Frederick A. Sellers, Cpl.
Personal information
Age 30
Nationality British
Date / place of birth 01-06-1914
Genealogy Son of Frederick Henry and Eleanor Blanche Sellers, Acton, ; Husband of J. M. Sellers, Acton, Middlesex, U.K.
Military information
Army Number 1760229
Rank Cpl.
Function Message Coding
Platoon / Troop / Flight Unknown
Company / Squadron Unknown
Unit / Group HQ Airborne Troops Signal Section
Division / Transport / Command 1st Airborne Division
Regiment Royal Corps of Signals
Death information
Died when 17-9-1944
Died where Mariekerke, Belgium
Spot Unknown
Map reference Unknown
Burial location
St. Amands, Communal Cemetery, Belgium
Grave number 1
Field grave image
Miscellaneous information
Personal notes

At Ramsbury airfield, the 101st Airborne Signal Company, part of the famous 101st Airborne Division, was getting ready to fulfill it\\'s part in this Operation. Attached to this Company were several British Signal Corpsmen, this to optimize communications between American and English Airborne and ground troops. Destination was an LZ (landing zone) north of Eindhoven, Holland. The route they had to take to get their by glider was going to get them straight across the Channel into Belgium and then north to Eindhoven. When the air fleet passed over the Mariekerke � Sint-Amands area (Belgium), one of the gliders crashed down. In it were five American Glidermen of the 101st Airborne Signal Company, a British Signalman and the Glider Pilot. As cargo, they had a trailer filled with important communications material. As far as can be proven, the cargo must have shifted to the front of the glider causing the glider to tip. Part of the cockpit was torn loose due to this shift in weight. Eye-witnesses saw two people fall out off the glider before it went down. One is certain to have been the English Signalman. The other supposedly was the Glider Pilot. The glider first hit a tree before crashing down at the field nearby. All occupants died a horrible death. Only one � the Englishman � still showed signs of life, but unfortunately died of his wounds in a nearby hospital. English soldiers stationed nearby, together with locals and a local doctor, helped recovering the bodies of these men. The victims were buried � after a service was given in the church of nearby Sint-Amands � at the local cemetery. After the war, the Americans were transferred to the American Military Cemetery Ardennes, near Nueville et Condroz, but the English Signalman still rests at the Sint-Amands cemetery. On September 17, 1994 a fitting monument was inaugurated near the place where the glider went down. This thanks to the local authorities and a group of interested called the \\'Vella Committee\\'. Also attending was the sister of one of the American Glidermen. Every year, around September 17, a small commemoration is held there and flowers are put on the graves and the monument. A little further away, one can see a small cross with an American helmet on top. This marks the spot where the glider crashed to earth in 1944, ending the lives of seven young men. F/O Samuel C. Welch (437th TC Group) Cpl. Frederick A. Sellers (Royal Corps of Signals) Pvt. Thomas F. Vella (101st Airborne Signal Company) Pvt. Joseph Dottavanio (101st Airborne Signal Company) Pvt. Stanley M. Zajelka (101st Airborne Signal Company) Pvt. Michael Jugan (101st Airborne Signal Company) Pvt. Gustave O. Gerwig (101st Airborne Signal Company)

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Frederick A. Sellers, Cpl.
Personal information
Age 30
Nationality British
Date / place of birth 01-06-1914
Genealogy Son of Frederick Henry and Eleanor Blanche Sellers, Acton, ; Husband of J. M. Sellers, Acton, Middlesex, U.K.
Military information
Army Number 1760229
Rank Cpl.
Function Message Coding
Platoon / Troop / Flight Unknown
Company / Squadron Unknown
Unit / Group HQ Airborne Troops Signal Section
Division / Transport / Command 1st Airborne Division
Regiment Royal Corps of Signals
Death information
Died when 17-9-1944
Died where Mariekerke, Belgium
Spot Unknown
Map reference Unknown
Burial location
St. Amands, Communal Cemetery, Belgium
Grave number 1
Field grave image
Miscellaneous information
Personal notes

At Ramsbury airfield, the 101st Airborne Signal Company, part of the famous 101st Airborne Division, was getting ready to fulfill it\\'s part in this Operation. Attached to this Company were several British Signal Corpsmen, this to optimize communications between American and English Airborne and ground troops. Destination was an LZ (landing zone) north of Eindhoven, Holland. The route they had to take to get their by glider was going to get them straight across the Channel into Belgium and then north to Eindhoven. When the air fleet passed over the Mariekerke � Sint-Amands area (Belgium), one of the gliders crashed down. In it were five American Glidermen of the 101st Airborne Signal Company, a British Signalman and the Glider Pilot. As cargo, they had a trailer filled with important communications material. As far as can be proven, the cargo must have shifted to the front of the glider causing the glider to tip. Part of the cockpit was torn loose due to this shift in weight. Eye-witnesses saw two people fall out off the glider before it went down. One is certain to have been the English Signalman. The other supposedly was the Glider Pilot. The glider first hit a tree before crashing down at the field nearby. All occupants died a horrible death. Only one � the Englishman � still showed signs of life, but unfortunately died of his wounds in a nearby hospital. English soldiers stationed nearby, together with locals and a local doctor, helped recovering the bodies of these men. The victims were buried � after a service was given in the church of nearby Sint-Amands � at the local cemetery. After the war, the Americans were transferred to the American Military Cemetery Ardennes, near Nueville et Condroz, but the English Signalman still rests at the Sint-Amands cemetery. On September 17, 1994 a fitting monument was inaugurated near the place where the glider went down. This thanks to the local authorities and a group of interested called the \\'Vella Committee\\'. Also attending was the sister of one of the American Glidermen. Every year, around September 17, a small commemoration is held there and flowers are put on the graves and the monument. A little further away, one can see a small cross with an American helmet on top. This marks the spot where the glider crashed to earth in 1944, ending the lives of seven young men. F/O Samuel C. Welch (437th TC Group) Cpl. Frederick A. Sellers (Royal Corps of Signals) Pvt. Thomas F. Vella (101st Airborne Signal Company) Pvt. Joseph Dottavanio (101st Airborne Signal Company) Pvt. Stanley M. Zajelka (101st Airborne Signal Company) Pvt. Michael Jugan (101st Airborne Signal Company) Pvt. Gustave O. Gerwig (101st Airborne Signal Company)

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