This memorial page is dedicated to George Sackville Blake, 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.

 

Name: Blake
First names: George Sackville
Nickname: –
Date of birth: –
Place of birth: –
Residence: –
Rank / Occupation: Trooper
Identity tag: 14429259
Unit: Royal Tank Regiment, R.A.C., 22nd
Date of death: missing since 3 November 1944
Place of death: missing in the vicinity of Neerkant
Cause of death: –
Cemetery: Possibly in Mierlo (see Additional information)
Memorial site: Groesbeek Memorial


Additional information

Memorial: Panel 1.

Aged 19. Son of Capt. William A. Blake and Mrs Blake; widow R. Joyce Blake, of Congresbury, Somerset.

George Sackville Blake, James John Cleary, James Flemming Lang and Greville Tom Page went missing in the vicinity of the Heitrak at Neerkant.

During the fierce fighting near the Heitrak, Lieutenant Pear’s and Sergeant Birch’s tanks were hit by the Germans; unfortunately, the four victims mentioned above were unable to escape the burning tanks.

Near the Heitrak No. 31 in Neerkant, three unidentified British soldiers from the same Unit (2nd County of London Yeomanry, Westminster Dragoons) were recovered; the remains were so badly mutilated that they could no longer be identified, but in all likelihood they were those of three of the four missing soldiers mentioned above. The remains were transferred to Mierlo War Cemetery: grave locations V D 9, V D 10 and V D 11, where they rest as unknown soldiers. A fourth soldier has never been found.

Below is a photograph of the field graves near No. 31 (now Heitrak 2).
Beneden een foto van de veldgraven nabij N. 31 (nu Heitrak 2).

In the photograph below (showing Albert George Birch’s grave in the foreground), the house at what is now Dorpsstraat 104 is clearly recognisable in the background.
Op onderstaande foto (met op de voorgrond het graf van Albert George Birch) is op de achtergond de woning van de huidige Dorpsstraat 104 goed herkenba

View all persons in the category: Missing