saint venant 1940-------farm boulet

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Baconwallah

Good news indeed, Jim! And good work!

This calls for a researcher, unless some member of the Forum is a regular visitor to Kew with a healthy appetite for 72 year old mysteries.

John

---

Good News indeed and I believe Tony is busy trying to secure relevent copies at this time.In relation to the Imperial war Museum tape relating to 2 DLI and James Wray I received another dissappointing,but not unexpected reply from the IWM this evening

Quote:

---

Thank you for your enquiry.

At the moment I cannot estimate when the interview with James Wray (12661) will be released online and unfortunately there is no transcript available to copy for this particular interview.

However, it is possible to purchase copies of the relevant reels and I have attached the IWM Sound Order Form which you would need to complete and return in order to request copies of audio recordings. This form also contains details of charges including postage and packing. If you have any further queries regarding ordering copies of audio recordings please contact the team on 020 7416 5309 or by email at imagesales@iwm.org.uk.

Yours sincerely,

Maria Payne
Collections Access

---

The order form quotes prices of £20 per Reel plus £2.50 postage for the first CD and £1.00 for every subsequent CD each reel is approx 1/2 Hour in length and a CD holds two REELS.

Best


Jim

Hi all.
i am now back in sunny Malta, temp still around 30 deg, after a cool, damp summer in west Wales and a couple of very interesting weeks in South Africa. You probably noticed that i kept popping in when i had internet access, so i am up to date with our difficulties with IWM and MOD. I think the idea of Tony getting himself interviewed by the local press a good one, as well as a letter to his MP. this just might bring out some new info and kick some A** at MOD and IWM.
John, i am not exactly sure where you are based, but might it not be an idea to involve either, your local press or the local press in the St Venant area.you seem to have a good knowledge of La Francais, certainly better than mine.It just might unlock something.

ivor

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vori101

John, i am not exactly sure where you are based, but might it not be an idea to involve either, your local press or the local press in the St Venant area.

---

Welcome back, Ivor!

From where I am it's about 250 miles to St Venant, so my local press couldn't care less. The St Venant press is a different matter, if there is such a thing. I know a journalist of the newspaper of Northern France, la Voix du Nord, and perhaps he might be interested. I'll give it a try. But there won't be many witnesses left by now.

John

morning john.
I agree with you re witnesses, but i didn't explain the idea very well, i blame a 0400 alarm call for an 0640 flight on Friday, then a meal out with family and Several glasses of Red Wine and a late night.
What i was thinking was more in terms of family stories, of parents etc helping wounded soldiers, or childhood memories ,that sort of thing. any thing that might give us a fresh angle on what we know.
I would suspect that the local press may be based at Haverskirque.

ivor

I was only teasing, Ivor...

Seriously, though, there is l'Echo de la Lys which caters to the literary needs of the towns and villages along the Lys. I'll ask my French friends for advice. I'm not holding my breath, though.

John

hi all. been a quiet summer but i think it's time to start some ass kicking. The British Residents Assoc over here, of which we are members, have a Coffee Morning once a month. They have a speaker each time. last month was a professor speaking on Lord Nelson.quite interesting. but the speaker fo Jan is a Barrister who is a specialist in War Crimes.if i have the ok from you guys i will make contact before Jan and see if i can get hold of some useful info. i might even try to get her interested in our quest, well it could be worth a try. i can be quite charming and persuasive at times.


ivor

That might be a good idea, Ivor. But your speaker is very likely more knowledgeable about modern war crimes than about the atrocities of 1940. Anyway, Tony is the one who should decide. I'll let him know.

John

i agree on both counts,john. what i hope for is, possibly some fresh ideas , or some links that we do not know about. it's worth a try.


ivor

Hello again, Ivor,

Just to say that I think your War Crimes speaker is a good idea and it certainly has my blessing. I reckon that the more people get to hear of Anthony the better. Although I think John could be right and the speaker could be more conversant with modern day War Crimes, you never know, someone, somewhere, might just have that extra ounce of knowledge that points us in the right direction. Many thanks.

Tony

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by teecee1941

Hello again, Ivor,

Just to say that I think your War Crimes speaker is a good idea and it certainly has my blessing. I reckon that the more people get to hear of Anthony the better. Although I think John could be right and the speaker could be more conversant with modern day War Crimes, you never know, someone, somewhere, might just have that extra ounce of knowledge that points us in the right direction. Many thanks.

