This memorial page is dedicated to John Arrowsmith Pickavance, 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.

 

John Arrowsmith Pickavance

Name: Pickavance
First names: John Arrowsmith
Nickname: –
Date of birth: –
Place of birth: –
Residence: 11 Carr Lane, Chorley
Rank / Occupation: Fusilier
Identity tag: 14551304
Unit: Royal Scots Fusiliers, 6th Battalion
Date of death: 30 October 1944
Place of death: Liessel
Cause of death: –
Cemetery: Mierlo War Cemetery
Memorial site: Chorley War Memorial (United Kingdom)

Additional information

Grave location: VI. G. 7.

Aged 19. Son of Thomas and Annie Pickavance, of Chorley, Lancashire.

At around 6.00 pm on 29 October, the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers had taken up positions on the southern edge of a wood south of Liessel. Liessel was the focal point and the Scots Fusiliers, supported by the Grenadiers, launched an attack from the north-west on 30 October. Every metre was a struggle to overwhelm the well-entrenched Germans, who were covering all approaches with heavy machine guns (Spandau MG.08). However, heavy British artillery barrages and the Fusiliers’ 3-inch mortar fire helped to gain the upper hand, and by the end of the afternoon the objective had been captured.

The 46th Brigade advanced from the north and joined forces with the Fusiliers in repelling a German counter-attack on Liessel from the east. The Fusiliers occupied and consolidated positions in the northern half of the village. At times the Germans were inside houses and the Fusiliers outside; at other times, the Fusiliers were inside and the Germans outside. In some houses, the Fusiliers were upstairs and the Germans downstairs, firing at each other from as close as a few metres. 
Under cover of darkness, many of the Germans withdrew and surrounded houses and buildings where platoons and sections of the Fusiliers were stationed. Ammunition was running low, and at about the same time, the sounds of German lorries bringing reinforcements could be heard. However, the Fusiliers managed to conserve enough ammunition until the Seaforth Highlanders of the 46th Brigade entered Liesel early that morning, by which time the enemy had withdrawn. The 6th Battalion suffered three killed, 27 wounded and one soldier missing.

The field graves of John Arrowsmith Pickavance (left), Peter Martin Getgood
(right) and Arthur John Johns
were located in the garden of the Sijbers family at Loon L. 279 in Liessel.

Letter (6 September 1945) from the Sijbers family (Tonny, Wim, Ino and Rutger) to the next of kin of John Arrowsmith Pickavance.

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