A life’s ambition realized! Daria in the driver’s seat of a jeep! Spoiler alert – our battlefield tour was in an SUV, not the jeep! (Photo credit: Joël Stoppels)
October 1, 2025. Pieter has been involved in finding photos of Canadians who are buried in all three Canadian War Cemeteries in The Netherlands since 2014, with stories of many soldiers told on this blog.
While in Europe on our 2025 European War Memorial Tour this spring, for the 80th Anniversary of Liberation Commemoration events, he not only placed flags at the graves of 383 soldiers in 14 cemeteries, but we wanted to tour some of the battlefields in order to have a better appreciation of what soldiers faced.
Battlefields Tours guide Joël Stoppels, of Groningen, The Netherlands, offered to spend a day showing us locations where the various battles that comprised the Battle of the Delfzijl Pocket took place. The term ‘Delfzijl Pocket’ refers “….to the entire area around Delfzijl that was held by German forces and cleared by the Canadians in late April and early May 1945…”Joël explained.
Over the years, we’ve featured stories of many soldiers who lost their lives in the last weeks of the North-West Europe campaign during WWII, and we eagerly anticipated learning more. (See https://www.canadiansoldiers.com/history/battlehonours/northwesteurope/delfzijlpocket.htm)
Map showing the locations during the Battle of the Delfzijl Pocket. (Map source: http://www.canadiansoldiers.com)
…. 19 Canadians lost their lives on a field just outside Wagenborgen…
Our day touring battlefields began very early, with a two hour drive from our cottage near Holten to Groningen, where we’d arranged to meet Joël.
Our first stop on the battlefield tour was at a field outside Wagenborgen, where 19 Canadians lost their lives during the Battle for Wagenborgen. This was the preliminary battle before the Battle of the Delfzijl Pocket. (See https://www.canadiansoldiers.com/history/battlehonours/northwesteurope/wagenborgen.htm)
Joël Stoppels and Pieter stand across the road from the field outside Wagenborgen. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
Joël began by saying that “….‘D’ Company of the Canadian Scottish Regiment, under the command of Major Anthony Compton-Lundie, were ordered by Battalion Command based in Groningen to undergo a dangerous mission across open fields with no rises or trees for cover…..”
Patrols from the 7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment had determined that Wagenborgen, a short distance from the centre of the battalion’s line, was held by an unknown number of Germans.
‘D’ Company received orders to take the village of Wagenborgen in a one-company attack in the early hours of April 21, 1945. “….Compton-Lundie was based at the Schmidt farm at the end of the field. When the phone rang with orders to attack, he protested. ‘Are you crazy?’ he said. Orders were orders, however, and Compton-Lundie was not one to disobey…”
The attack began on April 21, 1945. By the time it was over, Anthony COMPTON-LUNDIE was dead, as was his lieutenant, Dennis George HUSCROFT, and 17 more men.
…. How did the battle go so badly for the Canadian Scottish?…
How did it go so wrong? “... A Polish division had been in the area before the Canadian Scottish arrived and told Compton-Lundie that they believed only 100 Germans remained. This was faulty intelligence as there were over 1500 Germans, just waiting to pick off soldiers in the open field of very flat land….” Joël reflected that “…perhaps if Battalion Command had listened to Compton-Lundie, who had a view of the landscape, that there would have been fewer casualties….”
Field outside Wagenborgen where 19 men lost their lives. Yellow arrow indicates Schmidt Farm, where Major Compton-Lundie of the Canadian Scottish Regiment had been based. At the far right is a monument commemorating those who died. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
…. A monument by the field honours the 19 men who died…
Monument by the open field where 19 men lost their lives on April 19, 1945. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
A small monument sits beside the open field where 19 men fought and lost their lives. A translation of the Dutch text reads as follows: Stand still for a moment at the maple leaf. On April 21, 1945, 19 Canadian men died for our freedom here at ‘Stolderij’. Stolderij refers to the hamlet where the open field is located.
The men were temporarily buried in Siddeburen before being reburied in 1946 in the Canadian War Cemetery in Holten, The Netherlands.
…. Banners were placed in Wagenborgen to commemorate fallen soldiers…
Once we finished taking photos of the field where so many men lost their lives, we drove into the town of Wagenborgen itself, where banners of the deceased soldiers had been placed, as close as possible to the location where they fell.
