War Stories

Battlefield Tours

Finding our Past

This is the story of my quest for family war stories

Bomber Crew Casualties From Venray Cemetery

Introduction In preparation for the Rededication Ceremony at Venray Military Cemetery, I looked at the Canadians buried in the cemetery since all of the service records of the Canadian fallen are readily available on the Library and Archives Canada Website. There was a crew from the Canadian 426 Squadron that I particularly wanted to take a look at. I like looking at Aircrew, the unit diaries list every person on every flight, so it is possible to follow every mission they fl

pd-allen

12 hours ago24 min read

Venray Cemetery Burial Rededication

Introduction On 07 October, I visited the Venray Military Cemetery for the Rededication of 4 Bomber Crew burials. The four had been previously identified as unknowns but had recently been identified through an in-depth investigation by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). The CWGC does not permit exhumation to allow DNA analysis, preferring to preserve the sanctity of the burial. They have very stringent rules to ensure the bodies are properly identified, so the ana

pd-allen

Oct 168 min read

100th Post Retrospective

Introduction Amazingly, this the 100th Blog post I have written and I would like to thank everyone who has come along on my journey and will use this milestone to reflect on the stories. This post highlights some of the family stories and other tour milestones. The map shows many of the post locations, the red markers are family stories and the blue markers are battlefield sites. Click on the interactive map to get an overview of the story and links to any posts you may have

First World War

pd-allen

Aug 2023 min read