Hello chaps! Yesterday,i was driving on the very small roads in the vicinity of Rouen,and in Grainville sur Ry,in a very quiet cimetery near a quite nice church,i spotted this grave.You surely know this poor soul,anyway i photographied his last place,cause the sun was absolutely gorgeous,and the flowers on his grave touched me deeply..
Like so many of the graves that can be found along the way of the withdrawal of certain BEF units who were instructed to make for the western France ports for evacuation.Above the Luffewaffe commanded air supremacy. There were many Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps companies who took the route to St Nazaire namely,12,13,18,26,28,39,43,46,50,53,56,61,62,67,73,75,82,93,104,106,108, 113,115,150,208 and 233. All destined for the Lancastria. Also included was the 7th Battalion.Cheshire Regiment.... maybe Private C Leah was travelling with his parent unit. Stayed at Auppegard,outside Dieppe, a couple of years ago and visited the local churchyard where I found 3 British casualties,all mid June and obviously casualties that occurred as the BEF withdrew south west.
Llanfair Caereinion War Memorial:: OS grid SJ1006 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland - photograph every grid square!
Excellent that Charles Leah has been remembered by the insertion of Seb's post. Just one point from the newspaper cutting indicates that he died on 9 June 1940 in Belgium and not the official date of 8 June 1940.Is it possible that he was wounded in Belgium and died when being evauated via the south west and was interred on the withdrawal? However,the newspaper cutting was raised in 1940 and I would have thought that the precise details of his death would have been firmed up immediately after the war when the circumstances of his death would have been investigated for confirmation.
His uncle, another Charles, was in the 12th (Service) Bn, Cheshire Regt in WW1. The family originally came from the Stockport area. The 'baby son', mentioned in the press cutting, died in Birkenhead in 2001. The photographs, from a family history website, were only posted online 3 days ago. What are the chances of that?
The power of the Internet, Google, and the excellence of this site are all fully demonstrated here. Superb work!
All 3 Cheshire Battalions evacuated through Dunkirk/Bray Dunes at the end of May according to the war diaries and Crookenden's WW2 history of the regiment. I doubt he would have been wounded in a earlier engagement and treated as he is buried alone, I think the mention of Belgium in the press cutting is an error as is the date. CCS locations can be given away but a large number of casualties over a wide date range and a variety of cap badges in a CWGC cemetery as far as the BEF goes. My best guess is either: Seperated from his unit and shot by the Germans or Captured and shot whilst trying to escape. At this stage I can't think of any other reason for him being so far West unless he was attached to another unit as a Driver or Batman etc. Great finds, interesting posts just a shame we don't know his unit.
Are we sure we are talking about the same person? Looking at his Collar Dogs and Cap Badge in more detail it looks more like one of the Fusilier regiments ?
This is a loverly photo though-Makes me quite sad knowing what was to happen to him. I don't suppose you know if they have his service records? http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=91527&d=1348482913
This is a loverly photo though-Makes me quite sad knowing what was to happen to him. I don't suppose you know if they have his service records? I've not actually been in contact with the family - but I can try.
If you wouldn't mind, It would be good to ID his Battalion-I am curious, especially are seeing that last picture. I'll copy the BEF Cheshires Missing men file this week if I get time.
I've left a them a message on their website - unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way of contacting them directly.