Month: April 2018

Halifax L9561 Flight Mentioned In ‘The Night Hunter’s Prey’

/ On The War Memorial Trail With Pieter & Daria / 1 Comment

April 26, 2018.  In 2016, a book entitled ‘The Night Hunter’s Prey’, by Iain Gordon was published.  Cover nighthunters preyIt tells the story of two airmen – RAF (Royal Air Force) Rear Gunner Alex OLLAR of Scotland, and Luftwaffe Pilot Helmut LENT of Germany. In July 1942, just as both men reach the apex of their careers, they meet for the first time in the night skies over Hamburg.  Ollar didn’t survive the encounter.  Lent didn’t survive the war either.  He died when the left engine of his plane failed, struck high voltage cables, and crashed on October 5, 1944.  Lent died of his injuries on October 7, 1944.

404px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1987-137-10,_Helmut_Lent

Helmut Lent in 1943. (Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Lent)

This book was interesting because Major Helmut Lent was the commander of 4./NJG 1 squadron, stationed at the airfield in  Leeuwarden. A member of Lent’s squadron, Lt. Leopold FELLERER was responsible for shooting down the Halifax L9561 flight on October 12, 1941 in which Elmer Bagnall MUTTART lost his life.

In a previous blog posting, Sgt John William DUFFIELD, a member of the crew, who had hospitalized following the crash, wrote about Lent in his 1946 letter to Muttart’s father.  (See On the War Memorial Trail ….. At Harlingen General Cemetery)

On page 127 of ‘The Night Hunter’s Prey’, an account of what happened following the fateful crash on October 12, 1941 is recorded: “In the early hours of 13th October, a member of Helmut’s staffel, Leutnant Leopold Fellerer, shot down a Halifax of No. 76 Squadron based at Middleton St. George. The Canadian pilot, Flight Sergeant Elmer Muttart RCAF, was killed in trying to save his crew in a crash landing on the Dutch coast south-west of Leeuwarden, but the other seven members of the crew got out of the crash and were captured.  The rear gunner, Sergeant John Duffield, sustained some injuries and was taken into the sickbay at Leeuwarden,

The rest of the crew were entertained royally for the evening in the Luftwaffe Officer’s Mess at Leeuwarden.  In a letter to his parents, Helmut told of the good evening they had enjoyed and mentioned that some of the English prisoners had made a very good impression.  He added:  ‘It really is a cause for regret that we have to fight against such men.’

The following day he visited Sergeant Duffield in the sickbay and introduced himself, and then visited him until he was transferred some six days later.  Duffield later related how Lent asked him if there was anything he could do for him.  The room was very hot and stuffy as the window had been sealed and Duffield asked if it might be opened for some fresh air.  Lent laughed and told him the medical staff were afraid he might escape.  Nevertheless, he arranged for the window to be opened.”

That was an extraordinary account of the events following the crash in Wons, and we thank Berlin historian Ralf Gräfenstein for bringing it to our attention.  If only we could tell such a complete story for every person listed on the Cenotaph as we have been able to tell for Elmer Muttart over this past year!   If you have photos and stories to share for the names on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion, please email us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or comment on this blog.

Donations are still being collected towards the ‘Muttart Memorial Fund’ for a memorial panel in Wons, The Netherlands.  If you would like to donate, cheques may be written out to TAHS and mailed to Tryon & Area Historical Society (TAHS), PO Box 38, Crapaud PE C0A 1J0.  In the subject line, identify your cheque as being for the “Muttart Memorial Fund”.  A charitable donation receipt will be sent to all donors. 

If you wish to donate and you live in Europe:  Bank transfers may be made to Stichting Missing Airmen Memorial Foundation, Bank Account # (IBAN) NL35ABNA0569579856, and state in the subject line “Attn D.S. Drijver for Halifax L9561”.

 © Daria Valkenburg

 

 

 

Family of Crew Member of WWII Pilot Elmer Muttart’s Final Flight Found

/ On The War Memorial Trail With Pieter & Daria / 1 Comment

April 25, 2018.  The story of WWII pilot Elmer Bagnall MUTTART, from Cape Traverse, is unusual in that information keeps coming in, almost 77 years after his death on October 12, 1941.  Over several blog entries, you’ve learned about the events of the plane crash just past the village of Wons, The Netherlands, and read an account offered by Sgt John William DUFFIELD, who was the gunner on the flight.  We’ve also told you about a visit made to Muttart’s grave in Harlingen by his navigator, Sgt Reg ALEXANDER, and his daughter Pam Alexander.

