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

[Baconwallah]

No odd coincidence, Ivor. You're looking at the old bed of the Lys before it was canalised. The border follows the original bed of the Lys from way E of Armentières to way W of St Venant at least.

You gave a very good summary of events as we now understand them. Compliments.

And now:

If my man in the field can confirm that the farm on the photos was indeed once the Ferme Boulet, the next step will be to get hold of the pathologist's report. I have queries outstanding in Germany and have also alerted my French friend, who I hope will go and bother the Maire of St Venant about it. And if we can connect the bodies in the report to the unmarked graves in the cemetery, we'll be getting somewhere. Not there yet, but moderately hopeful.

John

[ivor43]

john
thank you. this would explain why the field appears to be boggy.
thank you very much for the compliments. from someone of your experience and standing on the forum i am very grateful.i enjoy this sort of thing and if i can be of assistance in the future then i hope it will be OK.
i think the autopsy report could make interesting reading i attended quite a few as a police officer. we had a good Pathologist who would explain what he was looking for. very interesting. i learned a lot from him.
jumping ahead, i was wondering if, with a lot of luck and a large dose divine providence we may achieve the ultimate result. that would be fantastic. it has been done before. let us hope.

ivor

[Baconwallah]

Flattery will get you nowhere, Ivor!

Seriously, though, the compliment was well earned and we should do this again. I hope that even from your base in Tywyn you will look in once or twice a day so we can have another go, if need be. Meanwhile, I shall continue my own feeble efforts on Tony's behalf.

John

[teecee1941]

Ivor, I have not been on much the last night or two, mainly because of the superior knowledge of you experts, I would be struggling to add anything. I thought it better to take a back seat whilst things are developing. I never get tired of saying thanks to everyone who has given me a tremendous lift in my search. So. it's thanks again.

Your description of how Anthony may have met his end going back over the bridge certainly has a bona-fide ring about it. This could certainly have put him in the last place that he was seen alive, the canal bank at the side of Farm Boulet. The timing of events, although approximate, all adds up. The War Crimes Investigation reports a British soldier being shot in the head at around 12 noon on the 27th which would have given him time to be there after the fighting had started early in the day.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has Anthony's death as being on the 29th but this is unlikely. His superior, RSM Goddard and all fit and able personnel were marched away to a POW camp on the 27th. There is very little likelihood of the Germans caring for Anthony from the 27th to the 29th, having to tend his wounds and feed him. No, I think that the minute RSM Goddard and any other officers marched away, the last ounce of fairness and compassion went too.

[ivor43]

tony.
thanks for your comments. but i am no expert.i am a retired civil servant (RAF) with an interest in the BEF. who spends most of the year in Malta. as i have lots of spare time the opportunity to help someone has been very welcome.i have thoroughly enjoyed what i have been doing and the fact that we have almost certainly identified where your Uncle died is brilliant.but it is also possible that,maybe, we have re-written or clarified this particular part of the battle.I too have learned a lot about what my father went through and for that i owe you a great deal of thanks for posting this thread.
as i said i have to pull back because where i live in Wales we do not have WiFi.i will keep in touch with the forum and will be kept informed of developments by chow.
i want to thank you for the opportunity of being part of your quest, whilst we have established much from our armchairs,we have to wait now for the results of your queries and john's man on the spot. if the autopsy report can be found then who knows where that may lead.we are nearly there. just a few more pieces and the picture will be complete.

ivor.

[teecee1941]

Ivor,

It's been great being part of it all but I hope you are going to be around for the conclusion of it all. Thanks again for your interest and hard work. Our paths will cross again there's no doubt about that!

[ivor43]

tony.
believe me i am awaiting the conclusion with a great deal of interest and have no intention of missing it. it has been a pleasure and i look forward to our paths crossing if i can be of help at any time, contact me.

good luck

ivor.

[ivor43]

morning john.tony.
will be heading off from Loughborough to Wales shortly but, before i go.this occurred to me sometime during night.it just might be the key i needed.
Tony you said your uncle's body was found in a grave on the Calonne - Robeq road this puzzled me at the time, but last night it finally made sense. to me it completes the picture.
OK. the Germans had secured an intact bridge east of St Floris they now are able to pour men,tanks and so on to the north bank. the Calonne - St Floris rd area is now going to become a very busy holding area. but one slight problem. there are a lot of dead bodies in the area. so what do they do with them.it would not really be possible to bury them where they are. they have to be taken from the area, to where. a mass grave on the Robeq rd. this grave contained not only tony's uncles body but bodies of other 2 DLI and RWF. there are a lot of unknowns in Calonne Cemetary.
John i can not take this forward but i think that this may be an opportunity to look at those posted missing (no known grave) at St Venant as it is possible that they may actually be buried at Calonne Sur la Lys. this would be way outside my experience and ability.so i will have to pass this on if you consider it a possibility.
i believe that the picture is now complete. i think we will find that Farm Boulet is or was near the Canal on the Rue De Mote Baudet.
of course i still may be wrong. we will have to wait and see.


ivor.

[Baconwallah]

Bore da Ivor,

My most recent (and local) source places Ferme Boulet to the west of St Venant, so we now have a choice of three!

No time today, but will be back tonight to see what can be done.

John

[Verrieres]

Hello Again,

Just to point out Tonys uncle was never found,he has no known grave,there is no known record of Pte Corkhill after 27th May 1940. The man buried near the Robecq Road is known as `Soldier Six` he was a wounded British Soldier murdered by an SS man on the 27th May 1940 witnesses included Victor Boulet.There was a single `innconnu`unknown found in a grave in the pasture opposite the Boulet Family home.Remember these are Three seperate incidents /events which if they `could` be linked will give Tony a way forward. Sorry but it really is too early to assume anything yet I`m speaking from past experience.Its looking promising.
Something Tony mentioned about the CWGC regarding the date of Pte Corkhills date of death given as the 29th May 1940 on their register,what this forum will be unaware of is the Germans would not let the body be buried for two days..on the 29th May 1940. Something else I should make this Forum aware of is that there are such things as `Missing Men Files` The DLI missingmen file lists Pte Corkhill as `Dead` not missing not unknown but emphatically as `Dead`.There was no effort made by the British Government to find what happened to Tony which suggests they were already aware,the Red Cross carried out an enquiry but hold no files/results.What the `Missing Men File` does have is a mispelling of Pte Corkhills name to `Corthill` next to his name is the letter `Q` and a file number.This `Q`appears on the document only three times,we do not know for sure what the `Q` stands for but we are aware that any report of war crimes or ill treatment made by repatriated PoWs were entered on a `Q`Form. If this `Q` does indeed stand for this type of form it is either `Lost` or still `classified`.The lack of effort by the Government to find the ultimate fate of Pte Corkhill suggests to me that they were already satisfied that he was `Dead`and aware of exactly how he was killed.Would the Government not tell the families what had really happened? The answer is ,for whatever reasoning,No! They made no attempt to inform the families (speaking again from a DLI angle) of Ptes Barlow and Hayton (6th DLI) murdered by the SS in 1944 nor the families of men killed when a British submarine sank an Italian transport filled with British PoWs.
There was no `War Crimes` investigation into the murder of `Soldier Six` as none of the perpertrators could be traced.I do not know how much you are aware of regarding the `War Crimes` in and around St Venant in 1940 there are believed to have been around `Sixty` British soldiers murdered here there are files on many some named the majority unknown.Forty unknowns I believe in St Venant alone (?) This is why we should proceed with caution.Keep up the good work .

Best Wishes

Jim