A simple poignant message from Jochen Nubel, a former German Soldier now living in Avignon France, seeking assistance from British Light Infantry ex-soldiers has swept the imagination and captured the enthusiasm of a group of 1DCLI and 1KSLI "Old (but young at heart) Soldiers". This website will be the record of progress from 5th December 2007 when Jochen's letter first appeared on the LI Message Boards - taking us backwards through time - to those chilling days of the approaching end of World War 2 in September 1944. Following is the original letter from Jochen Nubel that was seen by the Webmaster of this website. Click the bolded underlined webmaster hotlink to email connect with information. Thanks. By the left - Quick March!
“Dear Sirs or Madams
I should like to ask you for your help regarding a WWII episode that I witnessed in 1944 as a German soldier during the Normandy landing. In August or September of 1944 a comrade of mine, Herbert Schmidt, and myself found a wounded British soldier our age (19 at that time, I am born in 1925, thus 82 years of age now) in a Norman wood leaning against a tree. His legs were both fractured, he was wailing and he could not walk any more. He shouted to us: “Don’t kill me!” And we replied: “We won’t kill you!” We were all very scared of being killed. Then he sang the German national anthem composed by Haydn based on a poem by Ferdinand von Freiligrath. And we sang the British hymn “God save the King” in order to calm him. Then he said: “I am a flutist of the London Symphony Orchestra.” We answered: “We are also musicians!” He seemed to be glad about this. Then we put him onto our bicycle and transported him to the nearest German military hospital where he was operated on. Unfortunately we never heard of him again. Now I should very much like to find this British comrade and to invite him to my home near Avignon where I live as a pianist.
Would you be so kind as to display this text on your website or in your guestbook?
Thank you very much in advance.
Yours faithfully,
Jochen Nubel
14 rue van Dongen
F 84310 Morieres-les-Avignon
France”
ED: In the few short hours of the beginnings of our collective “Project” - Find Tommy from 1944 - Jochen has been contacted in turn by his mates and advises as follows. “One mate reminded me that the incident took place near the Belgian town of MERXEM near Antwerp and the Albert Canal in September, 1944 and now I know that he is right.”
MORE DETAILS FROM JOCHEN - QUOTE
When we put "Tommy" on the saddle of our military tandem bicycle and his feet onto its pedals he cried out loud because his fractured legs hurt him very strongly and he clutched the handle bar firmly. He pointed to his military knapsack that he had forgotten on the ground in the wood and we fetched it for him. All German soldiers had received the order to transport wounded enemy soldiers to the German mobile army surgical hospitals to be operated on or to be aided in any other way. Yet we did not know where a MASH could be found and were afraid that our company commander might think we wanted to desert.
We pushed the bike for about one and a half hours across the flat Belgian landscape. Fortunately there was no shooting or bombing. As our English was extremely bad and "Tommy" couldn't speak any German either we didn't talk much. Still, we said we were musicians which we both could understand. In German it is Musiker. He had pantomimed some flute playing and we some piano playing. Perhaps this created some sympathy among us.
Finally we found a hospital, left "Tommy" there and trusted that he received help there. We got into some trouble with our platoon leader but explained to him what we did and he okayed it. It would be really interesting to find out if "Tommy" was in fact operated on and could use his legs and feet again afterwards. Some time later I lost my company and my commander sent my parents a telegram with his condolences informing them that I had died and they published my obituary in my hometown newspaper but this is another story.
--O--
THE SEARCH HAS NOW BEGUN WITH APPROACHES MADE TO THE LSO and the RPO IN LONDON BY EDITOR and A LETTER TO THE SUN NEWSPAPER FROM BILL GRIFFITHS. Bill and Editor are also in direct email contact with Jochen.