Tony

---

Anthony.
Never give up.
like you say the answer is out there..
its just happening on the link..
good luck in your quest .

Steve..aka..chow.

Hello,
Just as an update for those following this story;-

After Tony had sourced a researcher to look into Q80 it looked as though we were finally moving,however,this may be a drawn out affair as the researcher is not up to speed nor does it seem he has undertaken this type of work before we need other lines of enquiry to keep `the pot boiling`I have recently ran a couple of things past Tony and John these relate to the Missing Men register and why Anthony Corkhill was known to be DEAD and not classed as a missing man worthy of an investigation by the British Army in 42-43-44-45.
At the time of Anthony Corkhills disappearance in 1940 his family would have received the dreaded `Missing presumed Killed in Action` telegram had he been taken prisoner another Telegram would have been received stating he was a `PoW` to the best of my knowledge no second telegram was ever received yet between 1940-42 the date of Anthonys death was confirmed as the 29th May 1940.For this to be taken as gospel a witness or documented evidence or both would have had to be found.
A returning Dunkirk survivor ?...possibly... but a returning survivor would not have completed a `PoW questionaire which in turn would have (if applicable) led to the filing of a Q Form as that survivor was never a PoW in the first place?
So who could have completed such a form prior to release in 1945? There are two possibilities (and I stand to be corrected) as far as I can fathom ..an escapee from captivity late 1942 early 1943 (This was period for the missing men enquiries) but something that up to now I had not considered a repatriated wounded Prisoner,repatriated in April 1942?
If a repatriated DLI PoW filed his report stating Anthony was dead and attached a Q form (if in his opinion he had witnessed a warcrime or mistreatment of Anthony) then this would have been the proof needed to record Anthonys death as 29th May 1940.It may also explain that when the Corkhill Family and the Red Cross contacted RSM Goddard (42-43)that the RSM could find no clues or witnesses to Anthonys fate as the witness was already home? Bearing in mind the severe nature of these repatriated mens wounds did the witness live to see the end of the war? No witnesses were found by Tonys dad despite his search.
Anyway ,I hope I have explained that piece well enough (or have I just confused people more)
To my main aim...Thousands and Thousands of PoW questionaires were completed any one could hold the clue we are all desperately seeking ,far too many to manually sort through.My proposal to Tony and John is I source the repatriated 2 DLI prisoners ...from those I find we will hopefully have two dozen or so Rank ,Names and Army Numbers which can be used to find not thousands but two dozen or so PoW questionaires that might,and I emphasis might,just have a little gem written upon them...what is there to lose if all else fails we have ruled out another possibility and we will move on.
I`m confident I will secure that list in the next week or so as I know just where to look!

Best Wishes

Jim

hi Jim.
this sound like a good idea.
But.
this would generate another set of questions if we take it in connection with what we already believe.
we believe that Anthony was seen wounded on 27/may as witnessed by RSM Goddard. when being marched off to POW camp. If we believe that Anthony was the wounded man shot by the S.S. on 29th then as far as we know the only witnesses were the farmer and his friend. so something doesn't fit.
unless.
if we assume that Anthony was taken by the Germans to a field hospital,lets assume the one at Calonne, where he died on 29/may then there would certainly be witnesses.
Now i am starting to wonder about the dates. whilst we know the dates in the War Diary's may be suspect,i think we have to accept the date given by RSM as correct as i think there is ample evidence to confirm it.
But the 29th, i am having some doubts about.if the soldier shot on 29th was Not Anthony. then where was Anthony ? in hospital ?. have we got a situation whereby if War Crimes got hold of the report with 29th on it and assumed it was Anthony, then we could have a problem here. if my memory is correct it has been said that the W.C.C. did not investigate this incident.
i am having some problems with the idea of seriously wounded men being repatriated being able to remember an exact date which would appear to be 2 days after the Germans retook the area.
sorry Jim. do not let me put you off the idea, it just doesn't seem to work for me. good luck. i hope you can prove me wrong.
it would be good if we could come up with some records from the field hospitals in the area.


ivor.

