This memorial page is dedicated to Lester Franklin Stewart, 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.

 

Lester Franklin Stewart

Name: Stewart
First names: Lester Franklin
Nickname: –
Date of birth: 1914
Place of birth: –
Residence: in Pickens County, South Carolina
Rank / Occupation: Private First Class
Identity tag: 14047311
Unit: 23rd Infantry Battalion, 7th Armoured Division, Company B
Date of death: 16 October 1944
Place of death: Deurne, near the Deurne Canal
Cause of death: –
Cemetery: Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery (Belgium)
Memorial site: Pickens County Veterans Memorial in Pickens (USA)

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Additional information

Grave location: C-2-24

Awarded the Purple Heart.

Son of James Oscar Stewart and Lakie Azilie Stewart-Hayes. Widow: Lillian Alda Kelley Stewart-Hayes.

Enlisted 27 February 1941, Fort McPherson, Atlanta, Georgia

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