STORY
A previously unidentified British soldier buried in the Netherlands has been named as Sheffield-born Lance Corporal Ronald Smirthwaite. His grave at Jonkerbos War Cemetery has been rededicated in his name, 81 years after he was killed during the final months of the Second World War.
Smirthwaite joined the Army in May 1944 and initially served in the General Service Corps as a blacksmith’s striker. Military records show that he was reported missing and presumed killed following fierce fighting on 22 February 1945. Investigators later established that he had been captured alive but seriously wounded and did not survive an attempted escape. His body was recovered and buried before later being reinterred as an unknown soldier.
The identification followed research examined by the Ministry of Defence and the National Army Museum after evidence was submitted by an officer in the Royal Netherlands Army and a member of the public. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has replaced the unidentified headstone with one bearing Smirthwaite’s name, while his previous commemoration had been on the Groesbeek Memorial for service personnel with no known grave.