The Scottish War Graves Project

John Burnett · Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 306 Location: Fife

Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY
Country: United Kingdom
Locality: Leuchars Cemetery, Guardbridge To St Michaels, St Andrews,KY16 0HF
Historical Information: The cemetery contains two groups of war graves. One, the smaller, is near the cemetery entrance, and the main group is in the south-eastern part of the burial ground. In addition to the graves in these groups there are a few war graves in other parts of the cemetery. A Cross of Sacrifice stands in the main service plot. There are now a small number of 1914-1918 and nearly 60, 1939-1945 War casualties commemorated in this site.
No. of Identified Casualties: 78

John Burnett · Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 306 Location: Fife

Thanks to Mrs Aase Goldsmith for photo.

Name: GREENBERG, ALBERT AARON
Initials: A A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Pilot Officer (Pilot)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force
Unit Text: 224 Sqdn.
Date of Death: 14/03/1940
Service No: 41919
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. S. Grave 11 S.
Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY

John Burnett · Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 306 Location: Fife

Thanks to Mrs Aase Goldsmith for photo.

**Mod Edit Adam**

Note the different shaped headstone for a post-war death.

The Armed Forces Memorial online Roll of Honour gives Chief Technician Wilson's Cemetery as Lincoln.

WILSON, Hugh Borland
Rank: Chief Technician
Service: Royal Air Force
Service Number: N2455887
Station: RAF Leuchars
Place of Birth/Home Town: Aberdeen
Date of Birth: 15 August 1931
Age: 42
Date of Deat: 22 May 1974
Cemetery Name: City of Lincoln Crematorium
Grave : Comp L; Lair 30 (M)
Included on Armed Forces Memorial: No
Included on Roll of Honour: Yes[/b]

John Burnett · Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 306 Location: Fife

Thanks to Mrs Aase Goldsmith for photo.

Name: WILLIAMS, JAMES HENRY
Initials: J H
Nationality: Australian
Rank: Flight Sergeant
Regiment/Service: Royal Australian Air Force
Age: 24
Date of Death: 14/09/1944
Service No: 421459
Additional information: Son of Edward Norman and Catherine Helen Williams, of Brobenah, New South Wales, Australia.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. P. Grave 33 M.
Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY

John Burnett · Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 306 Location: Fife

Thanks to Mrs Aase Goldsmith for the photo.

Name: FORBES, GEORGE JOHN
Initials: G J
Nationality: New Zealand
Rank: Warrant Officer (W. Op./Air Gnr.)
Regiment/Service: Royal New Zealand Air Force
Unit Text: 206 (R.A.F.) Sqdn
Age: 30
Date of Death: 14/09/1944
Service No: 414871
Additional information: Son of Alexander Forbes, and of Elizabeth Herries Forbes (nee McKenzie), of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. P. Grave 33 E.
Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY

John Burnett · Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 306 Location: Fife

Thanks to Mrs Aase Goldsmith for the photo.

**Mod Edit Adam**

Note the different shaped headstone for a post-war death.

From Armed Forces Memorial database

FRACZEK, WACLAW
Rank: Pilot I
Service: Royal Air Force
Service Number: 792124
Station: RAF Leuchars
Place of Birth/Home Town: LELOWICE, MIECHOW, POLAND
Date of Birth: 02 January 1920
Age: 29
Date of Death: 01 July 1949
Cemetery Name: LEUCHARS CEMETERY
Cemetery Address: LEUCHARS, FIFE
Grave: Q; 32 EAST
Included on Armed Forces Memorial: Yes
Included on Roll of Honour: Yes

John Burnett · Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 306 Location: Fife

Thanks to Mrs Aase Goldsmith for the photo.

**Mod Edit Adam**

Koninkrijk Der Nederlanden

A.M. Ten Herkel
Res. Sergt
Leerl. VL
GED K.M

21-11-1918
10-8-1941

From this website

http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/airfields/leuchars.html

he was...

Pilot Under Training Anton Marie Ten Herkel dutch 320 C Sqd

Looking that name up on the internet gives this BBC webpage

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7542852.stm

Memorial honour for Dutch airmen

Two Dutch pilots who died when their bomber crashed in Fife during World War II have been honoured at a ceremony.

Anton Marie ten Herkel and Willem Hijkoop were killed instantly when their Lockheed Hudson went down in the grounds of Gilmerton House in 1941.

John Purvis MEP, whose family own the house, was three-years-old and playing nearby at the time of the crash. He teamed up with neighbour Gordon Ball to trace the airmen's families and to organise the memorial.

