Inclusion in the National Commemorative Programme

Prompted by an email enquiring about a death in an RAF plane crash in December 1949, I have set up a new page which gives details of exactly which people were included in the burial and commemorative programme run by the British. The page also explains why the date for inclusion ran up to 31 … Continue reading Inclusion in the National Commemorative Programme

Peter Chapman – A Fuller History

The Peter Chapman page has been amended to give a fuller history of this quiet hero who worked with the Italian Resistance against the German occupiers and their Fascist helpers. For almost eighteen months he worked with the Resistance until betrayed and killed close to the end of the war. Peter Chapman, King’s Royal Rifle … Continue reading Peter Chapman – A Fuller History

Peter Chapman, Killed by Italian Fascists

When looking into details of the loss, in Italy on 25 April 1945, of Pilot Officer Beard and Flight Sergeant Maddock (Mosquito Crew, Padua), I came across the Graves Concentration Report for the crew which also listed Peter Chapman, a soldier murdered by the Fascists in January 1945. Lorenzo Saggioro has now sent us a … Continue reading Peter Chapman, Killed by Italian Fascists

Mosquito Crew, Buried in Italy – Request for Information

At very end of the war, on 25 April 1945, a Mosquito crew of 256 Squadron, Fighter Command, was lost in Italy. The two men are buried at Padua. They were Pilot Officer Roy James George Beard (pilot) and Flight Sergeant D Maddock (navigator). Lorenzo Saggioro is looking for information about them. See Buried in Italy, Mosquito … Continue reading Mosquito Crew, Buried in Italy – Request for Information

Jespersen Crew, D-Day

If Allied aircrew, soldiers or sailors had belonged to the British forces when they were killed, their graves and memorials were attended to by the British authorities and the Imperial War Graves Commission, who followed a policy of non-repatriation. However, if the dead had belonged to their own national forces, they could be repatriated after the … Continue reading Jespersen Crew, D-Day

The Anthony Cotterell Missing Case

Anthony Cotterell's disappearance after the battle of Arnhem, when he was shot and seriously injured by the SS whilst an unarmed prisoner of war, became the focus of extensive war crime investigations. Researching what happened to Anthony was my first real foray into what happened with missing British servicemen. It is a uniquely well-documented case … Continue reading The Anthony Cotterell Missing Case

German Cemetery Plot

The aim of the British Graves Service was as far as possible to treat enemy combatants equally. However, this did not mean that they were buried with the Allied dead. German plots were created, which used the same style of temporary cross and lettering as in the Allied plots, as in this image of an … Continue reading German Cemetery Plot

Colonel Stott at the Arnhem Commemorations, 1945

Colonel Stott, the Commanding Officer of the Army Graves Service in Western Europe was arguably the most influential figure of all in the British programme of care for the military dead after the Second World. Amongst his other achievements, it was he who chose the sites for the cemeteries and carried out the negotiations with … Continue reading Colonel Stott at the Arnhem Commemorations, 1945

Robert Whitley, RCAF, Viroflay Cemetery, France

Robert Whitley was an Air gunner from Canada, flying with a Wellington crew of 419 Squadron. He and his crew were lost when their aircraft crashed at Argenteuil in France on 30 May 1942. They were buried as 'unknowns'. When the MRES sought to establish who the men were in the graves, they had only a … Continue reading Robert Whitley, RCAF, Viroflay Cemetery, France

Air Ministry Casualty Branch, Oxford Street

The Air Ministry Casualty Branch moved to 73-77 Oxford Street in late 1942. The tall Art Deco building had been the showroom for Drage’s before the war, which is the era when the photograph was taken, and it appears that some shops remained in the building even in wartime. One account speaks of the Casualty … Continue reading Air Ministry Casualty Branch, Oxford Street

Memorial Cross to William McVie

This cross is to the memory of William Alexander McVie, a Hampden pilot, who died on 16 May 1941, near this spot, and who is now buried at Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery. This new page has the background story for the McVie cross.

Missing Soldier-Journalist: Anthony Cotterell

Major Anthony Cotterell disappeared after a war crime was committed against British prisoners of war after the battle of Arnhem in September 1944. Despite intensive post-war investigations, his fate was never determined. The tombstone for his supposed grave at Enschede, in Holland, notes at the top, 'Buried near this spot', reflecting the uncertainty as to … Continue reading Missing Soldier-Journalist: Anthony Cotterell

Missing Soldier-Journalist: Anthony Cotterell

The above picture was carried in his wallet by Anthony's devoted brother Geoffrey throughout his long post-war search for the truth of what had happened to Anthony. Anthony had disappeared in Holland after being wounded during a war crime committed by the SS against unarmed British prisoners of war. As a Major serving in Occupied Germany … Continue reading Missing Soldier-Journalist: Anthony Cotterell