On October 12, 1941, with his regular navigator Reg Alexander and six other crew members, Muttart began his 21st mission into enemy territory, a bombing raid on Bremen, Germany.  The crew members of Halifax L9561 were:

  • Pilot – F/S Elmer Bagnall MUTTART (age 23)
  • Co-Pilot – P/O Norman Frank TRAYLER (age 21)
  • Flight Engineer – Sgt David COTSELL (age 21)
  • Flight Engineer – Sgt Leslie Albert ROBERTS (age 25) (previously recorded as bomb aimer)
  • Navigator – Sgt Reginald William Purchase ALEXANDER (age 22)
  • Wireless Operator – Sgt William Herbert HUNT (age 22)
  • Gunner – Sgt George Henry PATTERSON (age 28)
  • Gunner – Sgt John William DUFFIELD (age 20)

The plane was shot down and crashed just past the village of Wons, but not before all of the crew members, except for Muttart, had parachuted out.  The crew members, all British, spent the rest of the war in various prisoner of war camps.  The only casualty of that night was Elmer Muttart.

Elmer Bagnall Muttart (2)

Elmer Bagnall Muttart (Photo from Canadian Virtual War Memorial at http://www.veterans.gc.ca)

Over the past year, preparations have been underway for a planned Memorial Panel in Wons to honour the entire crew.  Outreach efforts to locate family members of the crew have met with some success, as the family of Reg Alexander and John William Duffield have been in contact.  Now, most recently, Robert Trayler, who lives in France, has been in contact regarding his father, Pilot Officer Norman Frank TRAYLER, who was the co-pilot on the flight. Trayler had gotten married on September 20, 1941, just a few weeks before the ill-fated flight that would separate him from his bride for the rest of the war.

Trayler wedding photo

Centre couple: Norman Trayler with his wife Daphne Jefferd on their wedding day in Basingstoke, England. (Photo: courtesy Robert Trayer family collection)

After the plane crash in Wons, Trayler spent 4 years at Stalag Luft 3 prisoner of war camp in present day Poland, where he was a member of the prison camp orchestra and was able to write his intermediate accountancy exams, with papers sent over from London.  His son Robert recalled that “Dad was elected barrack room cook and centralized all the Red Cross parcels to make something edible every day.”

After his return to England, Trayler moved to Bognor, where he began an accountancy practice, and took up cricket.  He passed away on June 19, 2009 at the age of 88.  Son Robert explained that “Although I am obviously very proud of what he did during the war, as a family, we always added a dash of humour. As I said at his funeral, he was at least partly responsible for the destruction of three aircraft: A Tiger Moth which couldn’t be persuaded to come out of a spin, a Whitley which while taxiing went up the back of the one in front, chewing off the (happily unoccupied) tail turret, and finally the Halifax.”

Trayler’s obituary noted that his back had been badly injured in a Royal Air Force training accident in a Tiger Moth, and he had taken up cricket to alleviate the pain and keep moving.

We thank Robert Trayler for his recollections about his father, and hope to hear from more family of the crew of the Halifax L9561 flight.

In the next blog entry, we’ll share an excerpt from a 2016 book describing the events of the Halifax L9561 flight.

Photos and stories are still needed for many of the names on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion. You can email us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or comment on this blog.

Donations are still being collected towards the ‘Muttart Memorial Fund’ for a memorial panel in Wons, The Netherlands.  If you would like to donate, cheques may be written out to TAHS and mailed to Tryon & Area Historical Society (TAHS), PO Box 38, Crapaud PE C0A 1J0.  In the subject line, identify your cheque as being for the “Muttart Memorial Fund”.  A charitable donation receipt will be sent to all donors. 

If you wish to donate and you live in Europe:  Bank transfers may be made to Stichting Missing Airmen Memorial Foundation, Bank Account # (IBAN) NL35ABNA0569579856, and state in the subject line “Attn D.S. Drijver for Halifax L9561”.

© Daria Valkenburg

 

 

 

WW1 Soldier Arthur Collett’s Bible

/ On The War Memorial Trail With Pieter & Daria / Leave a comment

April 2, 2018.  On March 25, Pieter was invited to give a presentation about the Cenotaph Research Project at Central Trinity United Church in Breadalbane.  In addition to preparing a slideshow of interesting photos to complement the talk about the research on the soldiers listed on the cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion, we had posters made of the Cenotaph photo and two of the articles published in the County Line Courier.  These posters were put on display, and will be used in future presentations.

Pieter Valkenburg and Mike Smith with Cenotaph poster and Muttart poster

Pieter on the left with County Line Publisher Mike Smith. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

We received a very warm welcome from everyone, and enjoyed the delicious potluck dinner that preceded the talk.  The presentation was well received, with a lively question and answer session after the presentation.  Jack and Arlene Sorensen of the Tryon & Area Historical Society attended, and accepted donations to the “Muttart Memorial Fund”.