Two soldiers from the Canadian Scottish Regiment who had fought in Wagenborgen have had their stories previously told on this blog. One survived the battle, but one died, and we looked for his banner.
Banner for Theodor ‘Ted’ Henschel in Wagenborgen. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
- Theodor ‘Ted’ HENSCHEL, who was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but lived in Trail, British Columbia, was serving with the Canadian Scottish Regiment when he was killed in action during the Battle for Wagenborgen in The Netherlands on April 22, 1945, aged 28. You can read his story at https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/2023/08/14/on-the-war-memorial-trail-the-wwii-soldier-from-trail-who-played-the-cornet/
- Stanley Owen JONES, from Massett, British Columbia, was wounded during the Battle for Wagenborgen but didn’t die in the battle. While still serving with the Canadian Scottish Regiment, he drowned in Germany on September 8, 1945, aged 20, when the carrier he was in overturned in a ditch. You can read his story at https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/2022/09/05/on-the-war-memorial-trail-remembering-wwii-soldier-stanley-owen-jones/
Joël by the banner for Anthony Compton-Lundie, who was from Oakbank, Manitoba. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
After being told about the impossible situation that Major Anthony Compton-Lundie faced, we wanted to see his banner, and took a photo of Joël beside it.
…. Canadian soldiers who lost their lives during the Battle for Wagenborgen…
Joël and Pieter at the War Memorial in Wagenborgen. ‘Wij gedenken’ translates to ‘We commemorate’. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)
The War Memorial in Wagenborgen commemorates the residents of Wagenborgen who died in WWII, and 27 fallen Canadian soldiers – 23 of them from the Canadian Scottish Regiment, 1 from the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, and 3 from the Royal Canadian Artillery.
From the Canadian Scottish Regiment:
- Pte Albert George BOUMA, aged 21, died April 23, 1945
- Pte John BRANSCOMB, aged 32, died April 23, 1945
- Pte Robert Stewart BULLOCK, aged 39, died April 23, 1945
- Pte Leslie Keith BUTTERICK, aged 19, died April 21, 1945
- L/Cpl Carmen Christie CAPONERO, aged 30, died April 21, 1945
- Sgt Allen CLEMENTS, aged 32, died April 21, 1945
- Major Anthony COMPTON-LUNDIE, aged 30, died April 21, 1945
- Pte Louis Silverius DAUTREMONT, aged 25, died April 21, 1945
- Pte Edwin Levi EMERY, aged 22, died April 21, 1945
- Pte Peter HARASYMCHUK, aged 24, died April 23, 1945
- Pte Theodor ‘Ted’ HENSCHEL, aged 28, died April 223, 1945
- Pte John Charles HUGHES, aged 28, died April 23, 1945
- Lt Denis George HUSCROFT, aged 24, died April 21, 1945
- L/Cpl John Albert MASLIN, aged 24, died April 21, 1945
- Pte John Raymond PATRICK, aged 29, died April 21, 1945
- Pte James Robert POWER, aged 21, died April 21, 1945
- Pte Robert John Wilson REID, aged 38, died April 21, 1945
- Pte Henry Oscar RENNER, aged 24, died April 21, 1945
- Martin George VAN SANDVOORD, aged 28, died April 22, 1945
- Pte Emile Joseph SOENS, aged 24, April 21, 1945
- Pte John William WILSON, aged 37, died April 23, 1945
- Pte Fred WIRTH, aged 38 , died April 23, 1945
- A/Cpl Gordon Scarth WOOD, aged 21, died April 21, 1945
From the Royal Winnipeg Rifles:
- Rifleman Theodore OLENICK, aged 19, died April 21, 1945
From the Royal Canadian Artillery:
- Captain Donald George INNES, aged 23, died April 21, 1945
- Gunner Joseph Paul MOULINS, aged 23, died April 21, 1945
- Gunner Arthur John MUELLER, aged 20, died April 21, 1945
From Wagenborgen, we continued our tour, with our next stop in Appingedam, coming up in Battlefields Tour With Joël Stoppels Part 2: The Battle of the Delfzijl Pocket Began In Appingedam.
Thank you to Joël Stoppels, guide and founder of Battlefield Tours, for a wonderful and informative tour. (See www.battlefieldtours.nu) If you have a story or photo to share, please contact Pieter at memorialtrail@gmail.com or comment on the blog.
© Daria Valkenburg
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On The War Memorial Trail Research Project........ with Pieter and Daria Valkenburg 