Captain James Graeme Ogilivie, Glider Pilot Regiment

Hi Folks,

I have attached two photos of Captain James Graeme Ogilivie, Glider Pilot Regiment killed at Arnhem. One is taken from the Roll of Honour on the Loretto School website and the other was taken at Arnhem from the Imperial War Museum.

Capt Ogilvie served in the 4th Gordons and then commanded D Squadron, No1 Wing GPR during the Battle of Arnhem. He is the "Captain Z" mentioned in Lewis Haig's (Louis Hagen MM) book "Arnhem Lift" and whom I believe recommended Hagen for the Military Medal. Ogilvie was drowned attempting to cross the Rhine during the evacuation of the Oosterbeek perimeter, potentially weighed down by his kilt. He was posted missing after the battle, but his body was found ten months later and he is buried in the village of Rhenen cemetery.

My research question is does anyone know the name or parent unit of Ogilvie's batman/bodyguard ? He can be seen in the photo taken at Arnhem behind the teplegraph pole with a sten gun in hand. He actually looks by size more of a bodyguard than a batman. He weras a different kilt than Ogilivie, which possibly adds more weight to him being a bodyguard ???

Hope the photos are of interest.


Best regards,

Ian

http://salsburghatwar.webs.com/

 

Hi Ian,

I will forward this to Steve Elsey who knows and good deal about the Glider Pilot Regiment to see what he can find out for you... Ian we will both be in Arnhem this week so it might take a little time...

Cheers
Tom

 

Hi Tom,

No problem and many thanks for your reply. Any help you or Steve can provide would be gratefully appreciated.

Hope you enjoy your trip. Arnhem is still on my to visit list, hopefully in the next couple of years.


Best wishes,

Ian

 

Did any thing come of this request? Has anyone turned up anymore info on Captain Ogilvie? Are there any more photogrpahs of him and his No.2 in Arnhem? They must have been the only two Kilt wearing members of the Armed forces in Arnhem so I can't believe that the photographer took only one photograph of them?

Does anyone know what his Parent Regiment was and what Tartan he's wearing, Family or Regimental? I presume Regimental and TB, on another site, has commented that it looks like the Gordon's though the monochrome make sit difficult to be sure.

Thanks to the OP for the head and shoulders shot of the good Captain, it's nice to finally know what he actually looked like!

 

Hi OG,

There's a short biography on Captain James Graeme Ogilvie at the Warcemeteries.nl site.

"On 27 july 1940 Ogilvie was granted an emergency commission with the Gordon Highlanders."

James Graeme Ogilvie

The photo of GPR Officers around the jeep was taken by Sgt. D M Smith AFPU, catalogue # - BU 1145.

The marked photo below identifying the Officers was possibly submitted by Paul Pariso in another thread?



Regards ...

 

Cee,

thanks for that info, it's fantastic!!!! I've had a bit of a ponder about the second officer and it seems to me that he might be wearing Ancient Royal Stewart tartan, now that I've got his full name I can have a bit of a search to try to confirm that! Thanks again buddy, it is very much appreciated!

Pete

 

OG,

Ok I found the thread where Paul Pariso posted the photo with names. It focuses on Lt Jock Strathern, GPR. There is a photo of him in a group of Arnhem survivors wearing the kilt.

lt. kenneth 'jock' strathearn, g.p.r.

Regards ...

 

Hi Cee,

thanks for that buddy, I had put Lt. Strathern into Google when you provided his name earlier and it brought me right back to that thread! I'm now trying to figure out what Tartan he's in. I had thought Royal Stewart but when I found out his parent regiment was Cameron Highlanders I had a look at that too, now I'm not convinced that it's either but I can't track down what it might be!

I'll get it in the end though, I'm like a dog with a bone, I won't stop till I get to the marrow! Thanks again for all your help you've been absolutely brilliant mate!

 

A booklet came out last September on Ogilvie called The Shutters were Closed......Given your interest might be worth getting hold of a copy.......

 

Thanks for the info, any idea who wrote it or where it can be had from? A quick Internet search hasn't turned up anything nor is there anything on Amazon.

