WW2 | 70 Years Later

Alfred Eisenstaedt's famed photo of nurse
Edith Shain and sailor celebrating VE Day. 

In 2014 there were many memorials to D-Day and to those who lost their lives in that year. The winter of 1944-45 was deadly in Holland as the Nazis diverted what food there was to their own troops. In 2015 the events will be more celebratory, as victory was achieved in Europe on V-E Day - May 8-9.

Here are two posts that look ahead to 2015:

RAF No. 10 Squadron to Celebrate Its 100th Anniversary in 2015

V-E Day May 7-8, 1945 - UN Remembrance Days

Here are my ten posts this past year that related to D-Day, the most recent ones first. If you have a comment on any of these, please post it or let me know - email me at  teppermarlin(a t)aol.com:

1 Monuments Unveiled to 14 Airmen (Laval, June 6)
2 Willem van Stockum’s Last Letter Home
3 Omaha Beach
4 Total Allied Deaths in France, World War II
5 Vaufleury Cemetery - Forgotten Graves in another part of the cemetery
6 Vaufleury Cemetery - Ceremonies, 2014
7 My Third Visit to My Uncle’s Grave
8 Memorial Visit to Normandy, Laval
9 70th Anniversary of “A Soldier’s Creed” 
10 It’s 70 Years After D-Day in Normandy June 6, 1944

WW2 | SUPERLINK

D-Day Monument in Normandy.

The following posts on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day week in Normandy and Laval are in order of frequency of page views as of Jun 18, 2014

1 D-Day Week 2014, 70th Anniversary Memorial for Dow...

May 30, 2014

2 June 10 - Vaufleury Cemetery, Laval 70th Anniversa...

Jun 13, 2014

3 Memorial Day 2014 - 70th Anniversary of "A Soldier...

May 26, 2014

4 Laval Vaufleury WW2 Military Graves Include 20 All...

Jun 14, 2014

5 June 6 - It's 70 Years after D-Day in France (Lava...

Apr 25, 2014

6 My Third Visit to My Uncle Willem's Gravesite in L...

Jun 11, 2014

7 The Allies in France - September 1939-May 1945

Jun 18, 2014

WW2 | Laval Military Graves Include 20 Allies

Six additional British and Commonwealth graves in
a different part of Vaufleury Cemetery from the 14
airmen from the two Halifax bombers. One of the six
was Australian Flying Officer K. J. Trask. 

The 14 airmen from the two Halifax planes that crashed on June 10, 1944, are buried in Section E, Sub-section D, row 1, a special section of the Vaufleury communal cemetery in Laval. Photos are posted here on a Belgian site. Six additional graves are mentioned.

I wondered why there were 20 names listed in the cemetery when the number of airmen who crashed was 14 (two crews of seven men each). The number of tombstones in the cemetery in the airmen's section is 14. Where did the other six come from and where are they located?

The Belgian link provided above gives some of the answers. It cites a 55-page book on French grave sites published in 1960 by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. I now have a copy of this book.

The six additional graves are in a different part of the Vaufleury Cemetery. The five soldiers and one Australian airman are in section A, sub-section A, row 28. 

The airman is Flying Officer Kenneth John Trask from the Royal Australian Air Force, who died November 11, 1943 at age 24, and is buried in grave #42500. He was the son of Albert Oswald Trask and Claudia Adair Trask of Camberwell, Victoria, Australia.

The five soldiers are:

- Frank Edward Clark III, age 34 (the second-oldest of the victims buried in the cemetery, two years younger than Sgt. Peake in the plane piloted by Henderson; both van Stockum and Wicks were 33 when they were killed).

- Ambrose Hunt, 

- William Morgan, 

- James Enoch Sharratt, and 

- Arthur Stokes.

