Memorial Card. Kiwi KIA 17 April 1945

[ChrisB]

Picked these up yesterday. Thought there might be some interest here.

The memorial card was sent by Karl and Johanna Hultenberg who’s son Guy had been killed on the 17 April 1945. From the official history of the 27th Machine Gun Battalion I have found out that on the 17th April the 27th Battalion were involved in capturing the village Villa Fontana in Italy. After successfully capturing the village the battalion then planned to advance over the Gaiana however after some stiff German resistance involving Tiger tanks and troops of the 1st Parachute Division, a stalemate developed. The Germans were pretty well dug in on one of the stopbanks of a tributary of the Gaiana. The second company of the 27th, Guy’s company, was the most forward of the 27th companies and had been able to secure the opposite stopbank. The second company had suffered casualties due to snipers from across the other stopbank, so the OC broke the company up into two groups and with one group, the group Guy was in, occupied a house which commanded the banks on both sides of the canal for some distance, from the upper windows of the house, the OC and two or three others retaliated against the German snipers. From this advantage point Guy Hultenberg was able to use his Bren gun as a snipping weapon and account for 5 Germans before he was killed. The official history notes that his OC “...cautioned him on several occasions to be more careful but unfortunately his enthusiasm and courage overcame his judgment”.
Need to do a bit more research but quite nice to get this little bit of the story to go with the memorial card.
Here’s a bit more info on Guy from the CWGC:

Name: HULTENBERG, GUY
Nationality: New Zealand
Rank: Private
Regiment: New Zealand Machine Gun Battalion Unit Text: 27th
Age: 24
Date of Death: 17/04/1945
Service No: 244897
Additional information: Son of Karl Folke Hultenberg and of Johanna Hultenberg (nee Andersen), of Carterton, Wellington, New Zealand.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: VI. G. 15.
Cemetery: FAENZA WAR CEMETERY

[ChrisB]

Here’s a photo of Guy. It says on the back of the photo “Guy as a small boy. Sorry I made a mistake I mean as a tall proud smiling soldier”.

Cheers
Chris

[DJT]

Very nice. Its the small and simple personal items like this that make you stop and realise the human cost of war. I always find it particularly tragic with guys who bought it so near the end too.

[ChrisB]

Bomber Command Killed in Action memorial card.

“Its the small and simple personal items like this that make you stop and realise the human cost of war.”

Couldn’t agree with you more Des.

This memorial card was sent by Louisa Durward who’s son was an RNZAF wireless operator/ air gunner and was killed on 21 Jan 1943.
Flight Sergeant James Sydney Durward, RNZAF 412872, 101 Sqn(RAF), who died age 26 on 21 January 1943, and is buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 3.B.16.

Flight Sgt Durward was a crew member of a Lancaster IB (built at Avro Chadderton) serial number ED443 code SR-B . This aircraft was delivered to 101 Squadron on 30 December 1942 and completed 28 hours with the squadron before it was lost on the night of the 21/22-01-1943(see map 3). SR-B took off at 17:00 from Holme-on Spalding-Moor (Yorkshire) on a bombing mission to Essen (site of the Krups factory). The crew was:
Pilot Sgt: PTW Wiltshire (age21) RNZAF 413165 KIA
Engineer: Sgt J Carr (22) RAAF 10169 KIA
Nav: FO KE Kibble (22) RNZAF 41336 KIA
BA: Sgt GJ Smale (22) RAFVR 1377300 KIA
WO/AG: FSgt JS Durward (26) RNZAF 412872 KIA
Mid UG: Sgt EJ Chapman (?) RAFVR 1322050 KIA
RG: Sgt MI Sharpley (22) RAFVR 964253 KIA

The aircraft crashed near Dortmund where the crew were initially buried in the Hauptfriedhof. Since reinterred at the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

The bombing mission to Essen (up until early 1943 the most bombed town) involved 79 Lancaster and 3 Mosquito (probably from 109 pathfinder Sqn) aircraft. The bombers encountered total cloud cover and bombs were dropped blindly on estimated positions. Four Lancaster's were lost. None of the crews of the 4 bombers survived.
The other Lancaster's that were lost were:

PM-A (103 Squadron) serial # W4340. Built between July-Nov 1942 at Avro Chadderton. Delivered to 103 Sqn Oct 1942 completed 95 hours with the squadron. Took off from Elsham Woods at 1735. Pilot P/O Edgar Heaton RAF 51898. The aircraft was lost without trace (probably North Sea, see map 1). I believe PM-A was shot down by Uffz Georg Kraft of 12/NJG1 (shot down at approx 19:52 from 5600m). It was the bomber crews second operation. The crew are commemorated on the RAF Memorial at Runnymede.

PM-F (103 Sqn) serial# W4335. Took off from Elsham Woods at 1743. Pilot Sgt Edward Vivian Laing (age 22) RAAF 406693. The aircraft was shot down on its outward trip by Feldwebel Theodor Klein-Henz of 3/NJG1at 19:30 the plane crashed 10 miles from Enschede (Holland) (see map 2). The crew were all buried in Enschede Eastern General Cemetery.

EM-B (207 Sqn) serial# W4365. Built between July-Nov 1942 at Avro Chadderton. Took off from Langar at 17:29. Pilot Sgt John Charles Dangerfield (age 28) RAAF 407965. The crew are all buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

I am still hunting for more information on the fate of EM-B and SR-B so if you have any more info (or suggestions as to were I can get more)please let me know. I am particularly interested in how they met their fate ie-night fighter, ack-ack etc and where exactly they crashed.





MAP



Cheers
Chris

[ChrisB]

Imperial War Graves Commision book

Not quite another memorial card but sort of ties in as it was sent to NOK.

This book was sent by the Imperial War Graves Commission (now CWGC) to the next of kin of KIA in WW1. Must have been thousands and thousands of these books sent throughout the Commonwealth but this is just the second one I have seen. Its only 18 pages long but is quite interesting. Covers such things as inscriptions on the headstone what the headstones will look like and includes sketches of how the proposed graveyards will look.
This book was sent to Lucy Anne McAuliffe who’s son Thomas B. McAuliffe was killed on 10th January 1918. He was a real ANZAC in that he was born in Australia but lived in Taihape, NZ and served in the NZ Artillery. The nominal roll notes his occupation before joining up as schoolmaster.

Information on Thomas from the CWGC website:

Name: McAULIFFE, THOMAS BRIEN
Nationality: New Zealand
Rank: Gunner
Regiment: New Zealand Field Artillery
Age: 22
Date of Death: 10/01/1918
Service No: 2/2877
Additional information: Son of Patrick and Lucy Anne McAuliffe, of Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: M. 7.
Cemetery: DIVISIONAL CEMETERY



Back of the book. (does the MP before the regiment number 2/2877 mean missing person?)



Example of headstone



Cheers
Chris