IWGC Worker killed in Blitzkrieg?

Discussion in '1940' started by Paul Reed, Feb 1, 2009.

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  1. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    Came across this while looking for something else today. Wonder what the circumstances of death were?

    Name: SHREEVE, LEOPOLD GEORGE
    Initials: L G
    Nationality: United Kingdom
    Rank: Civilian
    Regiment/Service: Civilian War Dead
    Age: 56
    Date of Death: 19/05/1940
    Additional information: of Vendresse, Aisne. Husband of Anne Eliza Shreeve. in car between Soupir and Vailly-sur-Aisne. Buried in Vailly-sur-Aisne Communal Cemetery, France. I.W.G.C. Gardener, Caretaker.
    Casualty Type: Civilian War Dead
    Reporting Authority: FRANCE
     
  2. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    He served in the Great War with the Royal Fusiliers and Labour Corps. Wonder if he was one of the LC men to stay behind and clear the battlefields?

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Would Terry Denham have an answer?
     
  4. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Would he have needed to be killed by enemy action as CWGC staff in France to be noted or would a motor accident have sufficed ?

    My Dad's Uncle Walter was 35th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, a labour Battalion which was converted to Labour Corps towards the end of WW1. His numbers both by R.Fus and Labour Corps are not that far away.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    Yes, could have just been an accident, but one wonders given what was happening at the time, or is it a few days too early? Car straffed by a plane?
     
  6. Harry Ree

    Harry Ree Very Senior Member

    I would hazzard a guess that the man would have been a casualty from the blitzkreig which was initiated on 10 May 1940.The British and French were unable to control the skies and the death is typical of those in motorised transport who were easy pickings from Luftwaffe strafing operations,something that German forces were at the receiving end from the RAF and USAAF from June 1944.

    It seems to fit in with Luftwaffe attacks on the RAF AASF airfields in the area at this time.
     
  7. geoff501

    geoff501 Achtung Feind hört mit

    Would he have needed to be killed by enemy action as CWGC staff in France to be noted or would a motor accident have sufficed ?


    He would need to have died by enemy action to be a Civilian War Dead commemoration.
     
  8. geoff501

    geoff501 Achtung Feind hört mit

    Can't find him (or others for that date) by my search engine, but he's in my database (another bug :mellow:)
     
  9. chrisharley9

    chrisharley9 Senior Member

    Here is a cutting from the Times of Jul 27 1940
     

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  10. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    Thanks Chris - that is really interesting.
     
  11. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Did the Germans in the main respect the military cemeteries in occupied Europe or were there incidence of vandalism?
     

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