Special tribute to the Fallen at Enschede by professional soccer team

Dutch professional soccer team FC Twente will honor the British soldiers, most of them soldiers of the Guards Armoured division that lost their lives during the liberation of the teams hometown Enschede in 1945 by wearing special shirts prior to the upcoming match on april 5th 2025. 1 april 1945 – De bevrijding van Enschede 

 

There a mass of threads that feature Enschede, at a glance most refer to other matters and this was the first obvious thread: Who liberated Enschede, Holland ? Coldstream Guards

Specifically: 1st Armoured Battalion Coldstream Guards

The names are from the Dutch website item, just in case someone is looking one day:

Morgan Douglas Jones
Garfield Hopkins
Maurice Brian Albon
Albert Berry
Horace Thomas Bradbury
Harry Geoffrey Butler
Hugh Callaghan
Clarence Paul Carver
Roland Caulfield
Thomas Howard Checkley
Leslie Hanson
James Patrick Harrigan
Ian Dare Mellish-Smith
Ivan George Parkinson
William Phillips
Alfred Ian Plank
William James Pope
Robert Oliver Smith (J Cassin)
Richard John Wilson
Frank James Wright
Percy Frank Knight

 

Thanks for posting about that tribute. Some of those listed served in same battalion as my father.

From your link, I've put the names in alphabetical order and added some info to help any passing internet searches

"The 21 British soldiers who died on April 1, 1945 during the liberation of Enschede."
[Some dates of death are recorded by CWGC as 02/04/1945]

1. 2724774 Guardsman Maurice Brian ALBON, 3 Irish Guards: 02/04/1945 Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820301/maurice-brian-albon/
   
2. 2722582 Guardsman Albert BERRY, 2 Irish Guards: 01/04/1944 Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820305/albert-berry/
   
3. 2665175 Horace Thomas BRADBURY, 1 Coldstream Guards, Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820307/horace-thomas-bradbury/
   
4. 2702998 Harry Geoffrey BUTLER, 5 Dorsetshire Regiment [army number from Scots Guards allocation], Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820309/harry-geoffrey-butler/
   
5. 2702953 Guardsman Hugh CALLAGHAN, Scots Guards: 02/04/1945 Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820310/hugh-callaghan/
   
6. 14769477 Clarence Paul CARVER, 5 Dorsetshire Regiment, Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820311/clarence-paul-carver/
7. 2657240 Roland CAULFIELD, 1 Coldstream Guards, Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820313/roland-caulfield/
8. 295764 Thomas Howard CHECKLEY, Life Guards, Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820314/thomas-howard-checkley/
9. 4690279 Leslie HANSON, 1 Coldstream Guards, Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820317/leslie-hanson/
10. 2720971 Serjeant James Patrick HARRIGAN, 3 Irish Guards: 02/04/1945 Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820318/james-patrick-harrigan/
11. 27237965 Lance-Corporal Garfield HOPKINS, 2 Welsh Guards: 01/04/1945 Jonkerbos War Cemetery - https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2645658/garfield-hopkins/
12. 2738136 Guardsman Morgan Douglas JONES, 2 Welsh Guards Jonkerbos War Cemetery - https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2645736/morgan-douglas-jones/
13. 305879 Ian Dare MELLISH-SMITH, Royal Horse Guards, Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820329/ian-dare-mellish-smith/
14. 14688132 Ivan George PARKINSON, 5 Dorsetshire Regiment, Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820331/ivan-george-parkinson/
15. 5114717 Trooper William PHILLIPS, 53 Recce: 01/04/1945 Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820332/william-phillips/
16. 296191 Alfred Ian PLANK, Life Guards, Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820335/alfred-ian-plank/
17. 14323874 William James POPE, 53 Recce, Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820337/william-james-pope/
18. 13111455 Lance-Serjeant Robert Oliver SMITH alias Robert Oliver CASSIN, 3 Irish Guards: 02/04/1945 Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820341/robert-oliver-smith/
19. 2664894 Lance-Corporal Richard WILSON, 1 Coldstream Guards: 01/04/1945 Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820346/richard-john-wilson/
20. 2664979 Frank James WRIGHT, 1 Coldstream Guards, Enschede Eastern General Cemetery https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2820347/frank-james-wright/
21. 305068 Percy Frank KNIGHT, 2 Royal Horse Guards, Groesbeek War Memorial https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2659250/percy-frank-knight/

See also:

• https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/who-liberated-enschede-holland-coldstream-guards.11182/
• https://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/243807-robert-thomas-boscawen-mc-1-coldstream-guards.77927/ - 1CG Officer, wounded at Enschede, author of book about his battalion

 

Thanks for this. My Great Uncle was Horace Thomas Bradbury. Sadly I won't make the Twente match but may make the Liberation Festivities in May. I'm a lifelong Season Ticket holder at Manchester United, and this season by coincidence we had our first ever competitive fixture against Twente. I made it to that one. Regards to you all, John Pritchard

 

And of course our previous manager Eric ten Hag is also from Enschede ( I'm a Utd fan as well)

 

Dear John im living in Enschede near the cementary and my plan is to adopt your great uncle's grave. Can you tell more about him?

 

Nody,

Welcome back. John has not logged in since May 2025.

I will send him a Private Message (PM) alerting them to your post, asking them to return and help. A reply depends on the email address given when registering is still valid and they are motivated to help.

PM explanation

If you hover over the name of the member in their avatar it will show a new text box and within is the date of their last logged visit. Some members "flag" their interest in a thread, which means they get a system alert. Once you have posted five times - a measure to stop spam - you can send a private message (PM) to members using 'Start a private conversation' accessed via your avatar. Such messages depend on their email given at registration is still valid. You can receive and reply to a PM already.

 

Further to my earlier post, my mother Joan took my youngest sister Alison to meet Horace's widow Elsie in Stone in 1972. Elsie never remarried and there was little or no contact after this. Alison is 61 next week. She was born on April 1st, 1965, twenty years to the day from Enschede's liberation and Horace's death.