Visit Paul Scanlon who’s father served with the Royal Ulster Rifles Regiment

This week we had the honour of hosting Paul Scanlon, whose father was attached to the 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles during World War II before being transferred to the 9th British Infantry Brigade Headquarters as a camp commander. He started as a Lieutenant, was later promoted to Captain and after the war ended he became acting Major of a town in and around Bremen. His children never heard him talk about war. They had no idea what this man had been through and therefore never spoke about it again. 

After his death, suitcases and boxes were found in which his father had kept everything. From Sword Beach in Normandy on D-Day, through France, Belgium, the Netherlands to Bremen. His father spent a long time in our area with the Royal Ulster Rifles and the 9th British Infantry Brigade. They arrived 1 October 1944 in Beers and Cuijk, left on the 12thtowards Sint Anthonis and then to Overloon and Venray, where they lost many of their comrades. Until spring 1945, they stayed in the Netherlands fighting on their way to Bremen. Paul has been running a blog since 2007 where he aims to share the official history, photos and anecdotes of this regiment for posterity. 

We provided him with a Battlefield tour of this whole area yesterday. From Beers to Cuijk along the river Maas to Oeffelt and Gennep. From there but the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery towards Kleef. There, too, many casualties from the1stand2nd Royal Ulster Rifles Regiment are buried. After lunch in Beers, we left for Overloon where many places were visited where the Royal Ulster Rifles fought. At both Venray War Cemetery and Overloon War Cemetery, many of the men of this regiment are buried. There again, we stopped at all the graves. We are currently working on some biographies of these guys. These will be published soon. 
On the 14 Oktoberplein in Overloon, we said goodbye after a wonderful day and a beautiful friendship richer.