Alternative Information Searches
Alex.
I whole-heartedly agree with the importance of finding War Diaries for the British Army units using Crabs at Overloon, to clearly establish who lost what, where and when. It would be great to have enough detail in the diaries that the lost equipment was identified by WD Number and or Name, if not in the daily reports, perhaps the status summaries that were submitted back up the system showing what was lost, damaged and in for repairs from time to time.
Currently, while doing Family Genealogy research in various archives in England that have no on-line access, I am finding many of them are either running with very low staffing or are closed even to staff to do research. That might be a similar situation for the archives you would need to work with.
Closer to home, however, you might be able to do some useful research outside the traditional military domain, that might help confirm the exact location of where AVALON came to rest.
Hanno recently posted some updates on COOKIE confirming it was brought in from another area and parked close to AVALON in the early stages of the evolution of the museum. Lets assume that was done as the easier option at the time, than trying to move AVALON, and the location of where AVALON is resting in those early photographs, is indeed her final resting place. If that final resting place can be located and confirmed, that is invaluable information for confirming what might be found in any War Diaries. Lets also assume for now, AVALON came to rest not too far from the current museum location.
If you look at the early photos, to the far left of AVALON in the background, there is a long, prominent ridge. It is hard to see details in a couple of the photos, but in one, the Sun is at a low enough angle to throw some good shadows that suggest the ridge has a number of finger-like protrusions extending from it. AVALON is definitely in a low spot in the foreground and in a couple of photos showing the background to the right side of AVALON, a smoother rise is noticeable.
What I am wondering about is the history of the Overloon Battle area. Was it/is it private land, or has it always been owned and managed by some level of local or national government, like a Forestry Department, Bureau of Natural Resources or some other agency? If any of the latter, it might be worth contacting them to see what information they might have about the battlefield from a purely geographic nature. Survey maps, or geographic maps of the area done in a small enough scale that they could pick up the differences in height seen in the early photographs of AVALON? And the older the better.
If such maps exist and copies can be made, my next step would be to identify the exact current location of the museum on the maps and use that as a centre starting point, searching in a spiral outwards.
The early photos with people visiting AVALON and COOKIE show no signs of developed roads. Would people have wanted to walk a great distance through the woods to get there in casual clothing, or were they transported in close enough for a short walk? Perhaps older survey maps might show trails or roads that could have been used to get people close enough to walk in.
Local maps might help rule out a lot of areas quickly. More interesting areas could be covered quickly from the air once the leaves have fallen, either by small aircraft or a drone. Best done in the early morning or evening when shadows are longest and provide the best contrast detain. Those ridges to the left of AVALON would be a key target to look for from the air. Once that has narrowed things down more, go in on foot and see what turns up.
Do you know if Holland ever undertook a national Aerial Photographic Survey anytime from 1945 to the advent of Satellite Imaging? If they did, that archive would be a goldmine of information to look at! Canada did a lot of Oblique Angle Aerial Surveys in the 1920’s but the details of that type of air photo are limited. In 1948, and again in 1964, the Canadian Government did complete aerial surveys of Canada using vertical camera imaging with an overlap rate sufficient to permit excellent stereoscopic imaging. Most of the work was done by the RCAF using modified Lancasters, but a private company called Spartan Aviation was also involved using Mosquitos and Hornets for a while.
Anyway, Alex. Food for thought. One does not always have to look for military things in military sources.
Cheers for now,
David
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