Hello Ivor,
I`ll see if I can convince you a little more. The soldier who was killed and we have the two witnesses for was killed outside of Ferme Boulet on the Rue Bas Hamel junction at 12.30hrs 27th May 1940 if we believe the recorded times this cannot have been Anthony wrong place and wrong time the battle at the St Venant bridge ended much later if Anthony had been wounded and taken earlier in the battle to Ferme Boulet (Which was a temp British Hospital) then RSM Goddard could not have came across him at the Canal Bank.Although it would seem likely that this was not Anthony Corkhill it was reported that up to 60 British soldiers had been murdered and I very much doubt there was a file set up for each incident so we cannot rule out Anthony was not shot /murdered elsewhere.If Q80 exists someone had to complete it and while their memory was fresh.
The CWGC in the case of missing men record the deaths of these individuals as the last time they were seen alive and the date in which their bodies were recovered as Anthonys body was not recovered, then through investigation RSM Goddard was the last to see Anthony on the 27th May 1940 if the CWGC follow their own rules why is Anthony listed as dying two days later on the 29th May 1940...because (I believe) someonelse saw Anthony after RSM Goddard either alive on the 29th or killed on this day.The CWGC state their dates are supplied by the Army ..then who saw Anthony Corkhill alive on the 29th certainly RSM Goddard could find no witnesses and on his return I know from his son Ian that the RSM played a major part in ex servicemens associations a chance to talk to old comrades yet none could shed any light on Anthony Corkhill?
This is where my idea of the repatriated PoWs came from, a possible witness who filled in a questionaire at the time Anthony was declared to have died all ifs and buts I know but if its a dead end then what have we lost? Nothing but my time which I`m happy to give .The wounds these men suffered are not a handicap either for I have just published on my website a detailed eight page account from another DLI who was repatriated (1st DLI) and it is marvellously detailed.
One thing I should have added too Ivor is Tony is researching a second incident where two unknown British soldiers were shot/murdered in hospital who knows what if anything the list will bring out but I owe it to Anthony Corkhill to try.
Thanks Ivor
Best Wishes

Jim

Jim.
you don't have to convince me, my only concern was about who may have witnessed his death.
i think, some time back i speculated that he died in hospital, when i suggested that his wounds may have been more severe than was thought. i have to admit that it never occurred to me that he may have been shot in the hospital. but with the S.S who knows.
as i said in my last post this is, really, the only place he could have been seen on 29th by another British Serviceman.
what is the location of the incident that Tony is investigating ?


ivor.

Hello Ivor,
You are right it can only have been a British serviceman as there is no record of Anthony by either the Swiss nor the Germans I am hoping because the Roll is so decisive that one of those repatriated is our witness fingers crossed.
The hospital incident Tony has mentioned twice but he is having difficulty relocating his file all I know is it is in the same geographical area within the relevent time frames.Sorry I do not know any details off hand
Best Wishes

Jim

ok
thanks Jim. it's just that i think i read that there were some unknowns buried in the field at the rear of the school in Calonne which was the Hospital. we will have to wait and see.


ivor

Steve, many thanks for your kind words.

Tony

The hospital under discussion was, if I remember correctly, Merville. Would be a likely spot, as it was in 3 Pz Div's area,

John

thanks John. but i am not sure that Merville fits with Anthony. If i recall rightly the Germans were not in Merville on 27th so a slight problem. the only field hospital we know of operating on 27th was Calonne.
Now let me ask a question or two at least.
Does a field hospital follow behind the front line. what i am after is .. would a hospital move from Calonne to Merville ..complete with any wounded under treatment. if so then there is a possibility of Anthony being in Merville.
My second question is ... how many wounded would it accommodate. and would German wounded be sent to the rear after basic treatment whereas British troops, now POW's, might remain at the hospital ?.
Now,i am having a major problem with the idea of wounded POW's being shot in hospital, i know the S.S. were capable of anything, but i am trying very hard to figure out why they would shoot wounded men.
I can only come up with one possible,even if unlikely idea.
By the 29th the Germans had Dunkirque virtually surrounded. i wonder if this particular hospital was no longer required and was being wound up.The British POW's were to be moved to another place provided they could WALK. those that could not were shot.
total fantasy but ............

Ivor, the Jerries were in Merville on the 29th, the day Anthony died officially.

Also, why should "hospital" mean a field hospital? Merville had a perfectly functional cottage hospital. There is evidence of at least one Durham there, later taken to a PoW camp in Germany.

John

I should add that there were also two hospitals in St Venant itself. One was the cottage hospital, run by nuns, the other the large psychiatric hospital. The psychiatric hospital served as a dressing station for German wounded, I have seen no reports of British wounded there. The cottage hospital may have treated some, but again I have seen no useful information on the subject.

