Commonwealth War Graves General Cemetery Varsseveld

Varsseveld General Cemetery contains 12 Commonwealth graves from the Second World War.

Vickers Wellington MkX HF-542
On June 12, 1943, the Vickers Wellington MkX HF-542 was shot down by Manfred Meurer's night fighter above Westendorp. The Vickers Wellington landed on the Tandem estate and the five crew members were killed.

Pilot Ralph Perry Davies, Navigator Duncan Eric Cambell, Bomb Aimer Rudolph Zeidel, Tail Gunner Albert James Maclachlan and the Radioman, Louis Philippe Roma Taillefer.

The bodies of Rudolph Zeidel and Louis Philippe Roma Taillefer have never been found. The
the other three crew members are buried at Commonwealth War Graves General Cemetery Varsseveld.

Lancaster I ME 840
In the night of 16-17 June 1944, 321 bombers took off from various airfields in England for an attack on the synthetic petrol plants of Fischer-Tropical fuels at Sterkrade, near Oberhausen in the Ruhr area of Germany. At 23.05 hours 19 bombers took off from the 550th Squadron RAF airfield Killingholme, including the Lancaster of squadron leader G.S. Smith and his crew. The attack force consisted of 162 Halifaxes, 147 Lancasters, and 12 Mosquitos. In retrospect, the attack proved unsuccessful. Only a few bombs exploded near the factory. Of the entire group of aircraft, no fewer than 31 were disabled and destroyed by the fighters of the Luftwaffe, including the Lancaster ME 840, which crashed in Heelweg. Only one crew member escaped death from a parachute jump in the dark, and immediate steps were taken to abandon the aircraft. Flying Officer Leslie Pulfrey and Flight Engineer Roy Kay managed to jump. The stricken aircraft lost the tailpiece and part of the wing above Aalten and Barlo and then crashed into the meadow, just behind the Oude Lieftink farm of the widow Heusinkveld on the Heelweg in the municipality of Wisch. One of the motorcycles that had fallen off bore into the ground on Entinkweg, while the tailpiece ended up at the Nieuwe Venneschuur farm of the Hoftijzer family. Roy Kay came, miraculously, with his parachute, unscathed, close to the site of the crash. The Lancaster had been downed by Oberleutnant Josef Nabrich with his Heinkel He 219. It was his sixteenth victory. On November 27, 1944, Josef Nabrich was killed when his car was attacked by English fighter-bombers.

The Lancaster I ME 840 crew included Captain / Pilot Gavin Strang Smith, Navigator John Joseph Berg, Radio Operator Ralph Townsend, Tail Gunner James Heath, Upper Deck Gunner St. John Tizard, Bombardier Leslie Pulfrey, Flight Engineer Roy Kay.

The bomb aimer Leslie Pulfrey, who could have left the plane just before the crash, was found dead in a meadow by farmer Johan van Eerden in the early morning hours. He decided to inform the owner of the pasture, Gerrit Hendrik van Eerden. At the kite, the parachute was found to be torn and Leslie's head was entangled in the cords of his parachute. Roy Kay, flight engineer, was the sole survivor of the crash. He was slightly injured and headed south. A farmer he approached put him in touch with the resistance. Jo Wikkerink took him late one evening via narrow paths to a place near the Ringweg, where he was received by her father, H.J. Wikkerink, also known as "Uncle Jan" and her later brother-in-law Geert Lammers. He was taken further by the resistance and stayed for another 40 days in The Hague with the Wissink family. Then he went to Limburg, which had already been liberated. He eventually succeeded in returning to England - already in September 1944 - with the help of resistance fighters.

Sinderen and Westendorp, March 31, 1945
Corperal Walter Edward Henry Sellick and Private Sydney Peter Cooper were killed (Killed in action, KIA) at the Olde Rexwinkel farm in Sinderen.
Arthur George Sibley of the 12th (2nd Battalion. The Queen's Westminsters) Battalion. King's Royal Rifle Corps was killed on March 31, 1945 on Doetinchemseweg near the farm of the Reimes family in Westendorp. He was buried in a field grave in the meadow along the Doetinchemseweg.
On June 12, 1945, Corperal W. E. Henry. Sellick and Private Sydney Peter Cooper and Arthur George Sibley are reburied at the Commonwealth War Graves General Cemetery Varsseveld.