Letter to Ron Dewey's Father from George Joyce

Letter to Ron Dewey's Father from George Joyce

The letter refers to Ron's grave at Horstal. In the cemetery there are 16 graves of allied airmen but only two are named. The graves are very well looked after by the villagers.

1945-05-19

Three typed sheet and one handwritten envelope

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EJoyceGWDeweyEW450519-0001, EJoyceGWDeweyEW450519-0002, EJoyceGWDeweyEW450519-0003, EJoyceGWDeweyEW450519-0004

[underlined] On Active Service [/underlined]

[postmark]
Mr. Dewey
10 Summerhill Road,
Saffron Waldon,
Essex,
England.

[censors stamp]

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2369737 L/Cpl Joyce, G.W,
att HQ Signal Section,
115 Ind Inf Bde.,
B.L.A.

Dear Mr Dewey,

I went to Horstel yesterday and was able to find the Evangelical Cemetary [sic], I spoke to several people including the pastor and his family who have been tending the graves.

Three British planes crashed during the war in this parish and a corner of the cemetery has been kept separate for British Servicemen, it is in fact the best kept part of the cemetary [sic] . There are 16 graves of English airmen but only two names are on the crosses, and neither of these was Ron's.

I first went to see the pastor who said that the planes crashed in the parish in May 1943, September 1943 and on 28 Feb 44. These dates are only from memory and he had no official record, and therefore they may be inaccurate. The first plane contained the bodies of six airmen including Flt Sgt C,E. Stefens, No.1316715 and Airman W.E. OHalloran No.124579. -Two [deleted] n [/deleted] members of the crew parachuted and were taken prisoner.

I beli [inserted] e [/inserted] ve that the second bomber may have been the one in which Ron was a member of the crew. There are eight graves in the Cemetary [sic] of members of this bomber crew, but there are no names on the crosses. I asked the pastor for an explanation, and he stated that the service at the Cemetary [sic] was taken by the German military and he was in concentration camp at the time. The Burgomaster was given all the personal [deleted] l [/deleted] effects and details and the names of the airmen were sent to the Red Cross. The pastor, when the German soldiers left the village, held a service over the graves and he and his family took part in a short service in the Church. He is an anti-Nazi and had not be [sic] treated too well by the Nazis.

I tried to obtain confirmation or the names of the crews, but was unable to do so. I went to see the Town Major

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2.

at Rheine and he has promised to go through official records and is going to forward the names of the airmen buried in the cemetery.

The pastor's daughter tried to be helpful and she is going through the records of the former Burgomaster in the hope of obtaining the names. She is also photographing the graves during the next few days and is sending the proofs to me - the reason I was unable to take any photos was that it was raining heavily.

The pastor's daughter said that the second bomber crashed near the canal, and did not catch fire. It had made its raid and dropped its bombs. She helped to carry one of the crew from the plane and was one of the first to arrive; none of the men were living when she reached it.

The graves of [symbol]

The eight men in the second bomber are side by side, and white crosses are at the head of each grave. On each cross [deleted] x [/deleted] has been written in German - 'Rest in Peace. - One Unknown English Flyer'. Each has been numbered by the German military and the pastor hopes now to be able to add the names as soon as the records have been verified.

It is obvious that the villagers have gone to considerable trouble to tend the graves. A path of grey granite chippings has been laid all round the graves, the turf over them has been removed and flower beds have been laid out. Vases containing flowers were on every second grave and about 100 plants had been set out (these had been planted by the pastor about 2 weeks ago). I was assured by both the pastor and the British troops in the village that the graves had never been neglected and that fresh flowers were being placed on them at least once a week. The pastor said that so long as he remained there he would see that the graves were always tended; some of his Church helpers took turns in visiting the graves.

One point which I have failed to mention is that red tiles have been used as a surround for each eight graves, and also for a surround for the paths. The cemetary [sic] could very well be in a English village, the surroundings are very similar.

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3.

It is just outside the village proper, and behind the cemetary [sic] is a large wheat field.

I am afraid that is all I can tell you and I am only sorry that I could not definitely confirm that Ron’s grave is actually there, you can best judge for yourself by the dates given to me by the pastor. I will send you the photos and any other detail which I receive; if there is any particular wish for something to be done to the graves, or certain dates when you would like flowers to be placed on the graves, will you let me know and I will pass it on through to the Town Major who will see that your requests are carried out.

I hope that I have made everything as plain as possible, I may be able to describe better to you when I am home on leave. I sincerely hope that nothing I have written will increase your anxiety or cause you any more distress.

Yours very sincerely,

[underlined] George Joyce. [/underlined]

19 May 45.