--O--
Extract from Wikipedia that may help us on our journey
Battle for the Ports - September-October 1944
The division's role was now to capture vitally needed enemy ports, the first being Dieppe, where the Division was met with great joy. The Division paused to remember the sacrifice of the Division in 1942 on 3 September. The next day, Antwerp fell intact to the British - but the port was useless until the Scheldt Estuary was cleared. While Allied troops battled south of the Scheldt, the Second Division fought its way across the Belgian border, crossing the Albert Canal on 22 September (through a bridgehead opened by The Calgary Highlanders), then the Antwerp-Turnhout Canal, and by October were in a position to move forward to the South Beveland isthmus from where they could attack west and clear the north bank of the Scheldt.
Resistance stiffened, reinforcements were in short supply, and attacks had to be made over exposed terrain. A month of costly fighting saw the Division battle its way onto the isthmus, and as far west as Walcheren Island. The 2nd Division had lost 3,650 men in 33 days of fighting
--O--
I sense that we might be onto something here
The pages are copyrighted which (rightly so) prohibits unauthorised reproduction - so I'll appeal the Publishers to release authority. However, a personal search of Pages 38 and 39 in the Book Review writes about the Albert Canal, Merxem and the KSLI presence in the area at the time. Go get 'em - Cheps - let's find Tommy! Maybe he's one of our own King's Shropshire Light Infantry!
--O--
Editor 9th December 2007: I've been doing more research on finding Tommy and ponder on the unusual (to me) "2 broken legs", surely not the 'usual' type of infantry wounding - but (maybe) that of an airborne drop gone wrong. So - as Operation Market Garden was being launched at this time (see Wikipedia) maybe Tommy was Airborne Division or 2nd Parachute Battalion under C.O. Frost. We shall need to have Jochen search his visualisation of the scene at Merxem and attempt recall of obvious signs of a parachute and what type of weapon was carried by Tommy at that time.
--O--
We have received an email from the Curator of the Musee National D'Histoire Militaire DieKirch in Luxembourg with the 2 attachments above. He is most encouraging for our search for Tommy Atkins and is searching records for a photo of a model of Jochen's tandem bicycle.
--O--
While on a brief holiday in early December 2007, the editor was fortunate enough to discover a 'Fine Arts photographs of days gone by' market stall in the small Queensland town of Eumundi. Sutcliffe Gallery Australia has kindly supplied us with these 2 fine photographs of the German Army circa 1940-1944, showing the bicycle mechanised Infantry somewhere in Belgium, and a beautiful white horse with rider in an unidentified country lane. While these photos may not directly assist us in our search for Tommy Atkins, they definitely add flavour and background to the calibre of German troops who are the rescuers in this story.
UPDATE ON PROGRESS LOGGED IN JAN 18TH 2007
(ED:) We do not have a specific piece of puzzle to put in place insofar as knowing more about Tommy. We do however, have considerable activity in finding possible places to search - following contact with the London Symphony Orchestra - the Archives for which reveal nought. We are now in contact with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, where Tommy might also have been a flautist, bearing in mind that professional musicians were not necessarily directly employed by any particular Orchestra and consequently were not listed on an employee list. We have also received received a very helpful suggestion from Terry Joll to make contact with one of our own who in 1944, was an Intelligence Captain with 5DCLI and who today is a highly respected and well known National and International Musical figure. He has been contacted for possible assistance or direction to aid our further search. We hope that he will join us in our search and utilise his formidable musical world contacts to find Tommy.
(ED:) Further reading of the description of Peter Beale's book "The Great Mistake' - click the hotlink above - gives further insight into the battle strategy and its evident shortcomings at that time. What might be important to us who seek 'Tommy' is that this book's contents might reveal the Regiments who were active in the Albert Canal area at the time of our interest. Here in OZ - so far - I am unable to obtain a copy from the local library but you - cheps - in the UK might fare luckier. PS: Just ordered my copy from Amazon.com - (arrived 23rd Jan) - only 5 days!! I shall now attempt direct email contact with Peter Beale (done with copying approval) - might sell more of his book if he can help us! 'Mouseover' this following underlined HOTLINK to browse 12 pages of THE GREAT MISTAKE, Chapter 10 that enlightens us on 4KSLI, A,B,C,D Companies, The Monmouthshires and The Herefords battle actions from 5th - 17th September 1944. Find Tommy!
