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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

William Ransom Breithaupt

In memory of:

Flying Officer William Ransom Breithaupt

September 13, 1944

Military Service


Service Number:

J/17271

Age:

24

Force:

Air Force

Unit:

Royal Canadian Air Force

Division:

239 (R.A.F.) Sqdn

Honours and Awards:

Distinguished Flying Cross

Additional Information


Son of William Walter and Gertrude Hughes Breithaupt, of York Mills, Ontario.

Commemorated on Page 257 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:

Joint grave 18. B. 21-22.

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– From the Toronto Star June 1942. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star June 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star July 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star July 1945. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star July 1945. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Kitchener Public Library collection of World War Two Soldier Information Cards. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Telegram 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Telegram July 1945. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of William Breithaupt– William "Bright Eyes" Breithaupt standing in front of De Havilland Mosquito
  • Newspaper Clipping
  • Newspaper Clipping– Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

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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