Pieter Valkenburg at the podium in Breadalbane

Pieter at the podium at Central Trinity United Church in Breadalbane. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

One of the people who attended the presentation was Joyce Loo of Springfied.  When an article about Arthur Leigh COLLETT ran in the County Line Courier last fall, Joyce contacted us with additional information.   (See the same article published in Summerside Citizen (Sside Citizen Nov 15 2017 p15 Cemetery in a potato field in France) and our earlier blog entry: Grandcourt Road Cemetery in Farmers Fields).

Mrs. Loo, nee Haslam, wrote us that: “I am very interested in your article in the County Line Courier about Arthur Collett. He taught my mother in Springfield School. He boarded with Louis Haslam and family. I now live in that house and found his Greek Bible in the attic. My mother liked him very much as a teacher and she knew he had died in France.”

Until receiving this email, Pieter had not found any information that Arthur Collett had taught on PEI before completing his education at King’s College in Nova Scotia and receiving his Rhodes scholarship to Oxford.  After contacting King’s College, Pieter received a reply and information from the University Librarian, Jennifer Adams.

From the information from March-April 1913 issue of ‘The Record’, a student magazine that later become the yearbook for King’s College, we learned that “…in 1906, on taking a County Scholarship, he entered Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown….. During the years 1906-1908, Mr. Collett was enrolled in H Company of the 82nd Regiment Abegweit Light Infantry….Mr. Collett left Prince of Wales College in 1908, and took up teaching before entering King’s in 1909.”  Mrs. Loo was correct!

In her email, Ms. Adams noted that “In his last year at King’s, Collett was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and was also the Senior Student, equivalent to being head of the student body.”

While at King’s College, Collett had the nickname “Deak” and was briefly on the debating team.

Collett, Arthur Leigh - UKC Debating Team 1912

Arthur Collett on bottom far right in this 1912 photo of King’s College Debating Team. (Photo credit: courtesy of King’s College collection)

Joyce Loo brought the bible she had mentioned in her email, and we were able to see that it was a Greek-Latin bible, most likely part of the literary studies that Collett was enrolled in while at Oxford.  His graduation write-up at King’s College, in “The Record, Encaenia” for 1913 noted that “Throughout his College course, “Deak” has displayed a decided thirst for English, being both a prolific contributor to Haliburton Society and a valued member of the RECORD staff….”

Pieter Valkenburg with Judy and Joyce Loo with Colletts bible

Joyce Loo (centre) with daughter Judy Loo on left and Pieter Valkenburg on right and Collett’s bible. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Spine of Colletts bible

Spine of Collett’s bible. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

How wonderful it was to meet Joyce Loo and have this opportunity to learn more about WW1 soldier Arthur Leigh Collett!  As we learn more about the soldiers on the Cenotaph from families, books, and letters, we can keep adding to their stories.  This was but one example!  Our heartfelt thanks to Jennifer Adams of University of King’s College for providing the additional information on Arthur Leigh Collett’s life as a student.

All too soon, the first presentation about the Cenotaph Research Project was over, and Pieter was thanked by the event organizer, Evelyn Stewart.

Pieter Valkenburg with Evelyn Stewart after the presentation in Breadalbane

Pieter with Evelyn Stewart of the Cavendish-Breadalbane Fellowship Group. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

If you have a photo, or information, of Collett’s time at Prince of Wales College, his involvement in H Company of the 82nd Regiment Abegweit Light Infantry, or his brief teaching career, please let us know. Photos are still needed for many of the names on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion, so please dig out those old albums and take a look.   Please share your photos, comments, or stories by emailing us at dariadv@yahoo.ca or by commenting on this blog.

Would you like to have Pieter speak about the Cenotaph Research Project at an upcoming event? If you are interested, email at dariadv@yahoo.ca.

Donations are still being collected towards the ‘Muttart Memorial Fund’ for a memorial panel in Wons, The Netherlands.  If you would like to donate, cheques may be written out to TAHS and mailed to Tryon & Area Historical Society (TAHS), PO Box 38, Crapaud PE C0A 1J0.  In the subject line, identify your cheque as being for the “Muttart Memorial Fund”.  A charitable donation receipt will be sent to all donors. 

If you wish to donate and you live in Europe:  Bank transfers may be made to Stichting Missing Airmen Memorial Foundation, Bank Account # (IBAN) NL35ABNA0569579856, and state in the subject line “Attn D.S. Drijver for Halifax L9561”.

 © Daria Valkenburg