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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Edward Thomas Coles

In memory of:

Flying Officer Edward Thomas Coles

November 16, 1944

Military Service


Service Number:

J/35865

Age:

21

Force:

Air Force

Unit:

Royal Canadian Air Force

Division:

166 (R.A.F.) Sqdn

Additional Information


Son of Thomas H. Coles and Margaret Jean Coles, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Commemorated on Page 276 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:
Grave Reference:

Coll. grave 11. A. 22-24.

Location:

Rheinberg is 24 kilometres north of Krefeld and 13 kilometres south of Wesel, in the locality of Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal. The cemetery is 3 kilometres south of the centre of the town of Rheinberg on the road to Kamp Lintfort. From the motorway 57, turn off at Rheinberg and at the T junction follow the 510 in the direction Kamp Lintfort. The cemetery is a short way along this road on the right.

The site of Rheinberg War Cemetery was chosen in April 1946 by the Army Graves Service for the assembly of Commonwealth graves recovered from numerous German cemeteries in the area. The majority of those now buried in the cemetery were airmen, whose graves were brought in from Dusseldorf, Krefeld, Munchen-Gladbach, Essen, Aachen and Dortmund; 450 graves were from Cologne alone. The men of the other fighting services buried here mostly lost their lives during the battle of the Rhineland, or in the advance from the Rhine to the Elbe.

There are now 3,326 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated at Rheinberg War Cemetery. 156 of the burials are unidentified. There are also nine war graves of other nationalities, most of them Polish.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Newspaper Clipping– Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper Clipping– Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Memorial– Father J P Lardie's comments as inscribed on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Memorial– Flying Officer Edward Thomas Coles is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Memorial– Flying Officer Edward Thomas Coles is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Photo of Edward Thomas Coles– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of Edward Thomas Coles– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of Edward Thomas Coles– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of Edward Thomas Coles– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of Edward Thomas Coles– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Other– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Other– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Other– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Other– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Other– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Other– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Other– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Other– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star December 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Telegram December 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Telegram September 1945. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper Clipping– Source:  Globe and Mail December 28, 1944
  • Group Photo– Pilot; Ted Coles, Bomb Aimer; Ralph Carrol, Navigator; Ken Farrow, Tail Gunner; Eb Leaman, Wireless Operator; Ralph Schnaufer, Mid Upper Gunner Neil Smith,
Flight Engineer;  David Orme is missing from this photo
  • Photo of Edward Ted Coles
  • Original Grave Markers– Common graves at crash site. Photo taken by Neil Smith's brother, Harry, 17 Dec 1945.
  • Entrance to the Cemetery– Entrance, Rheinberg cemetery.
  • Grave Markers– Markers for three common graves, Rheinberg cemetery.
  • Photo of Edward Thomas Coles– Ted our Skipper - Dang good Pilot

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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