[Rifleman62]

Just joined this forum. The following is a FF, air to ground. Does anyone have knowledge of this incident?

Assist in my research for the following seven Riflemen, who were killed/died of wounds, as the result of an accidental strafing by a Mustang in the town of Saint George-de-Groselliers, Normandy, France:


To provide some background information:
The seven with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles were taken prisoners by the Germans, possibly on D-Day or anytime between D-Day and June 11, 1944. Although the Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists dates of four deaths as June 8, 1944, they were definitely killed or wounded on June 11, 1944. I have an article that was written by a French priest, who attended the dead and dying. This article was written in 1964 and verifies the actual dates of the deaths.

POW's from the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, as well POW's from the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa were marching in a column, four abreast, and behind the Germans, when the four Mustangs appeared. The first Mustang strafed the column. One of the POW's, reportedly, Sgt. Bob Higgins, North Novas, waved his jacket and the other Mustangs left without further shooting.

Thirty POW's were injured; of these, ten were killed and were buried in the civil cemetery in Saint Georges-de-Groselliers; and four others died as results of their wounds; three of the four were buried in the civil cemetery in La Chapelle au Moine, Normandy. A fourth who died of wounds was buried in a location yet unknown. The 14 POW's were eventually buried at the Bretteville-Sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery, in Calvados, France.

The townspeople took great care to remove ID's and anything the men had in their pockets, and the mayor and his staff recorded each item, referencing this information to specific graves which had been dug in the civil cemetery. The records and items were kept until the war ended and the graves concentration units arrived in the area and then everything was handed over to the graves units.