Notes
Born 28 September 1913 St Kilda, Victoria. Son of Maurice PATKIN & Marie Estelle née SOLOMONS Stradbroke Avenue, Brighton. Husband of Claire née BENJAMIN. Father of Rex & Barry. "Statements were obtained from Herr Harmann the present Burgermeister of Altmerdingsen, and Herr Warmbold, the local grave digger who was present at the time of the incident. Herr Harmann stated that in early January 1944 (he was not certain of the exact date) a four engined bomber approached the village of Kraetze ( Map Ref. 53 x 6431) from the direction of Berlin and crashed in a field 400 yards west of Atmerdingsen. The aircraft exploded on impact, and so violent was this that roofs and windows of nearby houses were shattered. Herr Warmbold confirmed the above information, and was able to supply the exact date of the incident. He added, that one of the house had been set on fire by an incendiary bomb thrown from the aircraft by the force of the explosion. An investigation carried out by the local forces the following day revealed that the aircraft had lost a wing 2 Km’s east of the village of Kraetze and it was this which had apparently caused it to spin in. The crater caused by the impact was approximately 25 yards in diameter. A detachment of the Luftwaffe from Celle ( Map Ref. L. 53 x 5950) were responsible for the ultimate removal of the wreckage, and disposal of the bodies."
John Monash (Monasch) born
in Melbourne, Australia on 27 June 1865, the son of
German Polish Jewish migrants, can be researched in any
military history encyclopaedia or in fact by just
‘Googling’ his name on the internet. His history
and list of achievements are long and far too many to detail
in this brief summary. However, might I say that reading his
history is well worth the effort and I can assure you that
his deeds will amaze you. I have found that the deeds are
better labelled on more than one man and in more than one
lifetime.
An
announcement was made in the weeks leading up to the
Centenary of ANZAC by Judy Landau, President VAJEX Aust.
She stated that it gave her great delight to announce
that VAJEX Aust (Victorian Association of Jewish Ex
& Servicemen & Women Australia Inc) has
successfully raised the required funds to build a new
Victorian Jewish Memorial after the style of the
historic Memorial located in the Jewish section of the
Melbourne General Cemetery. After an extensive two year
process, Judy has single-handedly sought letters of
support, raised the funds, and obtained approval from
the City of Port Phillip.
