John 'Jack' Thorogood
Stanley Matthews
They both died on september 21st 1944 when their Sherman Firefly tank got hit twice by a german AT gun as they were advancing from the town of Sint-Oedenrode (near Veghel) towards the tiny hamlet of Olland. Together with a second tank they advanced without infantery and got hit when they came to a bend in the road. The driver (Stanley) was killed immediately so the tank rolled on uncontrollable untill it hit a tree stopped there. The second tank retreated and was not hit. You can clearly see both holes in the frontal armour and the tree that was taken a few hits too.
John Thorogood (gunner) escaped from the then burning tank but was killed by rifle / machinegun fire as he tried to make his way back towards the Allied lines. The other two crew members, lieutenant David Cohen and the wireless operator (name unknown) escaped but were severly wounded.
John's brother, George, wrote a book about it: "proven beyond doubt". It describes the history of this event in more detail and the help he got from the local Dutch people who helped him in his search for the truth.
Yesterday I went to the same location and took the following photo's:
The location where the tank was hit, the house has been modernised, the road widened and the ditch has made way for a bicicle path.
The approx site where the tank ended against a tree, unfortunantely the tree is gone now.
In 1994 a small monument was erected to the memory of these soldiers. It says:
21-9-1944
John Thorogood
Stanley Mathews
Hun jonge leven hier gegeven (Their young lives given here)
They were buried side by side in a field near the tank and were relocated in june 1946 to the Uden War Cemetery.
They still lie side by side, Matthews on the left and Thorogood on the right.