Here is a complete list in the form of a table. The ages of two of the dead are missing:

LAST NAME First Names	Citizen	Enlisted	Age, Date Died	Rank, Assignment, Service Number
BEALES Fred	Canada	RCAF	20, 10-6-44	Pilot Officer (Air Gnr.), 10 (R.A.F.) Sqdn,  J/89951
BRADBURY Hugh	UK	RAF	20, 10-6-44	Sergeant (Air Bomber), Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn., 1425774
BROTHERTON Leslie Arthur	UK	RAF	24, 10-6-44	Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 1576786
CLARK Frank Edward	UK	Royal Artill.	34, 23-9-39	Warrant Officer Class III (T S M), 27 Field Regt. 1064423
DANIEL GILBERT	UK	RAF	22, 10-6-44	Flying Officer (Nav.), 10 Sqdn. 151788
ELLYATT John	UK	RAF	27, 10-6-44	Flying Officer (Flt Engr.) Royal Air Force 10 Sqdn. 51911
GAINES Philip	UK	RAF	?, 10-6-44	Sergeant (W. Op.), Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 1549492
HENDERSON Norman Random	UK	RAF	21, 10-6-44	Flying Officer (Nav.), Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 144341
HENDERSON Thomas Whyndam	Australia	RAAF	27, 10-6-44	Pilot Officer, 10 Sqdn. 415981
HUNT Ambrose	UK	Manch.Reg.	26, 27-9-39	Private, 2nd Bn. 3524489
MARSHALL Robert Keith	UK	RAF	30, 10-6-44	Flying Officer (Bomb Aimer) Volunteer Res. 10 Sqdn. 151917
MASON Albert	UK	RAF	?, 10-6-44	Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 2211801
MORGAN William	UK	RoyalArmy	23, 15-5-40	Driver, Service Corps, 528 Ammunition Company. T/110288
PEAKE Stanley William	UK	RAF	36, 10-6-44	Sergeant (Flt. Engr.) Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 1606629
PERKINS Alfred Charles	UK	RAF	22. 10-6-44	Sergeant (W. Op. [Air]) Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn. 1461925
SHARRATT James Enoch	UK	Royal Artill.	27, 23-9-39	Warrant Officer Class II (B.S.M.) 27 Field Regt. 1070673
STOKES Arthur	UK	Royal Artill.	21, 10-10-39	Lance Bombardier, 1 Heavy Regt. 886972
TRASK Kenneth John	Australia	RAAF	24, 11-11-43	Flying Officer, 409357
VAN STOCKUM Willem Jacob	Holland	RCAF	33, 10-6-44	Flying Officer (Pilot), Volunteer Reserve 10 Sqdn., 144600
WICKS Edward Charles	UK	RAF	33, 10-6-44	Flight Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Volunteer Res. 10 Sqdn.  1376921.

For those who want to do their own research on World War II airplanes and grave sites, here are two comprehensive sources:

List of planes that crashed in France (text in French) -

http://francecrashes39-45.net/listes_presents.html

Sources of information on downed airplanes anywhere in Europe in WWII (in English), showing escape routes and acknowledging help from the local Resistance -

http://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/research/aircraft-crash-sites/

FRANCE | June 10–Remembering Airmen Downed 70 Years Ago

At the Air Force band concert on
June 9, the two crews, of the MZ 532
and the MZ 684, were displayed
on the screen above the musicians.

L to R: Deborah and Dr. Rex
Henderson by the grave of Rex's
father Tom, pilot of the MZ 532.
This and all following photos by
JT Marlin.

The memorials in honor of the 14 downed airmen at Vaufleury Cemetery on May 8, 2011 were more elaborate than this year.

That is because they were part of a larger celebration of V-E Day, the end of hostilities in Europe in 1945, and the Town of Laval turned out in large numbers.

But this year's memorial on June 10 was unquestionably more special for the family members who came. (Missing from 2011 were Nicola and Robin Sumner; Robin is the nephew of Daniel Gilbert.

