Gnr. DONALD MCDONALD & L/Bdr. ALF HERBERT JOSEPHSON - 13 Field, RCA

Discussions related to researching soldiers of the second world war.
Post Reply
GDOsborne
Assistant
Assistant
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:02 pm
Commendations: 2

Gnr. DONALD MCDONALD & L/Bdr. ALF HERBERT JOSEPHSON - 13 Field, RCA

Post by GDOsborne » Mon Sep 17, 2018 4:36 pm

Hi All,

Seeking your help on locating information regarding the following soldiers KIA during WWII. I originally posted some materials on my website: https://www.uncoveringvalour.com/blog/

This is what I have been able to locate so far:

M/59315: Gunner DONALD MCDONALD (Age 21 —- HOLTEN CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY —- XII. G. 8.) M/3411 : Lance Bombardier ALF HERBERT JOSEPHSON (Age 34 —- HOLTEN CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY —- XII. G. 9. ) On April 23, 1945 an explosion at the 13th Field Observation Post (OP) near Weener (“Nikkie Shans”) killed several Canadian soldiers. This aligns with a family story that had been told by my grandfather Major EA Olmsted (later promoted to Lt. Col.) where he suggested “[We were in a] forest in NW Europe, when a German artillery shell landed directly on the jeep I was in. We were receiving documents from a motorcycle courier at the time. I was thrown from the vehicle and unhurt, though several people were killed.“

I am interested in learning more about the men who were killed, visiting their graves (I'm going to Holland this week) and hopefully locating family members to share their relatives’ respective stories.

The 13th Field Regimental History describes this event in the following way: “The North Shores moved forward first, then the Chauds and Queens Own went through advancing up parallel roads. Just as the attack of the Chauds had started a concentration of heavy enemy shells landed near Major Olmsted and his crew. Two of the party L/Bdr JOSEPHSON and Gnr MACDONALD were killed and the others (Gnr Knight, W. E and Gnr Jeffries) knocked down by the blast but unhurt. The vehicle was badly damaged and communications disrupted for some time.”

The 13th Field Regimental war diary describes the event here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... +Diary.jpg

Look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Post Reply