I did find a video on YouTube, mostly in Dutch, dedicated to Captain Ogilvie and which contains a few minutes of interview (in English) with Captain Ogilvie's daughter.

[VIDEO]

Pete

 

Kenneth Fairley Strathern was born 1913 in Carlton, Glasgow. Believe he had a twin sister Kathleen Mary Strathern.

Kathleen married a Donald Cameron in 1941 in Morningside, Edinburgh and she died age 77 in Oban.

Two other potential siblings born in Carlton area. Robert Ean Strathern 1911 and a Robina Fraser Strathern 1912.

Father Robert Fairley Strathern (1880-1935) was a tenant on the 1930 Property Valuation Roll living at St. Margaret's Rectory, 19 Ancrum Road, Lochee, Dundee.

Mother Emma Stevenson died 1969 Morningside, Edinburgh age 87 (birth approx 1882). When Kenneth's sister died, the mother's maiden name was noted as Macrae for some reason.

I have not found the parents marriage in Scotland using either maiden name Stevenson or Macrae (yet).

Kenneth's death was reported in the Dundee Evening Telegraph 30 March 1945.

 

Thanks for that, this is what I found on Strathern...

 

This is the cover of the booklet......

 

AM,

thanks for this buddy, I really appreciate it! I've found the ISBN and EAN numbers for it on the web and I have a friend in Holland who should be able to find me a copy (I hope). For those looking for this here's the additional info I've found...

The Shutters Were Closed: A Glider Pilot Captain at Arnhem
By Jan ten Have
Published in Holland on December 22, 2017
Language: English
Pages: 54
ISBN: 978-94-6345-217-5
EAN: 9789463452175

 

Interesting about a December publication date as I got mine in September 2017......

 

Of course the Internet is never wrong ;-) Is there any contact info for the author or publisher on the inner fly leaf?

 

Just had word back from my Dutch Friend and he tells me that the Dutch Video I linked to above has a short section of an old Dutch Guy by the Rhine explaining that after the battle they pulled a lot of bodies from the River but that he particularly remembers Capt. Ogilvie's body because he was wearing a kilt!

 

I guess he's gone for a reprint as the copy I bought in September has no ISBN. At the time I was told that only a very small number of copies had been privately printed and I believe that they sold out very quickly.
Ogilvie's body was recovered from the Rhine on 17th October 1944 by Johan Magauer and his team from the local Red Cross in Rhenen. In total they recovered about 35 bodies.

 

Thanks for that HorsaPassenger, can you tell me if there are any additional photos in the Booklet of either Ogilvie or Strathern in their kilts at Arnhem? I can't believe the photographers took only one photograph of what are possibly the only two men in the Arnhem perimeter wearing Kilts.

I've been poring over the original photograph of Ogilvie, using the IWM Zoom feature and taking in the little details. He's clearly wearing a Sporran because I can see the Sporran belt and chain just above his webbing belt. He's also making use of a 1937 pattern bayonet holder for a 1907 pattern bayonet but he has the No.4 Pig Sticker Bayonet in it. The lanyard suggests a side arm but it appears to be very low slung (possibly on the Ammo pouch which would make the visible ammo pouch a compass pouch) and towards the front of his body where it would foul the Sporran....unless he's got the holster slung on the Sporran chains. But why do that when he's got a perfectly reasonable webbing belt to take the holster! Then there are his boots, they are not the standard Ammo boots and maybe not even the standard Brown officer's boots. They look more like the Crepe-Soled Jedburgh Agent boots which were, apparently issued to some SAS units before Normandy and if that is the case I'm wondering if some pairs of the made their way to other elements of the Airborne family by the time of Market Garden. There is just so much lovely detail in the photograph from the Gordon Tartan on Ogilvie to the Cameron Highlanders Tartan on Straithern....who does not appear to be wearing a Sporran!
So if there are any other photographs in the booklet that show other details I'd be most happy to hear of them.

Pete

 

There are further photos of Ogilvie and Strathern wearing tartan but these are not Arnhem related photos.