2011 -  L to R: Nicola and Robin Sumner (nephew of Daniel Gilbert), Cpl Pamela Turney (great-niece of Fred Beales), Luke Shergold (son of Suzanne), Michael Hayes (Beryl's husband), Beryl Hayes (daughter of Edward Wicks), Martin Clegg (Suzanne's husband), Suzanne Clegg (Beryl's daughter), Ashley Shergold (Suzanne's son), John Tepper Marlin (nephew of Willem van Stockum), Silvia and John Ellyatt (son of John Elyatt).

Crew members of the MZ 532 as
shown on the monument (stele) at
St. Berthevin.

One reason is that in 2014 the memorial has been entirely focused on the airmen who crashed on that date in 1944. Those who were at the cemetery were there for one reason, to honor the two crews of the Halifax bombers that were shot down nearby on June 10, 1944.

Another reason this year was special is that the families of six crew members were represented by their families - one more crew member than in 2011. Also, 20 family members showed up to pay their respects, eight more than in 2011.

This year, three crew members from each plane were represented by family.

In 2011, from the St. Berthevin-crash plane, MZ 532, only Sgt. Edward C. ("Eddy") Wicks had family there.

Representatives of the families of Sgt.Wicks (on left) and Sgt.
Brotherton (on right), whose younger brother and three
more generations attended in 2014 for the first time.

This year, the pilot of the MZ 532, Australian P/O Thomas W. (Tom) Henderson was also represented by his son, Dr. Rex Henderson and Rex's wife Deborah, who came from Australia for the occasion. Sgt. Leslie Brotherton was represented by four generations - his younger brother, daughter and other family members.

From the plane that crashed in Entrammes, the MZ 684, three crew members were represented again, as they were in 2011 - the pilot, Dr. Willem J. van Stockum, F/O John Ellyatt by his son, and Sgt. Fred Beales by his great-niece Cpl. Pamela Turney, who was in the uniform of the Canadian Forces Air Command.

Crew members of the plane that
crashed in Entrammes, the MZ 684.

John Tepper Marlin, nephew of F/O
Dr. Willem J. van Stockum (pilot of
the MZ 684), and wife Alice Tepper
Marlin.  Photo w JTM camera.

The MZ 684 crew is of interest for a number of reasons. The plane included four Flying Officers, which in the anglophone military is equivalent to an army rank of Lieutenant. A Pilot Officer is equivalent to a 2nd Lieutenant.

The MZ 532, by contrast, had two Pilot Officers, the rest being Sergeants. In other words, the MZ 684 had twice as many officers aboard.

Cpl. Pamela Turney next to
the marker of her great-uncle,
Sgt. Fred Beales.

My uncle Willem van Stockum's grave site is marked as both Canadian and Dutch. Dutch, because he was a citizen of Holland (his grave marker is different from the other 13 because it was provided after the others were in place, by the Dutch Government). Canadian, because he was seconded from the RCAF, where he had been an instructor in flying the Halifax bomber. He is also variously identified in those who have written about him as Scottish (his Ph.D. in physics was from Edinburgh), Irish (graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, where he met my mother and father), and American (he was teaching mathematics at the University of Maryland when World War II broke out and was previously a fellow at the ).

Van Stockum's work as a mathematician, utilizing Einstein's equations, has earned him a place in the history of time travel and the father of scientific approaches to the subject. Dr. Robert Wack, an Army Major and pediatrician, has written a science-fiction novel, Time Bomber, centered on van Stockum's life and death.

View of gravesite looking away from the
flag - the MZ 684 end of the site. At left
is M. Cousineau of the Canadian Embassy
 in Paris, who attended with his wife.

At the ceremonies on June 10, representatives of the embassies of Australia and Canada were in attendance. Each embassy has several military attaches who travel to pay respects to nationals of their countries who died in prior wars and are buried in France.

Comment

If someone from the Dutch Government ever attends an event at Vaufleury, it would be good for them to know that when they asked my mother what she wanted on the tombstone, her answer was: "Greater love hath no man..."

It would be nice if this request were some day honored, especially since the Dutch Government wrote to my mother to ask what she wanted inscribed. The minister who officiated at the ceremony on June 10 cited that exact quote...

