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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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Two Servicemen From One Family During World War Two

by Ian Hollins

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Contributed by听
Ian Hollins
People in story:听
Eileen Hopper, Alan Raymond Hopper, Peter Charles Hopper
Location of story:听
Holland and Germany
Background to story:听
Royal Air Force
Article ID:听
A5365596
Contributed on:听
28 August 2005

This story has been been written onto the 大象传媒 People's War site by CSV Storygatherer on behalf of Eileen Hopper. The story has been added to the site with her permission. And Eileen Hopper fully understands the terms and conditions of the site.

on VE Day, 8th May 1945, I was working at the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, london. In the morning we heard the news that the war had ended and our Consul closed the office at midday for us to go home. I caught the train from Waterloo to Surbiton and then walked through the park to see if the celebrations had started, and I met a friend who told me that she had just seen my boyfriend, Alan arrive home.
Alan was in the Second Battalion Irish Guards Tank Division. In March 1945, the battalion was ordered to take the Nijmegen Bridge,having previously been warned by the Dutch Resistance that the German Panzer Division were over on the other side. The British had been told to take the bridge at all costs.The first few tanks were blown up but Alan's made it across. They were captured when they reached the other side, marched blindfolded for a while and then put onto a boat.They were taken to Stalag XB Prisoner Of War Camp at Sandbostel, Bremen.It was one of the largest camps. By that time the Germans were retreating and they left a lot of their older men to guard the camp. The Germans themselves were very low on food at that stage in the war and so the food that they gave to the prisoners was very little in quantity and more like pigswill. The political prisoners in another compound fared even worse and were close to cannibalism. In May the camp was taken by the Americans and some of the Irish Guards were flown home by Dakota aircraft in the early hours of the morning.
I saw Alan and although we were overjoyed that the war had ended, we did feel much like celebrating, as I that one week in March a telegram had arrived home saying that Alan had been reported as 'missing' presumed P.O.W. At the same time another telegram had arrived to say his brother Peter was reported as 'missing presumed killed' Peter was 21 years old and a rear gunner in the R.A.F. Bomber Command 50 Squadron flying in a Lancaster aircraft. On the night of 21st March 1945, they flew out to bomb an oil refinery at Bohlen and Peter's aircraft was shot down.
It was not until 10 years ago that I discovered what happened to Peter. A friend, formerly R.A.F., placed an advertisement in the R.A.F. quarterly magazine giving details of that last flight and asking if anyone knew of a Sgt. Peter Hopper. It seemed incredible that after all those years I finally learned the full story. Apparently, the aeroplane was hit and only two of the seven crew managed to bale out. As a rear gunner Peter would have had very little chance to do so. When the two men touched the ground, one was dead and the other, Sgt E Friend, the navigator, was to land near American lines and was flown home. He now lives in Dover. He saw the advertisement in the magazine and made contact with me. He told me that six years after the war had ended, the R.A.F. decide that it must try to find its' missing airmen. The remains of the aircraft and the five crew were found outside a little German village and were then re-buried in the Reichwald Forest British Military Cemetery in Germany. Sgt. Friend gave me details of their graves and I have been out there to place some flowers on the three graves. I feel comforted now that I know where their bodies lay. Whilst the vast cemetery is beautifully kept, it was a sad sight to see all of those hundreds of graves of very young men. I have compiled two files on Alan and Peter to pass on to my grandchildren
I have a Daily Mail copyright aerial photograph of Alan's tank going over Nijmegen bridge. It also appears in the book 'A Bridge Too Far'. I have hi metal dog-tag that he had to wear in the P.O.W. camp, as well as Peter's flying log book and medals. It was very sad that my husband Alan died 14 years ago not knowing what happened to Peter.

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