Bevrijding Dieteren WWII

Thomas McManus geboren in 1911 te Fermanagh in Noord-Ierland als zoon van James en Margaret McManus(nee Reilly).
Vermoedelijk na het overlijden van vader James in 1935 verhuisde het gezin naar Engeland.

Vermoedelijk trad hij eerst in dienst bij het Irish Regiment van Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers later maakte hij als Brits soldaat als Private deel uit van het 2nd Bn. Devonshire Regiment onder nummer 6976570.

Van Georgie Edwards (haar oma Gertrude McManus was een zus van Thomas), kreeg ik nog de volgende foto's:

Foto van Thomas McManus in uniform(Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers). Thanks to: Georgie Edwards

Briefkaart die Thomas naar het thuisfront stuurde. Vermoedelijk vanuit Geleen of Sittard. Thanks to: Georgie Edwards

Voorkant van dezelfde briefkaart die Thomas naar het thuisfront stuurde. Thanks to: Georgie Edwards

Hij sneuvelde tijdens de bevrijdingsoperatie vermoedelijk nabij Echt waarschijnlijk Schilberg of Hingen op 19 januari 1945.
We lezen het volgende in de War Diary van de DEVONSHIRE REGIMENT
War Diary unit: 2nd Bn, The Devonshire Regiment. Month and Year: January, 1945 Commanding Officer: Lt. Col P.H.W. Brind.


Place	Date	Hour	Summary of events and information
	18		on the right flank. They advanced 200 yds but were then held up by strong
			enemy opposition. The Coy cmd was wounded at this point but the Coy made painful
			progress forward and succeeded in clearing the main part of SCHILBERG.
			During the morning, main Bn HQ left BAKENHOVEN and established
			themselves in DIETEREN. It was then decided to move up to Tac HQ at ECHT
			but owing to the terrible condition of the red route only the essential vehs
			travelled. Most soft skinned and wheeled vehs remained with the rear
			link in DIETEREN. One of the problems at this stage was the feeding
			of the fwd Coys. Use of Coy tpt was out of the question for taking food up,
			so it was decided that the only means was by Kangaroos.
			During the late evening a DLI Coy relieved our ‘D‘ Coy who
			then moved over and replaced ‘A‘ Coy. In the meantime ‘C‘ Coy were
			still making slow progress battling up the main rd.
	19	0150	At 0150 ‘C‘ Coy finally broke through and linked up in

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of events and information
	19		SCHILBERG, and we were able to inform Bde that Green route was now clear of
			obstacles, but in view of the close proximity of the enemy complete use of the
			rd was very limited.
			During the early morning hours ‘D‘ Coy moved fwd and occupied HINGEN
			but were stopped by strong enemy opposition in the F.D.Ls of St. JOOST. Our
			initial task was now completed and the Bn began to reorganise. Our HQ in
			ECHT was taken over by the DLI and we established our Bn HQ at PEIJ 7078. All
			the remainder of HQ moved up form DIETEREN and Main HQ was est in a house 707789.
			‘A‘ and ‘C‘ Coys were together in area 713788, ‘B‘ Coy 704792 and ‘D‘ at 713802.
			The houses one the right of ‘A ‘ and ‘C‘ Coys were still occupied by Bosch and
			snipers were very active.
	20		Shortly after midnight ‘A‘ Coy reported an enemy patrol in area of the
			houses to their right and engaged them with a PIAT. Apart from this incident
			the night passed quietly. Another heavy snowfall came down in the early hours.
			During the morning the ‘D‘ Coy area was heavily shelled.

Eerst werd hij begraven op de tijdelijke militaire begraafplaats te Dieteren en 27 september 1946 herbegraven op de War Cemetery in Nederweert.

Grafsteen Thomas McManus in Nederweert

Misschien zijn er nog mensen die informatie hebben over die tijd zoals verhalen of foto's. Neem dan contact op met de webmaster info@deetere.nl wellicht kan het bijdragen aan de geschiedschrijving van onze streek en mogelijk ook van belang voor familieleden van onze bevrijders!