying we need a map showing where his glider landed/crashed and where his remains where found to give some sort of geography to the situation and from that possible answers may emerge

TD

 

Thanks for the update AB 64, much appreciated.

It ties in with the location Cee provided for Sgts Higham, Picton, and seemingly most likely Sgt Woods too (in being North West of the Church).

Far removed from Jonkerbosch vicinity.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Not that I have found yet . As mentioned earlier by Alistair its not the easiest site to navigate around .I will search again

In relation to his final resting place at Jonkerbos we have to remember this body was buried 20 years afterwards in 1964. Following his recovery we dont know where he was taken presumably some medical facility and It would be interesting to know if the CWGC used Jonkerbos as a `dedicated or nominated` cemetery for later recoveries?

Kyle

 

Thanks Kyle, and I won't sit back on looking at CWGC either, I'll dig in to the website too (bladder and brain cells permitting!)

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Well as of yet I have failed miserably in finding the location of where the remains in question were found and disinterred from in 1964.

I think only with that location will we have any chance of finding out who this person was.

Search Results

Kind regards, always.

Jim.

 

His remains would have been taken to a mortuary etc in 1964. Quite easy how he ended up in Jonkerbos

 

Hello Jim,

I too have been widening the search and have been speaking off forum with Jim (Verrieres) who by his own admission has little knowledge of airborne operations however during his DLI related enquires believes that somewhere online (he cannot recall where or when he saw this) he is sure he read an article which referred to " The remains of 5 fallen soldiers, found near the waterworks at Driel(?) Four of these had been identified one remained unidentified . (1964)"

Whilst he urged caution as this may be unrelated ,I am thinking if this is related to the personal belongings then the identities of the identified 4 could give clues to the fifth ? Of course if could be a total coincidence depends how many `unknowns` were found in 1964

Kyle

 

Per above he remembers where he read it ! Its on Forum member Philip Reinders site!

Recovery of bodies after the war.(Battle of Arnhem)- Newspaper clippings Netherlands

Anyone read Dutch?


Jonkerbos 19.J.1 contained an unknown airman reburied in 1961 and identified as Flt Lieutenant Paul Langston.
Jonkerbos 19.J.4 contained L/Cpl C G Russell Intelligence Corps reburied December 1964 (not unknown reburied previously at Utrecht Roman Catholic Cemetery.)

The concentration for the row is below




Kyle

 

Well found Kyle, excellent work, thanks to you and Jim (Verriers) too.

Given the 5 "unknowns" from the newspaper reports were discovered buried south of the river nr Driel the local protocols in the 60's must have determined their final resting place would be Jonkerbosch.

Again, thanks for all your efforts with this.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Philip Reinders has a photo of the grave on Jonkerbos War Cemetery graves 1.E.3-20.I.9 - Missing soldiers, Netherlands, 1940-1945, vermisten (missingsoldiersinthenetherlands40-45.com) and it has a link to another page of his but the link isn't working, I know Kyle mentioned PM'ing him earlier so hopefully he can add something, the dead link seems to imply something about 156 Battalion/4th Brigade HQ

 

The only "RW" I can find from 156th listed on Groesbeek Memorial is Corporal Roland West (you would think he would have been badged with a Parachute Regiment cap badge though)

Casualty Details | CWGC

There are other "RW" initialed casualties with Airborne and Arnhem connections listed on The Groesbeek Memorial so the search continues.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

I think its needs Philip to clarify the web link, it could be linking to a story about a 156 man the unidentified was found next to or something like that (if he was one of the Driel 5 one or more of the others may have been 156). A Para would normally have a Parachute Regiment badge but I think the 4th Parachute Brigade may have been slightly behind, who knows it may have been in his pocket, attached to something as a souvenir. The CWGC page seems to only give some tantalising info but hold back more than it reveals, like the where, also I assume there would be an exhumation report or something that details, height, hair colour, injuries etc and gave some context, like was it a field grave etc etc

 

How about this for an option ? Hopefully I can explain this :-

Roy Oliver Wood married Kitty L A Simmonds in 1943 .In 1944 the couple had a daughter ;- Joan Wood


View England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
Name: Roy O Wood
Registration Date: Apr 1943
[May 1943]
[Jun 1943]
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
Registration District: Watford
Inferred County: Hertfordshire
Spouse: Kitty L A Simmonds
Volume Number: 3a
Page Number: 2892




Could of course be a coincidence?

Kyle

 

Gillian Wood Oct 1947 Oct-Nov-Dec Watford Hertfordshire

Nigel Wood Apr 1950 Apr-May-Jun Watford Hertfordshire

Both have a mother with maiden name Simmonds


Joan Wood born 1943 - 1945 there are 63, but none are in Watford and none have a mother with maiden name Simmonds

TD

Apologises

There is as you say1 in Glamorgan
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007
Name: Joan Wood
Registration Date: Jan 1944
[Feb 1944]
[Mar 1944]
Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration District: E Glamorgan
Inferred County: Wales
Mother's Maiden Name: Simmonds
Volume Number: 11a
Page Number: 1228


There are a couple of Joan Wood born 1942 - 1944 who show up on the Electoral Register

UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010
Name MS Joan M Wood
Birth 1942-1944
Residence 2003-2010 Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales

Swansea and Surrounding Area, Wales, Electoral Registers, 1839-1966
Name Joan Wood
Residence 1966 Glamorgan, Wales

This would assume she didnt marry

 

In my haste to find a link to JOAN I may have sorted through the surname WOOD rather than WOODS

Kyle