Horsa Loading Manifest

Discussion in 'British & Commonwealth' started by Jim Fuller, Dec 9, 2019.

  1. Jim Fuller

    Jim Fuller Member
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    #1 Jim Fuller, Dec 9, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2019
    I am researching my brother's involvement with D-Day. So far I have determined he was part of the UK 6th Airbourne Division within the 6th Air Landing Brigade in support of the 9th Battalion attacking the Merville Gun battery. Over Normandy, he believed a cable broke causing the Glider to crash. When he came round he was shot (through the jaw) and taken prisoner. He said there was a Daily Mirror Correspondent on board with two Officers.
    Later, the Free French overcame the guards and took wounded allies by lorry to Paris where they were deposited at a hospital run by Nuns.
    In 2014, the Daily Mirrow wrote about Ian Fife, the war correspondent of the paper, who had died.
    His body had never been found, nor the Glider.
    Many questions come to mind:
    Does anyone, German, French or someone on the Allies side, know of a Field Hospital in the Merville area.
    Does anyone know of the Paris Hospital?
    I do have names of others in the Paris Hospital.
    Is there a Link to where I might find the Gliders Loading Manifest, believed to be 'Chalk 66'.
    Jim Fuller
    Dec 2020.
     
  2. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
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    Jim,

    I am searching through my copy of 'One Night in June' by Kevin Shannon and Stephen Wright to see if there are any clues to your quest therein.

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  3. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
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    Jim,

    Can you post his full name and his Service Number (if known) please?

    Thanks,

    Pat
     
  4. Jim Fuller

    Jim Fuller Member
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    Hi Pat, many thanks for your attention.
    Full name Geoffrey Herbert Fuller. Service number believed to be: 14576802. He was the driver of a Jeep on the glider.
    This is the Link for a Daily Mirror article in the Daily Mirror when they comemoated the death of their was correspondentnin in 2014 that mentions my brotherd name. Geoff had told me he was on bord with a reported from the Daily Mirror. If this is the case he must have been in Chalk 66. I am hoping the manifest will tell all the occupants.
    My best regards
    Jim Fuller
     
  5. Jim Fuller

    Jim Fuller Member
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  6. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
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    Jim,

    Appendix III (p 195) of above book refers:

    Chalk No. - 66 LZ V - Glider Pilots S/Sgt Ockwell, V. and Sgt Hellyer, T.R. Load:- Jeep, trailer, explosives, m/c, 5 Sappers 591 P Sqd RE), war correspondent. (Load included bridging material for anti-tank ditch in Battery).

    You don't by any chance know the squadron which supplied the tow plane for this glider? I have the ORB for 298 Squadron and am going through it now.

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  7. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
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    More from page p.39/40....

    It appears there was a palm reader amongst the Glider Pilots and on the evening of the 5th June, he began to read the fortunes of his friends in the mess. All were joking and laughing until this man began to read the palm of S/Sgt 'Vic' Ockwell. The man stopped and suddenly became very serious, making an excuse to stop the proceedings. Its not stated in the account, but I assumed this was not a good omen and sure enough I found listed as Killed in Action on D-Day on the CWGC site here.

    Chalk 66 appears to be a Horsa with serial number HS 129 and has markings on the nose 'Wombat Mk 1' on one side and 'Sybil' on the other - you never know, we might find a picture of the glider!

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  8. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
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    A bit more...

    The tow plane for Horsa #66 appears to be an Albemarle of No. 570 Squadron, piloted by Squadron Leader Grice out of RAF Harwell. Does anyone have this Squadron's ORB?

    Thanks,

    Pat
     
  9. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
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    Ian Fyfe story is related here...

    Strange his body was never found as chalk #66 did not ditch in the sea by all accounts
     
  10. Jim Fuller

    Jim Fuller Member
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    Pat
    I know, my brother said that they landed in an orchard, just off the coast — so it could almost have been anywhere. They obviously did not reach an inted Drop or Rendevous point.
    Do you think from the article that the Padre was in This glider or simply on this mission? (Guardian)?
     
  11. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
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    Hi Jim,

    The account doesn't give me the impression that the Padre was in Chalk 66; just that he went on the mission. IIRC, there is a scene from the British Sector in the film 'The longest Day' where a Padre is searching for his Communion kit in the water aided by paratroopers. I am sure there were several others who went with their flock into harms way - brave men all!

    The account of the landing states the port side wing hit an obstruction, resulting in a violent turn to the left. Very likely the wing is torn off or at least out of alignment, so its worth having a look at the available aerial reconnaissance.

