Memorial Colmschate

On 8 April 2015, seventy years after the liberation of Colmschate, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the Ichtus church by mayor Heidema of Deventer and Colonel M. Hogan of the Canadian embassy. On the plaque are the names of 46 Canadians who in the period of 5 to 11 April 1945 fell in the area of Colmschate. They were buried at first at a temporary resting place in Oxe, before being transferred in January 1946 to the Holten Canadian War Cemetery (Plot I and II).

The memorial plaque also shows the route that the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division (The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, The Regina Rifle Regiment and The Canadian Scottish Regiment, supported by The Queen's Own Rifles) took under command of Brig. General T.G. Gibson (7th Infantry Brigade) from Oxe via Colmschate towards Schalkhaar.

The 46 Canadians who gave their lives and were temporarily buried at the Oxerhof house were:
Atkinson, Elmer H.
Bell, George R.
Belton, Francis E.
Black, Thomas S.
Boxall, Leslie A.
Burns, William
Chalifaux, Joseph
Cherry, Frank A.
Chisamore, Murray H.R.
Craik, Robert J.
Dobson, Stanley R.
Duffney, Peter
Ell, Canisius J.
Eluke, William
Ewoniuk, George
Hand, Eric D.
Helgeland, Alfred
Hetherington, Clinton R.
Hodkin, Richard H.
Januik, Frank S.
Juntunen, William
Kay, David
Kosowan, James J.G.
Laforte, Philip
MacLean, William A.
Magill, James K.
Marzoff, Philip A.
Mason, Gerald H.
McLachlan, Daniel
Mitchell, Clayton L.
Murray, Alfred A.
Nelson, Jack A.
Ness, Russell M.
O’Connor, Samuel
Rawlings, Victor A.
Reyers, Frank X.
Sim, Roy J.
Smith, Fred I.
Smith, Harry H.
Smith, James G.
Wallace, Fraser F.W.
Wanlin, Alphonse V.
Wilson, George S.
Worden, Edwin O.
York, Mervin H.
Onbekende soldaat (mogelijk: Atkins, E.R)

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Source

• Text: René Aarnink
• Photos: Dick de Bruijne (1, 3, 4, 5), René Aarnink (2)