--O--
STOP PRESS: 23rd January 2008: Peter Beale, author of "The Great Mistake" lives in NSW Australia, and I have just spoken to him on the phone and he has granted permission to quote from his book to assist our research. I recommend the book to any reader of this website. GO TO: The Great Mistake and get your copy within 5 days - fantastic service from Amazon!
STOP PRESS: 26th January 2008: Quote from Jochen in reply to recent email
"Since the Western powers had liberated Antwerp on the 3rd of September there had been no Allied soldiers until 14th September on the northern side of the Albert Canal where we were waiting for their crossing and the buildup of a bridgehead. Then we heard about the Allied attempt to occupy Arnhem and cross the Rhine to the north of us after 14th September but were not attacked ourselves until approximately 23rd September when the Canal was eventually crossed. So we must have detected Tommy after the 14th. It would be logical to conclude that he was no infantry soldier but a paratrooper who had lost his unit. Then, on 29th September , my mate Herbert Schmidt and myself were taken prisoner of war".
STOP PRESS: 31st January 2008:
Extremely important information is to hand from Steve Marshall of The Market Garden website and I simply await his approval to publish the email and web link. Steve has listed some 33 glider crashes that occurred over Holland during the 3 ‘lifts’ for Operation Market Garden on the 17th, 18th and 19th September 1944 and has made significant observations of the typical Glider Pilot injuries sustained by Tommy. It must now be fairly conclusive that Tommy was a GP and had removed his insignia prior to being discovered. What needs to happen now is to discover the possible precise whereabouts of a glider crash site at Merxem, which intelligence I shall explore. Logically the crash site could not have been too far from the wooded perimeter where Tommy was found. The Antwerp news media has been appealed to publish the narrative thus far to uncover a living Antwerpian today who has recall of the events of the time frame. READ THE ENTIRE EMAIL FROM Steve Marshall at the endpage. I feel that Steve has provided us with the key direction in finding Tommy.
11th Armoured Division Belgium 1944
(ED:) The above text when entered into the Google Search Engine produces sufficient page results to keep your eyes watering for many hours. From the many 'leads' that can be followed up, the mention of the KSLI, The Monmouthshires and The Tank Regiment, under the Divisional Command of Major General GPB Roberts makes for interesting research. Tommy Atkins seems to me to be part of a fringe skirmish, away from the main action; and allowing for the fact that Jochen Nubel makes no mention of insignia, weaponry or signs of a parachute, I remain warmly persuaded that Tommy could have been an airborne soldier - maybe a glider occupant dropped very considerably off course, or literally could have fallen from a Horsa glider en route elsewhere. Montgomery attracts some stick for his cussedness in the reported Battle for Antwerp - with some justification (IMHO) - but the entire September 1944 action is fascinating to say the least. Keep the investigation alive - cheps - let's find Tommy Atkins! Explore the Merxem area by satellite - click the following links.
OVERVIEW OF ANTWERP & ALBERT DOCK
--O--
EDITOR 21st Jan 2008: Information to consider, after another email reply from Jochen. (I am still of the view that Tommy's injuries indicate that he was a Para or a passenger in a vehicle high off the ground from which he jumped). Following is a paraphrased synopsis of Jochen's response. Tommy's injuries were 2 broken legs - just above each ankle, no weapons, but with a knapsack - 30 yds away - and a steel helmet; no recalled evidence of a buried, or hanging 'chute in the proximity, or regimental insignia or warmer clothing, just 'normal' battledress. He had possibly crawled from elsewhere within the dense wooded area of 20'-30' high trees and was sitting openly against a tree, located at the edge of a triangular shaped wood about 1-2 miles from the Albert Canal, adjoining an ashphalt road. There were no other dead or wounded or live soldiers close by and there was no gunfire activity and Jochen and Herbert were not fired upon during the 1.5 hours time while pushing Tommy over the flat landscape to the German MASH Unit. The sky was clear and no planes seen, time of day about 1430. Tommy precisely mimed flute playing and used the word 'flute' which is similar in German. He was feverish, his wounds were inflamed and he uttered several unintelligible words while being moved. No other Allied troops were seen during the entire discovery, rescue and Jochen and Herbert's return to their Unit, a mission of some 6 hours duration. The 2 German soldiers were on a reconaissance patrol on the Merxem (northern side) to establish the Allies activities on the Canal - from the southern side(?) - so WHY was Tommy on the northern (Merxem) side of the Canal - and a lone soldier?
