Ommen, Stationsweg monument

Location
Stationsweg, 7731 AW Ommen, Overijssel

Year of unveiling
1990

Commemorated group(s)
Allied Forces

Description
The Stationsweg monument in Ommen is a copper plaque.

Text on the monument
Text on the plaque in Dutch and English:

‘Ter gedachtenis Op deze plaats sneuvelden voor de bevrijding van Ommen de 5e april 1945

Lieutenant GEORGE THOMAS WILSON 24 jaar en Trooper GERALD WILFRED SOANES 22 jaar leden van het D squadron van het 18th Armoured Car Regiment MANITOBA DRAGOONS Royal Canadian Armoured Corps’.

‘To the memory on this spot died For the liberation of Ommen on 5 April 1945

Lieutenant GEORGE THOMAS WILSON 24 years and Trooper GERALD WILFRED SOANES 22 years members of the D squadron Of the 18th Armoured Car Regiment MANITOBA DRAGOONS Royal Canadian Armoured Corps’.

Background
The Stationsweg monument reminds the inhabitants of Ommen of the Allied soldiers George Thomas Wilson en Gerald Wilfred Soanes who were killed here on 5 April 1945 during the liberation of the village.

Troopleader Lieutenant Wilson and trooper Soanes (the radio operator) were crew members of the ‘lead car’ together with trooper John E. Harkins (driver), trooper D.D. Montgomery (cannoneer) and trooper H.B. Loker (front cannoneer and second driver). This lead car was a Staghound of the 18th troop of the D Squadron of the ‘Manitoba Dragoons’. The two crew members were killed when the armed car was shot at from the left front by an enemy Panzerfaust. Wilson and Soanes lie buried side to side at the Canadian Military Cemetery in Holten.

Memorial services
None known.

The monument was unveiled on 6 April 1990 by one of the two Dutch members of the ‘Twelfth Manitoba Dragoons Association’. The monument was erected to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Liberation.

More information
The monument is attached to the façade of the Renault showroom to the left of the entrance at the Stationsweg in Ommen.

Links