Mr Ball, chairman of Cameron Community Council, discovered Mr Hijkoop, 30, had been a policeman who had fled the Netherlands to come to the UK.

Mr ten Herkel, 22, had been a pharmacist assistant. The pair joined the Dutch 320 Squadron, based at RAF Leuchars.

Mr Ball is not sure why they crashed that day, but he suspects there may have been a problem with the aircraft. He added: "It has taken me nearly a year and half to get the information together and also to find the families of these two men."

The dead airmen are buried in the graveyard at Leuchars.

Mr Purvis said he remembered hearing the crash and running home to find the plane in flames. He said: "My brother was almost on the site of the crash and had to run away with his cousin. My mother came rushing out of the house and broke her shoes.

"For years afterwards I wondered who the two young men were, who had been killed in this crash."

Mr Purvis said it was important for people to remember the sacrifice the men made. "This was 1941 when we were right at the bottom of the war and having great problems and they came to save us. They came from their home country not just to get liberty for their own country but to fight for us at the worst possible time."

The service at Gilmerton House, near St Andrews, was led by Rev Alan McDonald and saw a commemorative plaque being placed. It was attended by Mr Hijkoop's niece, Marja van den Boogaard-Hijkoop.

She said that when her uncle first left the Netherlands her family did not know what had happened to him for about a year. She said: "For me today is a bit emotional. I never knew him, he died before I was born. It's a pity I can't share this with my father, he was very proud of his brother."

See War Memorial website
http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/warmemscot-ftopic3616.html

DelBoy · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 1188 Location: Arbroath

Name: ALLAN, HUGH BERNARD
Initials: H B
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Pilot Officer (Nav.)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force
Unit Text: 233 Sqdn.
Age: 28
Date of Death: 04/12/1940
Service No: 42782
Additional information: Son of Charles William and Mabel Allan, of Burwash, Sussex.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. E. Grave 33 W.
Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY

DelBoy · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 1188 Location: Arbroath

Name: BAKER, ANCIL CHALMER
Initials: A C
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Sergeant (Pilot)
Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force
Age: 25
Date of Death: 26/06/1942
Service No: R/98357
Additional information: Son of Noah Baker, and of Orma Baker, of Lancing, Michigan, U.S.A.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. I. Grave 33 W.
Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY

DelBoy · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 1188 Location: Arbroath

Name: BARKER, RICHARD ATKINSON
Initials: R A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Pilot Officer (Pilot)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force
Unit Text: 224 Sqdn.
Age: 24
Date of Death: 04/10/1939
Service No: 40199
Additional information: Son of Thomas George and Eva Eleanor Barker, of Ipswich, Suffolk.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. S. Grave 13 N.
Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY

DelBoy · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 1188 Location: Arbroath

Name: BATES, CYRIL ARTHUR
Initials: C A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Aircraftman 1st Class (W. Op.)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force
Unit Text: 224 Sqdn.
Date of Death: 04/10/1939
Service No: 511737
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. S. Grave 13 S.
Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY

DelBoy · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 1188 Location: Arbroath

Name: BAYARD, JOHN WILLIAM
Initials: J W
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Flying Officer (Pilot)
Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force
Unit Text: 206 (R.A.F.) Sqdn
Age: 24
Date of Death: 14/09/1944
Service No: J/24999
Additional information: Son of Thomas Allen Bayard and Mary Martha Bayard, of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. P. Grave 33 W.
Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY

DelBoy · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 1188 Location: Arbroath

Name: BENTON, JOHN HUDSON
Initials: J H
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Flying Officer (Nav.)
Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force
Unit Text: 540 (R.A.F.) Sqdn
Age: 29
Date of Death: 11/07/1943
Service No: J/9761
Additional information: Son of Frank and Frances L. Benton, of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. B.A.Sc. Forestry Engineering (University of British Columbia).
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. M. Grave 33 M.
Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY

DelBoy · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 1188 Location: Arbroath

Name: BIRRELL
Initials: W R
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regiment)
Unit Text: 4th Bn.
Date of Death: 02/10/1916
Service No: 405529
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: A. 135.
Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY

DelBoy · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 1188 Location: Arbroath

Name: BLYTH, JOHN
Initials: J
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Highland Light Infantry
Unit Text: 18th Bn.
Secondary Regiment: Labour Corps
Secondary Unit Text: transf. to (535872) 515th Agricultural Coy.
Date of Death: 22/11/1918
Service No: 33331
Additional information: Son of Mrs. M. Blyth, of Causeway, Kennoway, Fife.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: G. 24M.
Cemetery: LEUCHARS CEMETERY

image to follow