Possible conclusion: Tommy was a Para seriously off-course finishing up in a tree and freed himself from high up and broke his lower legs when falling to ground. Food for thought? Note that assumptions thus far rely on the sparsely understood conversation from Tommy that he was a flautist at the LSO. Jochen and Herbert may not have distinguished any difference between British and Canadian battledress (was there any?) - so there's also the strong possibility that Tommy was a Canadian! I have explored further with Jochen - the 'steel helmet' - what shape was it, did it have a camouflage netting, did it have a chin strap - or was it a common old 'tin hat'? Surely a standard 'tin hat' would accompany a weapon also - an infantryman would feel undressed without either. Jochen continues to search his memory for minute details. I'm attempting part copyright release for pages 78 and 79 "PARAS" Sutton Publishing, David Reynolds 1998.
ABOVE: 1944 Military Scale Map kindly contributed by Peter Beale, Author 'The Great Mistake'. We hope that Jochen can identify the precise postion where Tommy was found in September 1944. NB: This map is cropped from a larger area map. CLICK to enlarge in a separate window.
1st Battalion The Border Regiment
PART QUOTE FROM BBC ARTICLE HOTLINKED ABOVE - EVIDENCE OF A GLIDER CRASH NEAR ANTWERP
The Borders at Arnhem: Operation Market Garden began on Sunday 17 September 1944 and lasted until 26 September 1944. Soldiers serving with the 1st Borders took part in 9 days fierce fighting with the Germans. The 1st Battalion The Border Regiment was due to have been commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Tommy Haddon (Service No 5814). Lieutenant-Colonel Haddon’s glider took off with the first lift on 17 September, but it was forced to make a forced landing while still over Oxfordshire in the UK. Taking off with the second glider lift on 18 September, Lieutenant-Colonel Haddon’s replacement glider this time had one wing shot off near Antwerp and a crash landing had to be made. This meant that while the battle for the Arnhem bridgehead was being fought by his unit, Lieutenant-Colonel Haddon, C.O. of 1st Border had to proceed by land after linking up with a battalion of the Dorset Regiment. He eventually managed to reach the Oosterbeek area alone late on the following Sunday, 24 September, and then had the great misfortune of being taken prisoner by the Germans a while attempting to find his unit the following morning, only hours before the unit withdrew back across the Rhine. In the absence of Lieutenant-Colonel Haddon, Major Stuart Cousens (Service No 63589), formerly of the Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers, but at that time second in command of 1st Border, took over command of the battalion while the battle was taking place. Additionally, Major Charles F.O. Breese (Service No 66138) C.O. of ‘D Company’ took over as acting second in command of the battalion at the Battalion HQ, with Captain Bill Hodgson (Service No 129359) taking command of ‘D Company’. Footnote added 29th Jan 2008: The Curator at The Borders Museum has kindly provided information for the above crash incident that completely rules out Tommy being on board.
6Oth ANNIVERSARY OF MARKET GARDEN
Operation Market Garden Netherlands 17 - 25 September 1944
PHOTO ABOVE: A British Military Policeman pictured amidst a group of relieved Antwerp citizens in September 1944. Maybe someone here - a child now aged about 70 - will remember a crashed glider incident in Merxem. We have appealed the local Antwerp Newspaper to publish our interest in finding Tommy.
Below and Left: Is Tommy here? Unidentified photos of British airborne troops in Operation Market Garden September 17th 1944: Courtesy Military Forums
Above: A Horsa Glider about to be lifted behind a Lancaster (?) being farewelled by ground crews. Location and date unknown.
