13th Field, RCA - Locations of Interest in Holland and Germany

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GDOsborne
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13th Field, RCA - Locations of Interest in Holland and Germany

Post by GDOsborne » Mon Sep 17, 2018 5:10 pm

Hi Al!

I am visiting Holland/Germany this week and am hoping to solicit input on important things to see while there related to the 13th Field, Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA) and my grandfather (Lt. Col. E. A. Olmsted - who was a Capt./Major with the Regiment). I’ve identified the following things of particular interest but am always looking for places and pictures that might be useful. More detail (including all of the reference pictures) can be found on my original blog post here: https://www.uncoveringvalour.com/blog/

Hope to hear your thoughts!

Nijmegan RHQ: Trench Art & Parachute
These pictures show "trench art" from Nijmegan. I believe these are 25pdr shells that were converted into ashtrays for the Regimental HQ fireplace... They say "13 CDN FD REGT - NYMEGAN - 1945". I checked the 13th Field History and found that the Regimental HQ was at least for a time at a monastery in Nijmegan. This is something I am thinking about exploring further. I also have a piece of parachute (thought to be British) that my grandfather brought home from Nijmegan. I will post this in a future blog.

Crossing the Rhine at Emmerich
I am hoping to find the specific location that the 13th Field, RCA crossed the Rhine into Germany (I believe it was near Emmerich). The 13th Field History shows the regiment coming back to Holland on April 1, 1945 on this bridge: Pontoon bridge across the Rhine at Emmerich, used by the regiment - 1 Apr 1945. I would love to recreate a picture near where the unit crossed. I will also be going through Wyler and Cleve.

Holten War Cemetary & Weener
More information on this can be found on this recent Wartimes post: https://wartimes.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=591

On April 23, 1945 an explosion at the 13th Field Observation Post (OP) near Weener (“Nikkie Shans”) killed several Canadian soldiers. This aligned with a family story that had been told by 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 and hopefully locating family members to share their relatives’ respective stories.

Mentioned in Despatches (possibly in Weener?)
A similar research question to the above relates to the Mention in Despatches Major Olmsted received (another post will be more focused on this specific award). Very little information has been located to date, to specifically describe what this was awarded for. The story above was thought to possibly be related - support on this initiative would be greatly appreciated.

Liberation of Zwolle/Sneek and Regiment Parading in Utrecht for D-Day Anniversary
This item relates to a family story - apparently there is a picture of EA Olmsted somewhere in NW Europe “liberating“ a town. Allegedly in the picture he is in the “lead jeep“ and there are “likely flowers covering the vehicle”. Beyond that, little information is available, making this a challenge. It is most likely that this was a town in Holland. The regimental diary describes many towns that the 13th Field liberated: two cities/towns that appear to be of particular interest include Zwolle (this appears to be the best picture so far - and possibly one that can be recreated and Sneek (Major Olmsted was in charge of 78th battery and the planned attack on Sneek).

However, the leading candidate at this is point is probably not the liberation, but the parading of the 13th Field in Utrecht after cessation of hostilities. The 13th Field regimental history includes the following account:
June 6 1945, the anniversary of the Third Canadian Infantry Division's landing on the beaches of Normandy, was marked in Utrecht by a mounted parade and final march past of the units which took part in this historic event… The streets of Utrecht were crowded that day with soldiers and civilians watching the "Water Rats" go by in revue for the last time. As the vehicles moved up the narrow street at Utrecht to the market square where General CRERAR was taking the salute… The leading vehicles of the regiment in the parade were two jeeps of RHQ. There, was Lt-Col OSTRANDER, who the men liked so much, and congenial RSM MACRAE. Those two jeeps symbolized the nerve centre of the regiment; the place where orders originated; where troubles were directed..
As the former second in command of the regiment, Major Olmsted would very likely have been with these lead vehicles. This appears to be the best lead available at this time. At the moment I'm planning to at least recreate the image from my blog.

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Re: 13th Field, RCA - Locations of Interest in Holland and Germany

Post by Phil » Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:58 am

Sounds like it's going to be a great trip -- with some questions to answer.

