Commonwealth War Cemetery Mook

Mook was captured by the US airborne troops on September 17, 1944. A few days later it was occupied by the XXX Corps of the British Second Army.

Casualties from the fights in September and the advance into Germany in February are buried here. Of the 322 burials - Navy 3, Army 304, Airforce 15, 279 are British, 10 are Canadian, 3 are Australian, 1 is from New-Zealand and 11 Polish soldiers.

Two Spitfire pilots
On September 25 the Canadian No. flew. 441 Squadron three sorties above the Venlo / Nijmegen area. Some pilots took off three times that day. Flight Lieutenant Bernard Boe had flown that morning at 10:45 am and took off again at 2:35 pm, along with nine other pilots of his squadron, including Flight Sergeant Osman McMillan. Both pilots would not return.

Twenty Messerschmitt Bf 109s were en route that evening to the bridge of Nijmegen for an attack. They were intercepted by the McMillan and Boe patrol. The Messerschmitts were supported by at least ten Focke-Wulf Fw 190s. As a result, the attack on the bridge was halted and an aerial battle ensued. The squadron claimed one or two destroyed Messerschmitt and five damaged. At least ten Messerschmitts were lost that day, including five from the Jagdgeschwader 77 in the Nijmegen area.

The squadron lost the two Spitfires that day. McMillan landed at the Schoolstraat / Groesbeekseweg intersection in Malden and Boe at the Beekseweg in Babberich. Another Spitfire was damaged and had to land its plane at the airport of Eindhoven.

Both McMillan and Boe are buried in the cemetery in Mook and in grave II respectively. A. 6. and grave III. C. 10.

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Source

• Text: Jeroen Koppes
• Photos: Arjan Vrieze (1, 3), Jeroen Koppes (2), Peter Schipper (4), George van Kruining (5)
• AIR 27/1881/11 441 RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) Summary of Events.
• AIR 27/1881/12 441 RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) Records of Events.
• Verliesregister SGLO.
• Osman McMillan, CWGC.org
• Bernard Boe, CWGC.org.
• MARGRY, K., Operation Market-Garden, 2002.

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