This memorial page is dedicated to George Edwin Nicholls, one of more than 725 war victims connected to the municipality of Deurne documented by Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers. The municipality of Deurne and the surrounding villages of Liessel, Vlierden, Helenaveen, Neerkant and Zeilberg were liberated in the autumn of 1944 during heavy fighting. Victims fell on all sides: Allied soldiers from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, and German soldiers.

But the archive covers more than just the combat victims on Deurne soil. Residents of Deurne who lost their lives elsewhere are also commemorated: civilians who were murdered in concentration camps, forced labourers who died in Germany, people who were executed or succumbed to the effects of persecution and oppression. In addition, residents of Deurne who entered German military service and were killed elsewhere are also included.

Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers has been documenting the story of all these people since 1995, without distinction of nationality, side or background. The goal is to give every person a name and a face, and to keep their memory alive.

 

George Edwin Nicholls

 

Name: Nicholls
First names: George Edwin
Nickname: –
Date of birth: –
Place of birth: –
Residence: in Heamoor
Rank / Occupation: Pilot Officer (Pilot)
Identity tag: 172425
Unit: 12 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Date of death: 27 April 1944
Place of death: Vlierden, near the ‘de Berken’ nature reserve
Cause of death: Crash of Lancaster ND873
Cemetery: Jonkerbos War Cemetery in Nijmegen
Memorial site: Lancaster monument in Vlierden

 

Additional information

Grave location: 24. F. 4.

Aged 32. Son of James Edwin and Evelyn Nicholls of Heamoor, Penzance, Cornwall; widow Madeline Nicholls of Heamoor.

During the night of 26–27 April 1944, the Lancaster ND 873, whilst returning from a bombing mission on Essen, was shot down by Oberfeldwebel Rudolf Frank (pilot), Oberfeldwebel Hans-Georg Schierholz (radio operator) and Oberfeldwebel Heinz Schneider (aircraft navigator), who launched the attack on the Lancaster ND 873 in a Messerschmitt Bf-110G4 night fighter from Nachtjagdgeschwader 3.

When the Lancaster, after several bursts of fire, was being tracked to assess whether sufficient damage had been inflicted, it suddenly lost altitude, preventing the night fighter from manoeuvring left or right in time, and it collided with the Lancaster. As a result, the night fighter was so badly damaged that it too subsequently crashed in the vicinity of Heeze. Oberfeldwebel Rudolf Frank lost his life in this crash; Oberfeldwebel Hans-Georg Schierholz and Oberfeldwebel Heinz Schneider were warned in time by Oberfeldwebel Rudolf Frank, enabling them to safely eject from the aircraft using their parachutes.

The Lancaster crashed in flames near the ‘Astense Aa’ in the ‘de Berken’ nature reserve. George Edwin Nicholls, Harold Edward Dyerson, Roy William Laybourne, Alexander Strathern McJannett, Alfred Thompson McKay, Alexander Kelso Shiels and Lawrence Lindsay Smith were killed in the crash. They were originally buried in Venlo but were later reinterred at Jonkerbos War Cemetery.

Alexander Strathern McJannett and Harold Edward Dyerson most likely did not lose their lives on Deurns’ territory, but in Astens, on the other side of the Astense Aa.

Sergeant Rudolf Frank
Oberfeldwebel Rudolf Frank
Sergeant Hans-Georg Schierholz
Oberfeldwebel Hans-Georg Schierholz

View all persons in the category: Allied soldiers killed in action