Holten Canadian War Cemetery

Historical Information (Source: CWGC)

The Netherlands fell to the Germans in May 1940 and was not re-entered by Allied forces until September 1944. The great majority of those buried in Holten Canadian War Cemetery died during the last stages of the war in Holland, during the advance of the Canadian 2nd Corps into northern Germany, and across the Ems in April and the first days of May 1945. After the end of hostilities their remains were brought together into this cemetery.

Holten Canadian War Cemetery contains 1,393 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.

 

Served with

  • Australian (2)
  • Belgian (1)
  • Canadian (1.347)
  • United Kingdom (32)

Served in

  • Air Force (12)
  • Army (1.398)
  • Navy (2)
Holten Canadian War Cemetery
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Private Joseph William BRYDON - Service Number: NX/3879

A.I.F. 2/1 Bn. Australian Infantry

Died 02 May 1945 Age 36

Australian

Son of William and Johanna Catherine Brydon, of Bondi North, New South Wales, Australia.

Inscription: HE GAVE HIS LIFE THAT WE MIGHT ENJOY PEACE

 

NAA Item Number 4833839 Brydon
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Outdoor portrait of NX3879 Private (Pte) Joseph William (Joe) Brydon, 2/1 Battalion.

annotated on reverse: "To Kath, With best love and wishes - Your loving brother Joe Brydon.".

Pte Brydon was a prisoner of war and died of illness in Germany on 2 May 1945.

 


Hampden I AT119 – 455 Sqdn – 21 Jan 1942

Took off 1719 21 Jan 1942 from Swinderby. Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed near Emden, Germany, 22 January 1942.

Crew

Sergeant Samuel WILLIAMS (1381723) Wireless Operator RAF

Sergeant Ian Macpherson INCE (400028) RAAF

Sergeant George Edmondson WILKINSON (1375311) RAF

Prisoners of War for Hampden I AT119

Sergeant Francis Gerard POULTON (404261)  Stalag 383 Hohen Fels

 

Sergeant Ian MacPherson INCE - 400028

Royal Australian Air Force

Died 21 January 1942 Age 23 - Australian

Son of David Daniel and Ada Maria Ince, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Inscription: AN EXAMPLE OF A NOBLE COURAGE AND A MEMORIAL OF VIRTUE

 

NAA Item Number 5534293 Ince
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Informal portrait of three airmen standing in front of an aircraft during training in Australia.

Left to right: 400028 Leading Aircraftman (LAC) Ian MacPherson Ince, lost on operations over Holland on 21 January 1942;

290745 Pilot Officer (PO) Francis Norman (Frank) Meyer, later executed by the Japanese on 6-8 February 1942 following the invasion of Ambon; and LAC Aldridge.


Manchester I L7381 – 207 Sqdn – 13 August 1941

Took off from Waddington. Shot down by a Do215 night-fighter and crashed at Lange Dijk near Kolham, Holland.

Crew

Flying Officer William Michael Ronald SMITH (41216) Pilot RAF

Sergeant James ALLEN (974030) Wireless Operator  RAF

Pilot Officer Edward Arthur REEMAN (44176) Observer RAF

Flight Sergeant Arthur HALFPENNY (549626) Wireless Operator RAF

Flight Sergeant Anthony Robert COTTERELL (741754) Pilot RAF

Sergeant Albert Edward COAKES (629430) Air Gunner RAF


Typhoon Ib RB435

Flight Lieutenant

WILLIAM GEORGE DAVIS - J/29881

439 Sqdn. Royal Canadian Air Force

Died 30 March 1945 Age 21

Spitfire LF.XVI TB327

Flying Officer

TREVOR PERCIVAL DOLLERY - J/43049

416 Sqdn. Royal Canadian Air Force

Died 12 April 1945 Age 22

Leading Aircraftman

ELBERT MERVIN HAMMILL R/212898   

Royal Canadian Air Force

Died 08 January 1946 of diptheria at No. 16 Canadian General Hospital, Oldenburg.


SOLDAT PAUL RUSCART - 5828

1st Belg. Para. Sqdn. Belgian Army

Died 04 May 1945

attd. 5th Special Air Service Regiment, A.A.C.


CRAFTSMAN EDWARD JOHN BREWSTER - C/38549

Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

9 Inf. Bde. Workshop

Died 15 April 1946 Age 20

Canadian

 

Son of John Edward and Beatrice Brewster, of Lakeview, Peel Co., Ontario;

husband of Pte. Winifred Lilian Brewster, C.W.A.C. (killed in Holland, 15th April, 1946)

Inscription: AFTER THE NIGHT COMES THE DAWN

PRIVATE WINIFRED LILIAN BREWSTER - W/15189

Canadian Women's Army Corps

Died 15 April 1946 Age 20

Canadian

 

Daughter of Harcourt James William and Lillian Wright, of Lower Edmonton, Middlesex, England;

wife of Craftsman Edward John Brewster, R.C.E.M.E. (killed in Holland, 15th April, 1946.)

Inscription: "SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS"

The Brewster couple buried at the Canadian cemetery in Holten

Winifred and Edward met each other in the spring of 1943. Edward was part of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, Winifred joined the Canadian Women's Corps in November 1943.  Just before the end of the war in April 1945, Edward was transferred to the European mainland with his unit. There he provided supporting activities in the Netherlands and later in Northern Germany.  Edward John Brewster and Winifred Lilian Wright were married on 26 January 1946 in Edmonton, Middlesex in England.

 

On April 15, 1946, Edward had to carry out an assignment. He was given permission to take Winifred with him. On the way back, on the evening of the 15th April 1946 things went wrong. Part of the road between Hamburg and Bremen was used as a warehouse for military vehicles. The jeep in which Edward and Winifred sat collided head-on at the front of a number of DUKW amphibious vehicles that were partly on the roadway.  Help came too late, when they arrived with the ambulance in the military hospital in Hamburg, they had already died. 

 

Barely three months after their marriage, Winifred and Edward were buried on 16 April 1946, one day after their death, at the Canadian Cemetery in Holten in plot 10, row H, graves 7 and 8.



MC – MM – DSO – DFC - DCM