In June 2013 a project I had worked on for a few years culminated in a great day for all involved and one I'll never forget, which was attended by three 82nd Airborne Division veterans who have all since departed and I thought I'd tell you about that day and each veteran. When /1

researching for my 82nd Airborne Division in England book I was surprised to find that whilst the 505th PIR and 508th PIR both have memorials at their former campsites here in England, the 504th, 325th, and 507th did not. I made the decision therefore to change that, and /2

started a memorial project that led to the construction of two memorials, one in Leicestershire and one in Nottinghamshire. The first, in Leicestershire, was dedicated to both the 325th GIR and 504th PIR who both had camps just a few miles apart, East of the City. It became /3

necessary for me to do it that way for two reasons, the first being budget constraints and the second being in gaining permission to place a memorial at the former 504th camp, owned by the City Council, at the Shady Lane arboretum. The Council were not against the idea, but it /4

became apparent that it would take years for all the boxes to be ticked and hurdles to be overcome. The Scraptoft Parish Council (Scraptoft being the home of the 325th GIR) were accommodating from minute one, and based on reasons of accessibility we decided not to place the /5

memorial at the former campsite itself but more centrally to the village, and it can now be found in the south-east corner of the Edith Cole Memorial Park.

The second memorial was dedicated to the 507th PIR and placed opposite their former camp at Tollerton Hall, in /6

Nottinghamshire. Again, due to the accessibility, we didn't place it at the actual campsite (At the time run by an Insurance firm, now a private residence) so put it at the Village cross, next to their WWI memorial where it could be seen by all.

In June 2013 three veterans /7

of the 82nd made the trip to the UK to dedicate the memorials. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a 504th vet over but had the 325th & 507th covered, with a 508th'er thrown in for good luck.

Those veterans were Herb Heubschen (325th GIR), Roland Daniel (507th PIR) and George /8

Shenkle (508th PIR). All have now sadly passed away.

Herb was with the HQ Company, 325th. He was wounded in Normandy, quite seriously, but made it to Holland for Market Garden. Herb was a very quiet guy, as many are, but as polite as they come, and was very intelligent. A /9

funny story actually......we had George and Roland stay at my parents farmhouse, but Herb and his son stayed in a hotel. When Herb came over to the farm to meet the others they were a bit late, and when he introduced himself as Glider Infantry, George said "late as always." /10

Anyone who knew George would not be overly surprised by the comment.

George was a Platoon radio operator with E Company, 508th PIR. He maintained until the day he died that he did not kill anyone in WWII. He considered himself almost pacifist but wanted to serve among the /11

best if he had to. He claims he only ever once purposefully aimed at an enemy soldier, in the Ardennes, when thing's got a bit interesting. I was once sent an E-mail, by a lady who called George a coward after reading the Biography I authored for him. I responded saying he /12

was a man who twice jumped behind enemy lines with the Division, and never sought shelter from the fight. He was always there, was wounded in Erria, and did his job.

George was with Colonel Mark Alexander when he was seriously wounded in Normandy in July '44.

Roland was a /13

very special man, and I miss him dearly. He was at first an assistant Machine Gunner with the 1st Platoon, B Company, 507th PIR, but progressed up to gunner when the casualties racked up. He was dropped the wrong side of the Merderet River and fought at La Fiere.

He had a /14

dodgy knee, which he aggravated on a training jump in August '44 and was transferred out of the Airborne as a result, which broke his heart. He ended up with the 29th Infantry Regiment, essentially giving HQ Security and clearing up battlefields.

Roland was the kindest man, /15

and a real family man. He decided not to think about the war when he got home, never attended reunions, and only later in life did he begin to attend events. We convinced him to come back to Normandy with us in 2014, which he did, and I'll never forget it.

I must have /16

played him at pool some 30 or 40 times in Normandy, and he beat me every single time. I couldn't attend his funeral when he passed, so my dad went instead.

In 2019 we took Rollies partner and daughter back to the 507th memorial where Roland had made an excellent speech. /17

It was such a great day, one I'll never forget, and it saddens me that they are all now gone.

Also present was Betsy Matthes Ostberg, Daughter of Colonel Edwin J Ostberg who was Rollies Battalion CO, wounded in Normandy at Chef Du Pont. Here they are together.

Two more /18

quick stories.

Betsy's dad had bought a guide on Nottingham when the Regiment was in England, and during a Regimental review by the then Sheriff of Nottingham, had the book signed. In 2013 Betsy bought that very same book over to the UK and had it signed by the present day /19

Sheriff, who attended the event.

We also gifted Betsy a pencil drawn portrait of her Father, as a thank you for her tremendous help in raising funds for the memorial. I'm struggling to find a picture of it now, but when she opened the picture, she showed it to Roland and /20

said "Do you recognise this man?" and Roland said "Oh yes that's him, our Battalion CO, a good man. A good man."