Grave of East Lothian soldier tended to for 75 years in Netherlands

David and Sharon Montgomery, of The Hayloft, Woodside, Gladsmuir, were “absolutely stunned” to discover that Willemien Rieken had faithfully looked after the final resting place of Trooper William Edmond since she was nine.

She recently passed away at the age of 85 and was one of the last two known Flower Children from 1945 who laid floral tributes on the graves of fallen soldiers after the end of the Second World War.

In the mid-1960s, Trooper Edmond’s widow Janet, known as Netta, married David’s widowed father, Walter Montgomery. She became mum to David, who was five, and his older sister Shona, raising them as if they were her own children at the family home on West Holmes Gardens, Musselburgh.

David said: “Like a lot of people who had come through dark times during the war, she almost never talked about William or what had happened to him. The family were aware that he had been killed in action at Arnhem but that was all.”

Trooper Edmond, 27, was a trained parachutist and, in 1944, was a member of the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron of the Reconnaissance Corps.

His unit had been detailed to take part in Operation Market Garden – a plan to seize and hold bridges over the major waterways in the Netherlands and then enter Germany. The 1st Airborne Division was heading for the most northerly bridge over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem.

Niall Cherry, secretary of the Arnhem 1944 Fellowship, said: “On the afternoon of September 17, 1944, the jeeps with which the squadron was equipped came by glider, with the majority of the men parachuting in. After marrying up the squadron, they moved along the Johannahoeveweg in Wolfheze, which runs to the north of the Arnhem-Utrecht railway.

“Sadly, lying in wait for them were a few Germans from the SS-Panzer Grenadier Ausbildungs und Ersatztalion 16. They ambushed the squadron close by a culvert about 800 yards from the village of Wolfheze.”

Wounded, Trooper Edmond was taken to the Main Dressing Station of 181st Airlanding Field Ambulance RAMC which had set up at No 9 Duitsekampweg in Wolfheze.

Sadly, he died there that day and was buried in the back garden.

After the war his body, together with others of the squadron who had died in the ambush, was exhumed and buried in the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery.

It was here in 1945 that Willemien was one of a number of local children who, during a service on the Sunday closest to September 17, laid flowers on every grave in the cemetery. This service and flower-laying has happened every year. She was given Trooper Edmond’s grave to maintain and looked after it ever since.

In 1999, Trooper Edmond was one of the soldiers commemorated on the new war memorial in Musselburgh, which brought back memories for Netta, who died the following year. David’s father had passed away in 1983.

Inspired by Sharon’s research into the First World War memorial at Gladsmuir in 2013 for events to mark its centenary, David began his own investigations into Trooper Edmond.

By coincidence, the couple had already had plans to holiday in the Netherlands that year so they decided to make a pilgrimage to Wolfheze to walk the route that Trooper Edmond and his comrades had taken, see where he fell and the former field hospital where he was initially buried. They also visited the military cemetery at Oosterbeek to lay flowers, both to remember him and for Netta.

Since finding out about Trooper Edmond’s story, the couple dedicate a cross to him in the Garden of Remembrance at Princes Street Gardens each year.

The couple heard about Willemien’s loyalty to Trooper Edmond from news reports of her death.

David said: “There had been a lot of publicity in the media last September as the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem approached but, unfortunately, we were on holiday in France at the time and completely missed it.

“Sadly, this means that we never met or got the chance to thank her.

“We feel tremendously grateful to Willemien and dearly wish we could have thanked her in person.”

The couple said it would have meant a “huge amount” to Netta to have known he was being remembered and his grave looked after with such care for all these years.

David added: “We send our very sincere condolences to Willemien’s family, together with our warmest thanks for all she did for William throughout her life.

“Thanks also to Niall Cherry, we have made contact with another of the Flower Children and we hope in time to be able to thank Willemien’s family in person.”

Mr Cherry said: “Willemien was well known to many Arnhem veterans, their families and supporters. I have known her for nearly 30 years and she was full of life and immensely proud of what the British did in 1944. It is a very sad loss. She was a life member of the Arnhem 1944 Fellowship and we regret her passing.”