This memorial page is dedicated to Roy Charles Whitehead, 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: Whitehead
First names: Roy Charles
Nickname: –
Date of birth: –
Place of birth: Cambridgeshire
Residence: –
Rank / Occupation: Gunner
Identity tag: 14205311
Unit: Royal Artillery, 97th Anti-Tank Regiment
Date of death: 1 November 1944
Place of death: Deurne
Cause of death: –
Cemetery: Nederweert War Cemetery
Memorial site: –

.

Additional information

Grave location: I. D. 7.

Aged 19. Son of Walter Horace and May Whitehead, of Cambridge.

The field graves of Roy Charles Whitehead, Gordon Lewis Blyth, Bernard Brandon and Dennis George Campbell were situated opposite Houtenhoek C84a, now Zandbosweg 133, in Deurne.

The photographs below were taken by Jan Rakels on Whitsunday 1945. Standing by the field graves, from left to right, are: Dora, Jans, Maria, Tonnie and Berta Rakels, with the family home in the background.
Roy Charles Whitehead

Standing: Dora Rakels and Mia van den Einden. Seated: Maria Rakels, Lien Goossens, Tonnie Rakels, Jans Rakels, Lenie Goossens and Berta Rakels.
Staand; Dora Rakels en Mia van den Einden. Zittend; Maria Rakels, Lien Goossens, Tonnie Rakels, Jans Rakels, Lenie Goossens en Berta Rakels.

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