John

hi all.
been reading thread from post 1. interesting to recap. i raised the possibility of his dying in hospital in post 129 and Jim raised it again later. but i have also been on the web trying to find an article i read about the German use of hospitals. i believe that i read that they did not use civilian hospitals preferring their own field set up.

i have been looking at ww11 talk and found some interesting stuff relating to other movement around the area.

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/1940/41...-1940-a-3.html

this link should take you to page 3. post no 30 is a transcription of the field diary of 228 Field Co RE. you will have to scroll down to the entry for 19/5 quite interesting. the next very interesting bit is the very last post page 8 a photo of a page of a war diary,post 72. the second picture and the entry for the 24this again interesting. the place named as la motte is i believe the village of La Motte De la Bois in the forest . interesting.

hi all.
I have spent quite some time considering the info in my last post. as you may recall i wanted to know what was going on in the area prior to the arrival of RWF/2DLI. on 24th. Well i now have a much better idea.
from the first quote it would seem possible that this was the unit responsible for blowing the bridge as St Venant if my interpretation of 'Le Bassee canal Aire east' is remotely correct. and it might appear they were mined as early as 20th
It also appears that there was a greater concentration of troops in the forest between Haverskirque and Merville than i thought.
Now for the interesting bits. the war diary on 23rd at 16.10 that enemy tanks had crossed the canal. am i right in assuming that this would have been Robecq. the next entry indicates that part of Robecq was still held on 23rd when, RWF/2DLI were approaching St Floris/St Venant.
Now this is where this part gets really interesting. We know the Germans were in St Venant/St Floris on 23rd as we have reports of the carriers being taken out there is also the report of the short fight for the bridging equipment.But sometime during night of 23rd or on the 24 the 2/5 Yorks withdrew from Robecq to the forest.as they are mentioned in the last entry in the diary. would they have gone through St Venant.
the second and possibly the more crucial entry in the diary is at 1600 on 24th where it says Haverskirque reported as captured and guns directed on it.as far as i can recall the r.v point for RWF/2DLI was stated to be Haversrque but if it fell on 24th then the r.v would have been moved, presumably to the forest, so any moves across St Venant bridge would have been very risky.
but this might explain why the Major reports that a Lt and a number of men were heading for the forest not Haverskirque.
OK any one any ideas. please.

A little behind with posts due to working on the Durhams repatriation list so I cannot comment on your queries Ivor,Sorry.

The repatriation list comes in with a total of 91 members of the DLI of these 15 are 2nd DLI men captured in 1940 I cannot narrow it down to a specific day Sorry.There are also two DLI officers whom have no battalion attached to them it is unlikely these were 2DLI officers but just incase I`ve added them here.The Coys are those at time of capture (as far as I can practically research)

109071 Lieutenant D R Prince.
94763 Captain A W C Shortman.

4436736 CSM T Green 2nd Durham Light Infantry `C` Company
4453527 Pte J T Forster 2nd Durham Light Infantry `A` Company
4444112 Pte M Crossen 2nd Durham Light Infantry Company not known
4448391 Pte J Forster 2nd Durham Light Infantry `A` Company
4449111 Pte H Hall 2nd Durham Light Infantry `HQ` Company
4447927 Pte A Laing 2nd Durham Light Infantry `B` Company
4444043 Pte J Mawson 2nd Durham Light Infantry `A` Company
4445726 Pte E Nottage 2nd Durham Light Infantry `HQ` Company
4449700 L/Cpl R Nelson 2nd Durham Light Infantry `A` Company
4449376 Pte S Satchwell 2nd Durham Light Infantry `A` Company
4445003 Pte S Stoker 2nd Durham Light Infantry `B` Company
3447737 Pte R Shaw 2nd Durham Light Infantry `B` Company
4442095 Pte R Taylor 2nd Durham Light Infantry `C` Company
4449628 Pte H Waterworth 2nd Durham Light Infantry `D` Company
4444040 Pte J Watson 2nd Durham Light Infantry `HQ` Company

From the list you can see that only three originate from `HQ` Company which was the company Anthony was originally with although with the confusion of battle and the fluid situation on the 27th May 1940 he could have been attached to any of them we just do not know for sure.
Best

Jim

hi Jim.

no problem. If there is no date of capture, is there a date when wounded. if there was then it should be possible to work out where he was at the time, just a thought.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by vori101

hi Jim.

no problem. If there is no date of capture, is there a date when wounded. if there was then it should be possible to work out where he was at the time, just a thought.

