Gloucestershire World War Two army hero given poignant funeral
TWO British WW2 army heroes are being given poignant funerals at Arnhem today - 80 years after they were killed. Their remains were recently found and they were identified through DNA.
Both men were killed during Operation Market Garden in Holland in September 1944. Private Henry Moon will be laid to rest this morning at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Arnhem Oosterbeek.
He was with the 7th Battalion The Green Howards (The Yorkshire Regiment). This afternoon Lieutenant Dermod Anderson will be buried nearby His great nephew, who is currently serving in the British army, will be attending. Lt Anderson served with the Glider Pilot Regiment Army Air Corps.
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A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The services will include readings by British Army padres from the Roval Yorkshire Regiment and the Army Air Corps - the modern day equivalent units of the men being buried - and relatives of the deceased, military rifle salutes and wreath laying. Their coffins will be dressed in Union flags and carried by military bearer parties.”
Moon, from Speeton, North Yorkshire was 22 when he died. Before the war he was an apprentice joiner. His remains were found during the widening of a motorway. He was identified through the DNA of his cousin David.
Anderson, 36, worked as an assistant to renowned architect Sir Edward Lutyens before being commissioned into the Gloucester regiment but he had always wanted to be a pilot. He successfully landed his glider near Arnhem but was later killed by a German mortar bomb while in a trench.
His remains were found in a field survey of a local churchyard. He was identified through the DNA of his second cousin Julian.
As part of the special commemorations the CWGC is organising a torch event across the region this week. The 200 mile ‘Path to Freedom’ is an initiative which marks the liberation of the Netherlands and Western Europe 80 years after Operation Market Garden - one of the most infamous battles of WW2 where nearly 2,000 Allied soldiers lost their lives.
Director General Claire Horton said: “The Torch of Commemoration has proved to be a hugely successful way to educate younger people about what the Allies went through during their ordeal, and to ensure their legacy will never be forgotten.
“The CWGC’s Arnhem Oosterbeek Cemetery has been a focal point of commemoration for the Battle of Arnhem since the end of the Second World War, with the sacrifice of over 1,500 wounded and killed soldiers at the heart of our mission to protect their legacy and educate future generations.”
**Among those also remembered this week is Frank Bolton who was killed in action on 26th September 1944.
After being hit by friendly fire Frank managed to steer his aircraft away from crashing into the town of Gennep thereby saving many lives. For many years Frank’s family believed that parachute failure led to his death.
But years later they discovered that eyewitnesses told of Frank climbing onto the wing and throwing his parachute as high as possible to attempt a successful bailout. Sadly, he was now too low for his parachute to safely deploy, and he fell to earth, his burning aircraft crashing into the River Meuss.