STORY ON THE PLAQUE
Pte. Harrison, Ernest D. K2612
Canadian Scottish Regiment R.C.I.C.
3rd Canadian Infantry Division
Missing in Action / Sequence of events
Canadian Scottish Regiment R.C.I.C.
3rd Canadian Infantry Division
Missing in Action / Sequence of events
During WWII Pte. Ernest Harrison is a soldier in the Canadian Scottish Regiment. Prior to the great liberation action of Duffelt and Rijnland - “Operation Veritable" - enemy lines in the Ooijpolder have to be explored. For that purpose a reconnaissance operation is performed on the night of 27 January 1945. Ernest is one of the scouts during that operation. There is a full moon and the landscape is covered with snow. Right here in the - now peaceful - Erlecomse polder they are discovered.
Pte Dunn tells us in his after action report:
Pte Dunn tells us in his after action report:
Ernest and Sgt. MacDonald are listed as Missing in Action. On the night of 7 February 1945, the village of Leuth is liberated by Canadians. Several days later the Germans bomb the Erlecomse and Kapittel dikes and Leuth is flooded. The Canadians have to be rescued by amphibious 'Buffalos'
Nobody knows about Ernest’s whereabouts until approximately 21 February 1945. This was quoted in a letter of Colonel H.M. Urquhart sent to Ernest’s mother on 17 April 1945:
On 16 June 1947, Ernest’s mother receives a letter from a German vicar, Karl Missbach. He was a medic during the war. In this letter he describes where Ernest’s grave is located.
A request for a search to be done by Graves Registration Services of Holland is initiated by the Director of Records, Department of National Defence, Ottawa on 10 November 1947.
On 8 January 1948, the reply from the Graves Registration Services in Holland is:
A request for a search to be done by Graves Registration Services of Holland is initiated by the Director of Records, Department of National Defence, Ottawa on 10 November 1947.
On 8 January 1948, the reply from the Graves Registration Services in Holland is:
In June 2009, the search is started again by Ernest’s sister Beatrice Messinger with site visits in May 2010 and May 2011.
On 21 September, 2011 the CWGC Archives Supervisor sends the following:
“…… unfortunately, I can find nothing in our records that appears to relate to a grave being recovered from near Leuth. I also checked the handful of exhumation reports that we hold for Holten and Groesbeek, but these also make no reference to Leuth.”
On 28 February 2012 a ground search with a metal detector is done in the field indicated by Karl Missbach, by the Recovery and Identification Unit (RAIU) of the Royal Dutch Army but no convincing and conclusive evidence is found.
On 21 September, 2011 the CWGC Archives Supervisor sends the following:
“…… unfortunately, I can find nothing in our records that appears to relate to a grave being recovered from near Leuth. I also checked the handful of exhumation reports that we hold for Holten and Groesbeek, but these also make no reference to Leuth.”
On 28 February 2012 a ground search with a metal detector is done in the field indicated by Karl Missbach, by the Recovery and Identification Unit (RAIU) of the Royal Dutch Army but no convincing and conclusive evidence is found.