--O--
EMAIL FROM STEVE MARSHALL
Yours is an interesting endeavour. As I understand it, you are trying to identify a Commonwealth solider, devoid of insignia, found near Antwerp sometime between 14th and 29th September 1944 who had broken both legs just above the ankle with his wounds having become infected and him being feverish; there is reference to a (not further described) helmet and what I interpret to have been a small pack but no other weapons or equipment.
Firstly, a bit about the glider pilots of which there were two per glider. Whilst in flight they would usually have worn an RAF leather flying helmet or a fibre-reinforced glider pilot crash helmet whereas on the ground they would have worn the usual 'bucket' shape British airborne helmet. They wore the standard airborne attire of Denison smock with Battle Dress, with both smock and blouse (jacket) being affixed with rank insignia and flying qualification wings (note that while there were instructions to remove flying qualification details from Pay Books, no such order existed with regard to the actual insignia and so regimental practice was for it to be worn .... with pride) and regimental shoulder arcs on the BD blouse. However, it is known that some GPs removed their qualification wings immediately prior to capture - GPs being a valuable resource.
Broken legs were an occupational hazard for the glider pilot. And the type of break suffered by your man is quite indicative of a rough crash landing. For example, S/Sgt Wallwork landed the first glider on D-Day (at Pegasus Bridge) and the plan was to effectively crash it into the defences of the position being assaulted, Wallwork and his co-pilot expected to end the day with broken legs (though luckily they didn't). After landing, the glider pilots usually accompanied the men they flew in until such time as they RV'd with other pilots.
As you are aware, the timeframe which are you investigating embraces the Market Garden operation at Arnhem. I have had a look through the Glider Pilot Regiment roll of honour and I see that on 22nd September 1944 a Sgt Arthur L Jones died and was subsequently buried at the military cemetery at Bergen-op-Zoom, which is north of Antwerp. I have attached a screen print from the www.marketgarden.com database which shows further information, namely that he died in Fijnaart at a private residence, which is perhaps at odds with your man having been moved to a German military hospital. Nonetheless, this is all suggestive of Sgt Jones glider having been in the vicinity of Antwerp though as yet I have been unable to find on any record of him or of his co-pilot in unit War Diaries. By-the-by, with regard to Market Garden, War Diaries do record that a number of gliders came down short of LZ and over Holland.
First Lift, 17th September = nine gliders lost over Holland : Second Lift, 18th September = 13, possibly 15, gliders lost over Holland: Third Lift, 19th September = 9 lost over Holland. Unfortunately, the War Diaries generally aren't too informative. However, those that I presently have access to inform that the following came down in the locality of Antwerp.
17/9/44; CN 468, S/Sgt Edwards & Sgt Oram, force-landed near Antwerp
17/9/44; CN 478, S/Sgt Cram & Sgt Whitehead, force-landed near Antwerp
(ED: CN 468 landed prematurely at Dinteloord in enemy territory, CN 478 landed near Udenhout/Biezenmortel). All crews accounted for. All four pilots being from Glider Pilot Regiment, No 1 Wing, D Squadron. (NB: CN = chalk number = ident number of glider.) Back to your quest, it is therefore possible that your man was a glider pilot (as opposed to a glider trooper or paratrooper) BUT as matters presently stand we do not know whether a glider came down at or close to Merxem. (And if one did, whether there's any record of it and its crew). If I can learn any more I'll be in touch. I would also suggest that you contact the Airborne Museum at Oosterbeck (a Google will give the details or see my website): they are very well informed as to casualties, etc. Good luck in your search.
--O--
Nihil est Impossibilis
(ED:) A fitting motto indeed to reflect the calibre of the men of this Regiment. The more I research the background to Market Garden, the more I am humbled by the records of bravery of the men of The Glider Regiment who took to the air in Gliders. Take the time to browse this revealing website with links to other sites and detailed comments that cover the time period 1942--1945
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