---

Hello Ivor,
The details of capture and wounds etc would be recorded on the returning PoW Questionaires at this point I do not have these (These questionaires also hold the initial question regarding any war crimes which would then be filled out on a `Form Q`) all I can say is the majority seem to have been paid at the last pay parade 11th-14th May Sorry.
Tony has now made contact with George Rodgers who succesfully found his brother Tom who was listed as missing in the same action as Anthony Corkhill so I think he intends to put the repatriation list on the back burner while he compares notes with George.
Tony was given an admission slip for a wounded DLI soldier from the 27th May 1940 on it there is a stamp/registration mark which reads

Quote:

---

HOPITAL COMPLEMENTAIRE 31 Mai 1940 WESTMINSTER LE TOUQUET

---

Any significance or clues in this at all? Would all of the DLI wounded have been sent here and if so would this Hospitals records shed any light on the quest?

Best
Jim

hi.
interesting post Jim. regard to the wounded soldier at Le Touquet i can probably give you a pretty good explanation. But first, if you don't mind a question for John.which should make it a bit clearer.
John. in one of your earlier posts you said that BGD HQ moved to Merville on 25th but in post 30 of my quote the entry for 1400 hr on 24th. it states '' O.C. reported to Bgd HQ and found it had moved to Merville without telling him.' I assume that this would have been the HQ at Calonne ?. so it must have moved sometime prior to then.
now Jim your wounded soldier. obviously he must have been wounded in the retreat from St Venant. he would either have been in the forest or possibly with BGD in Merville. the Hq moved from Merville to a location named as Rue Vert, somewhere in the forest and then i believe to L Touquet. John i think will confirm this. I suspect initially that his wounds may not have been too serious, unless he was hospitalized at Merville and then transported with Hq when they moved.
now with regard to the list of wounded. i think the date could be of some help, not a lot.
whilst i am not sure ,i think that shortly after 14th the units were engaged in the battle at the Dyle river/canal? .so i suspect a number of them would have been wounded there. they were pulled out on 20/21st ?and sent to St Venant/St Floris area arriving on 23rd where in the following battle the others must have been wounded.
as i said not a lot of help.

ivor

Ivor, my information is that Bde HQ moved to Merville on the 25th. If the RE WD says otherwise, either of the two sources is mistaken. In view of the chaotic situation (witness the many wrong dates in the RWF WD) the discrepancy does not surprise me. Some time ago I looked at Churchill's trip to France at the height of the 1940 battle. Churchill himself, his aide, the captain of the destroyer and the senior French officer waiting to conduct him to Paris all give wildly different arrival times in their reports. It was like that.

Jim, there was a British Red Cross Hospital (No 1 Base Hospital, the Duchess of Westminter's) at le Touquet in the Great War. It may well have been resurrected in 1939. And hospitals were not evacuated during the retreat: too much work and nowhere to go. The walking wounded were told to make their own way to Dunkirk.

I've seen the admission slip. It lists the doctors (one of them German, unnamed) who examined the patient on the right hand side. Bottom left is the reason for admittance: maladie, sickness. Top right it says blessure de la cuisse sinistre, wound of the left thigh.

John

hi all.
I agree, john, that the situation was total chaos. But i was a bit surprised that a field commander was not informed. but as you say it was like that. the wounded guy, as i said i suspect that the wound, although not initially serious, had, after 4 days or so become infected.
But my main concern at the moment is the report that Haverskirque was captured on 24th. allowing for possible day or so error in the dates then there is a definite possibility that when the RWF HQ staff tried to pull back they were heading straight towards the Germans so it is no wonder they took casualties. but while i agree that things were chaotic i can not understand why a HQ Co with radio comms were not informed. odd. The RWF.WD does not mention a change in the rv point.
Now John i would like your personal opinion of this. not what the book says, it may not even say anything, but Your take on this.please.



ivor

Ivor, we've been there before. See previous posts. When 1st RWF was approaching St Floris, the Germans in Haverskerque were receiving orders to pull back to the Aire - la Bassée canal ("Hitler's Halt Order", although it was more likely von Rundstedt's order sanctioned by Hitler). So when St Venant fell, there were no Germans in Haverskerque, le Touquet or anywhere else north of the Lys canal. Don't know where you got that from.