For those unfamiliar with Anglophone military ranks, the following guide may be helpful:

Common anglophone military ranks
Navies	Armies	Air forces
Officers
Admiral of the fleet	Marshal or Field marshal	Marshal of the air force
Admiral	General	Air chief marshal
Vice admiral	Lieutenant general	Air marshal
Rear admiral	Major general	Air vice-marshal
Commodore	Brigadier	Air commodore
Captain	Colonel	Group captain
Commander	Lieutenant colonel	Wing commander
Lieutenant commander	Major or Commandant	Squadron leader
Lieutenant	Captain	Flight lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant	Lieutenant	Flying officer
Ensign	Second lieutenant	Pilot officer
Seamen, soldiers and airmen
Warrant officer	Sergeant major Warrant officer	Warrant officer
Petty officer	Sergeant	Sergeant
Leading seaman	Corporal	Corporal
Seaman	Private	Aircraft man

WILLEM VAN STOCKUM | Visit #3 to My Uncle Willem's Gravesite

My uncle Willem van Stockum and 13 other crew members on two Halifax bombers are buried in the Vaufleury Cemetery in Laval. This is my third visit to Laval to visit and honor the grave site:

1. December 1954. On my first visit in 1954, I was one of eight members of our family to visit my uncle's grave; his plane came down in Entrammes, on the east side of Laval. We found that the 13 other grave sites had tombstone markers from the RAF and my uncle's did not. The explanation given to my parents was that Willem was a Dutch citizen. My parents followed up to have a tombstone made for Willem by the Dutch Government, which is what happened. (The RCAF and Australian Air Force did the tombstones for Beales and Henderson apparently without any need to follow up.)

Detail of monument to the crew of the plane that crashed at
the pear farm in Entrammes. Pilot Willem van Stockum is in
 the front row, middle, in the only photo we have of him with
crew. It does not seem to correspond to all the members of the
crew actually on the MZ 684 when it crashed in 1944.

2. May 2011. On the second visit in 2011, on V-E Day (May 8), a dozen representatives of five fallen airmen were there to pay their respects, through the good sleuthing of Jean-Louis Cholet of Souvenir Francais of the Mayenne, Jean-Luc Peslier of the AMAA and RCAF Cpl Pamela Turney (great-niece of Sgt. Fred Beales). Four of the airmen represented were from the Entrammes plane, and one large family came to pay their respects to Eddy Wicks from the St. Berthevin plane - his daughter Beryl Wicks and her husband Mike Hayes and their children and grandchildren.

3. June 2014. This year, on the 70th anniversary of the downing of the two planes four days after D-Day - on their fifth mission in the space of ten days - 20 people from the families of six airmen attended, representing six of the airmen, three from the Entrammes plane my uncle was piloting, and three from the St. Berthevin plane.

Detail of monument (stele) to the crew that crashed in a field
 in St. Berthevin, NW of Laval, from the monument. The
pilot, Australian Pilot-Officer Tom Henderson, is mid-group.

Two new airmen were represented in 2014 - (1) the Australian pilot Tom Henderson by his son Rex Henderson and Rex's wife Deb, and (2) Leslie Brotherton by his younger brother Cyril and by his children Carol and Brian Thornley and their grandchildren Richard, Nick and Steve, and Leslie's  great-grandchildren, the two children of Steve and Rachel - Jonah and Isabella.

This year, two well-designed monuments were installed and unveiled at the two crash sites. The families and local children and officials left flowers in front of the graves at the Vaufleury Cemetery and also at the monuments at the crash sites.

All of the families of the airmen are grateful to the French people in Laval for showing this respect to the airmen on the 70th anniversary of the two crashes. We are especially grateful to Jean-Louis Cholet of the organization Souvenir France (France Remembers) and Jean-Luc Peslier, President of AMAA (Amicale Mayenne de l'Armee de l'Air). Three other hosts from the AMAA were Michael Guegan, who told me he has a daughter in San Francisco; Michael Fontaine; and Georges Mezieres.