Honour for fallen Leeds servicemen after library’s historic photo find

Their photos were found by staff at Leeds Central Library, who scoured the archives following a request by Stichting Adoptiegraven Foundation, which works to honour the memory of the 693 men buried on the outskirts of Venray.

Every Autumn, residents in the Dutch village “adopt” a soldier, placing candles, flowers and photographs to represent the families in the UK who are not able to visit.

Researchers from the foundation contacted the Local and Family History Library in Leeds in the hopes they might be able to track down photos of each of the servicemen for the event, after spending years exhausting all other online historical resources.

Searching their archives of microfilm, Leeds library experts were able to find photos of all three soldiers which had appeared in local newspapers following their deaths.

The pictures were sent via email, before being printed in metal and carefully placed at each soldier’s final resting place ahead of commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Venray, during which many of the soldiers buried at the cemetery died.

Rhian Isaac, senior librarian at Leeds Central Library, said: “It’s been wonderful to be able to help the research team in Venray and to play our part in making sure our fallen servicemen could be properly honoured and their sacrifice remembered.

“Each of these soldiers had their own life back home before they went off to war, and they deserve to have their stories and their faces remembered in their final resting place.

“It’s very moving and poignant to think that, thanks to the archives kept in their home city, people in Venray will now be able to see what they looked like and be more connected to them when they visit their graves.”

The Stichting Adoptiegraven Foundation invited more than 100 British guests to the commemoration event in October. The weekend concluded with the planting of a Liberation Tree in the town of Venray. 

Tom van Mierlo, chairman of the Stichting Adoptiegraven Foundation, said: “The main goal of the foundation is to keep the memory of the 693 men buried in Venray alive.

"Members of the public are given the opportunity to symbolically adopt a grave. Adopters and researchers also look for photos and information of the soldiers and airmen and where possible we also try to give each man his story; where he lived, his job, how he died.

“We are extremely grateful to the Local and Family History team at Leeds Central Library for researching for us and finding us the faces of Lance Corporal Herbert Alan Young, Private John Keddie and Sapper Walter Marshall.”

Lance Corporal Herbert Alan Young served with the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and died on November 21, 1944 at the age of 23.

Sapper Walter Marshall, was serving with the 613 Field Squadron Royal Engineers when he died on November 30, 1944, aged 32.

Private John Keddie, with the 9^th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, died from his injuries on March 29, 1945. He was just 18 years old.

Councillor Mary Harland, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, customer service and community safety, said: “We are extremely proud that our library service has played a part in commemorating three of our brave fallen servicemen, working alongside those who want to honour them in their final resting place.

“These men made the ultimate sacrifice, laying down their lives in service of their country. It is fitting that part of their legacy today has been the forging new friendships between two places linked by their shared determination to remember them.”

ENDS