When the Germans finally crossed the St Venant bridge at noon on the 27th, a small group of RWF armed with rifles and a Bren or two had to defend the cluster of cottages at the northern exit against an enemy with all mod cons - tanks, light artillery, the lot. As you say, no wonder they took casualties. But not because the enemy came from the north.

John

hi all.
John i have been looking at this 'stop' order and found the following.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/histo...ous-but-2.html

scroll to the post by TonyT. it makes interesting reading.
it would appear that the 'stop' order only applied to the Panzer units not infantry. and the account in the RWF WD states that when the HQ staff were trying to withdraw across the bridge they came under heavy Mortar fire. as far as i was aware this is an infantry weapon.
In the post i have linked the references are for the Panzer's to Stop to allow the infantry to catch up, not withdraw. It does not appear to be a General stop order.
If this IS correct then there would appear to be no reason why an Infantry unit could not have been in Haverskirque.

Bore da Ivor,

First a general remark: Panzer divs contained an infantry regiment, including mortars. At St Venant it was the 3rd Schützen-Regiment (rifle regt). A motorised SS regt (Regt Germania) was attached for the attack across the Aire canal towards and beyond St Venant. The Infantry divisions were still trying to catch up.

3 Pz and Germania were ordered to pull back. See statement of Germania's CO below. I already mentioned this, in translation, in an earlier post.

John

Attachment 2899

Hi
The following is from Major Ellis's The War in France and Flanders 1939 - 1940 Chapter XI 24th and 25th May 1940.
while i have quoted from this before i was looking at St Venant. In a previous post i speculated as to thee direction that the 2/5 West Yorks had pulled back from Robecq. well some where in St Floris and some in Calonne. a couple more pieces of the Jigsaw
."In the Polforce sector between Thiennes and Robecq a French unit which had been holding the canal was withdrawn, leaving a gap in the defence which there were no troops to fill. Here elements of a German motorised division—the S.S. Verfügungs (or general service) Division—had crossed unopposed and had advanced to St Venant and the 2nd/5th West Yorkshire on the canal from Robecq to Hinges had moved companies back to Calonne and St Floris, to hold the flank of this enemy salient."
Ok,John, i think we have been around here before. looking at bridging units, but not this time.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/51528342/G...on-10-May-1940

if you look at the list you will find no mention on 10/5 of the S.S Germania. The 3rd Schutzen Brigade was made up of 3 Schutzen Regiment comprising 3 Brigades. all of which are shown as motorised.
Your quote refers to the Germania and the panzers pulling back. The panzers were to repair and refiit etc. i do not believe the order applied the Schutzen Bgd, only the tanks. theinking at the top was, it seems, to not risk the tanks as the mopping up could be done by infantry.



ivor

Ivor, the push past St Venant on the 24th involved only Germania. 3rd Pz was at St Pol and its infantry was not involved. It received orders that day to capture all bridges along the Aire canal on the 25th.

Please note that Germania was in line to the left of 3 Pz. It never was part of it. For the St Venant ops it was put under command of 3 Pz. That would not qualify it for a mention in 3 Pz orbat, certainly not two weeks before that date.

John

guys.
John, i will come back to our debate shortly but i was digging, and found another link to :-

http://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewto...30914&start=45

you will need to scroll down nearly to the bottom but there is a very interesting pic on 23 taken apparently at Robecq. and an even more interesting pic on 27th of British POW's (note Location)

Hi.
i have downloaded the pic of POW's but even using one of my photo progs i can find no details.there may be something on the shoulder of the 2nd from left but it is too faint to be sure. there are 5 brits and 2 Germans in the picture and it would seem possible that the German with the light cap may be giving first aid to the brit without 'tin hat' in the background.