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  12. Jim Fuller

    Jim Fuller Member
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    Thank you Pat, I like your careful words and will endeavor to look further.. I must finish for today and await the book with much interest.
    Jim F
     
  13. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
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    Jim,

    A few years back I was tracking down the locations of unknown frames from a USAAF reconnaissance flight on D-Day. The Sortie is US7GR_1746 flown by Captain Childress of the 27th (Photographic Reconnaissance) Squadron (USAAF). The thread dealing with the 'unknows' from this Sortie is located here on the Forum, and I would refer you to Post #14 therein.

    Three of Captain Childress's frames, 4021, 4022 and 4033 show a stray Horsa well away from any of the designated British LZs. Here is my finder chart for the now located frames:

    [​IMG]
    Two things leap off the page to me:
    • The Horsa's landing site is slightly closer to Le Havre than to Bayeux for burial purposes
    • The Horsa appears to have a damaged port side wing
    I think this is a very good candidate for Chalk #66, but there well be others still awaiting detection.

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  14. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
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    A bit more....

    I have been wrapped on the knuckles by NCAP staff before for posting zoomed extracts from their website using my 'zoomable' subscription, so the extract below is from 1947 post war cover showing where this lone Horsa landed:

    [​IMG]
    This aerial is of course three years after the event and the wreck has been removed - though there might still be a bit of wreckage appearing inside the red circle at the top.
    If anyone wants to see the Horsa as it showed on the D-Day cover, you'll need to have the £25 subscription on the NCAP site - see this page for details.

    Without putting too much weight on this Horsa candidate, I am now going to seek CWGC graves in the area marked as 'unknown' or 'civilian'.

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  15. patelie

    patelie Active Member
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    Grice's Albemarle was V1620
    AIR27-X__0644.JPG
    It's written in the ORB than the glider ditched in the sea 2 miles off the coast. (aircraft 11)
    AIR27-X__0645.JPG
     
  16. patelie

    patelie Active Member
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    Hello Jim.
    Do you have the name of Frederick Glover in your list?
     
  17. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
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    Hi Patrick,

    There is a first hand account of Chalk #66's co-pilot Ron Hellyer to the landing...on land. Chalk #67 was the Horsa which landed in the Channel and there were no survivors from this glider.

    I am pretty sure the ORB entry resulted from an assumption on the part of the tow pilots.

    Regards,

    Pat
     
  18. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
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    Leaving aside the CWGC cemeteries at Bayeux and Le Harve for a moment....

    There are 11 CWGC grave sites within a ten mile radius of Grangues as indicated on the extract below from the CWGC site:
    [​IMG]
    The location of the Horsa under scrutiny at present is indicated by the red circle. The civilian graveyards with CWGC graves are:
    • 1. Carbourg Communal Cemetery - 12 WWII burials - 1 identified / 11 Unknown
    • 2. Dives Sur Mer Communal Cemetery - 2 WWII burials - 1 identified / 1 unknown
    • 3. Periers en Auge Churchyard - 1 WW burial - 1 identified / 0 unknown
    • 4. Brucourt Churchyard - 6 WWII burials - 6 identified / 0 unknown
    • 5. Cricqueville en Auge Churchyard - 1 WW burial - 1 identified / 0 unknown
    • 6. Putot en Auge Churchyard - 32 WWII burials - 32 identified / 0 unknown
    • 7. Houlgate (Beuzeval) Communal Cemetery - 12 WWII burials - 10 identified / 2 unknown
    • 8. St. Vaast en Auge Churchyard - 12 WWII burials - 12 identified / 0 unknown
    • 9. Branville Churchyard - 2 WWII burials - 1 identified / 1 unknown
    • 10. Blonville sur Mer Churchyard - 1 WWII burial - 1 identified / 0 unknown
    • 11. Vauville Churchyard - 1 WWII burial - 1 identified / 0 unknown
    So we have 15 unknown burials in the above grouping.

    However, IMHO, it is most likely that War Correspondent Ian Fyfe was buried with S/Sgt Vic Ockwell in Ste Marie Cemetery, Le Have. There are 59 WWII unknows in this cemetery scattered amongst Divisions 64 and 67 at the western side of the cemetery. S/Sgt Herbert Victor Ockwell rests in Division 67, Row 1, Grave 8. If anyone has a chance to visit, I would appreciate you checking to see if there are any unknowns resting near this grave.

    Thanks,

    Pat
     
  19. Jim Fuller

    Jim Fuller Member
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    Hi Pat
    No, I have noone with the name of Frederick Glover on my list.
    I think I am able to attach a file to upload to you of the list I have. One is from the UK, 4 from the US and 2 from Canada.
    The others are most probably Nuns with a Pris address. I will try to do that later after I have established the filess name.
     
  20. Jim Fuller

    Jim Fuller Member
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    Jim F
     

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