In regards to the liberation picture, where did you get the information that this picture exists and the details as to it's subject matter?
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Re: 13th Field, RCA - Locations of Interest in Holland and Germany

Post by Phil » Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:03 am

Also, if you find yourself passing near Lochem the Royal Canadian Legion #005 Club House is a great place to stop in with an amazing collection of artifacts on display in a room in the basement -- you'd have to inquire to see that part,

http://www.rcl005.nl/informatie/clubhuis-lochem/
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Re: 13th Field, RCA - Locations of Interest in Holland and Germany

Post by GDOsborne » Tue Sep 18, 2018 4:42 pm

Fantastic. Thanks for the advice Phil! I'll reach out to them now.

Regarding the picture...

Multiple family members have allegedly seen a photograph of my grandfather liberating a town in the Netherlands. He's on the lead vehicle (no details provided on type - I have heard both jeep or sherman tank) and there are may have been flowers on it. Apparently the picture is in a book that's in a different language (possibly Dutch or German). The family members who have told me this saw the image ~30 years ago and none of them really have anything more than that.

I know... Almost nothing to go on...

I haven't had a chance to look at any dutch WWII books yet but I've combed through basically everything else I can get my hands on. I had thought by reading the 13th Field History I could track the towns they liberated and then use that as a reference... NIjmegan, Zwolle and Sneek struck me as possible candidates... But it does feel like looking in a needle in a haystack.

The only similar reference to this is in the 13th Field History where they talk about parading through Utrecht for the 1st anniversary of D-Day... My grandfather would have almost certainly been in one of the RHQ / lead vehicle at that time (he had been acting 2IC of the regiment until just before). This seemed to be the only useful picture I could find of the 3rd Cdn Inf Div on that day: http://pipesforfreedom.com/webtxt/0205o ... ed_p&d.htm

Searching for this picture is definitely one of the most important things I've been trying to find... Any help at all here would definitely go a long way. I'm empty handed now but I believe I will find this!

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Re: 13th Field, RCA - Locations of Interest in Holland and Germany

Post by Phil » Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:18 pm

I did some searches for the Dutch word for liberation "bevrijding" wwii canadian and came up with this gallery that has a number of tanks with flowers liberating cities,

https://hiveminer.com/Tags/bevrijding,tank

Have to wonder where the family would have seen the photo, did they all travel to the Netherlands? 30 years ago they would have seen a hard copy in a book, album, a clipping or on display somewhere.

Here's one labelled "C" Troop of the 55th Field Regiment liberating Eindhoven,

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item ... /205206858
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Re: 13th Field, RCA - Locations of Interest in Holland and Germany

Post by GDOsborne » Thu Sep 20, 2018 3:01 am

Phil these are great leads. Thanks for sharing!

My grandfather has/had a hard copy of the book and showed others / family members. Unfortunately, no one has any idea where the book is now! Have gone through his whole library (10x over) and am empty handed.

I've emailed some researchers at the University of Amsterdam to try and get them working on this as well... Stay tuned...

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Re: 13th Field, RCA - Locations of Interest in Holland and Germany

Post by Phil » Thu Sep 20, 2018 9:58 am

Maybe reach out to the Liberation Museum in Groesbeek as well,

https://www.bevrijdingsmuseum.nl/

No idea as to the name of the hard copy book that your grandfather had I'm assuming? If it was a published book you could look into books published before X date on the subject to coincide when your grandfather would have shown it around.
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Re: 13th Field, RCA - Locations of Interest in Holland and Germany

Post by Temujin » Thu Sep 20, 2018 6:03 pm

Have you checked this site. The author is Dutch and he may be able to help you find the book your looking for

https://www.royalartilleryunitsnetherlands1944-1945.com

They have a contact page on the site, or this link will take you right to that page

https://www.royalartilleryunitsnetherla ... ntact.html

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Re: 13th Field, RCA - Locations of Interest in Holland and Germany

Post by Phil » Thu Nov 15, 2018 1:46 pm

Could this be the book? You can actually buy it on Amazon here.
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