ivor

Hello,

I thought people would like to know of a surprising outcome to a little `behind the scenes` investigation connected to the search for Anthony Corkhill and the great work put in by members here to see this through.
Recently a French Auction site featured photographs taken around St Venant/Robecq in late May 1940.The photos showed British PoWs gathered in St Venant and more disturbingly a huge mass grave with British Dead clearly visable.The grave photos were titled `St Venant Massacre` if it is true is yet to be established. Tony purchased these photographs and with a Farm house in the Background this was thought by both Tony and myself to be around Feme Boulet,however John recognised the photograph as the one which featured in M.Faivres book on the Robecq Rd? John then received a casualty list complete with St Venant Mayors Office Stamps of the identified victims within this grave from M.Faivre together with a modern map showing the Mass graves original location.John was correct it was no where near Ferme Boulet I spent a couple of days cross checking the list with known casualty lists on the CWGC database together with the register of St Venant Communal Cemetery and with a few minor corrections for spellings and mis-read numbers found that all of these casualties now lay at rest within the cemetery.........except one,6142300 Gnr William Arthur Barlow 226 Bty., 57 (1/5th Bn. The East Surrey Regt.) Anti-Tank Regt although he is clearly listed on this list the CWGC lists him as no known grave commemorated Dunkirk Memorial ? A second check on another list I have submitted by the Mayor in 1945 ommits Gnr Barlow completely. So where is Gnr Barlow ? Logically if every other poor soul in that mass grave is in St Venant Cemetery then does this mean Gnr Barlow rests there too ..as an unknown?
After consultation with Tony and John I have sent off the Casualty list ,Map and a copy of the Mass Grave Photograph,kindly provided by Tony,to the CWGC for their thoughts on the matter.I have received a basic acknowledgement of the contact with a promise of a follow up reply.
It is more than a bit ironic that whilst searching for Anthony we may have stumbled on another lost soul.Sorry for diversing a little here but I thought this relevant if nothing else we will be able to gauge the CWGC reaction.
Best Wishes

Jim

hi.

great piece of work. brilliant. well done guys.


ivor

Ivor, forgive me for using your page but for some reason I have become unable to find the way into this thread any more. What I'd like to do is explain my theory of Anthony's disappearance that I have arrived at after a month of serious thinking and deliberating. I don't mind anyone shooting me down because most people have a much broader knowledge of the issue than I have even though I have become totally immersed in it for almost three years.

I keep thinking that we have widened the search for Anthony when maybe we should be narrowing it more. We have thought that he may have been killed and buried in Merville, Calonne, Robecq, Haverskerque etc.. Perhaps the best place to consider, is in fact, the last place he was seen alive---Saint Venant.

A while ago I found a document describing the fact that two British soldiers were killed in hospital in Saint Venant. Each had wounds to both legs. At the time, I thought nothing of this because I was convinced that Anthony was killed outside Farm Boulet at Bas Hamel and this would be a proven fact in due course.

I think that instead of thinking 'what if', 'maybe this', 'maybe that' let's look at what we already know and take it at face value.;-

The 'big picture' in Saint Venant at the time was the defence of the bridge and most personnel were involved in it one way or another.

Assuming that Anthony was wounded in this action, he would not have been able to stagger very far and therefore may have ended up on the canal bank, still in Saint Venant.

RSM Goddard must have been near enough to Anthony to be able to come across him on the bank. He was a POW and by then would not have been allowed to wander very far.

The German stretcher bearers told the RSM that they were taking Anthony to hospital. The logical choice was a hospital in Saint Venant, where they already were.

Acouple of days later two British lads with wounds to both legs were killed by the Germans.

All the above is what I think is highly likely to have happened. Certainly within the bounds of possibility. The doubtful bit? The dates are a bit tight. 25th---27th.

Now for my own 'what if'= I have heard of a hospital in the area closing down and getting 'rid' of patients around that time. 'What if' they transferred all able bodied patients to other hospitals and shot the rest.

Doubtful bit No2= The Red Cross say there are no records of Anthony ever having been booked into hospital but perhaps he was in hospital and his admission not recorded. It is worth remembering also that he may not have been in posession of his dog tags.

Like I said at the beginning, feel free to berate me if you think I am wrong. I'd rather be told I was wrong than go on forever more believing a load of bunkum.

So we're back in St Venant at last. Good thinking, Tony. I've always thought so, and I'm glad the you have found a document supporting this.

As I said in a previous post, there were two hospitals in St Venant. A cottage hospital cum nursing home (possibly even cum school) run by nuns, on the Rue de Guarbecque, and a large psychiatric hospital (the Asile des Alienés) on the Rue de Busnes. Both are still there.

If Anthony was unable to communicate due to blood loss by the time he was admitted, without his dog tags identification would have been very difficult. Hence perhaps the lack of records.

All in all it sounds very plausible.

John