Gedenksteen Jachthuislaan English

This memorial stone was unveiled on 10 May 2026.
It is a tribute to 13 fallen soldiers of the British 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division, nicknamed the 'Polar Bears'.
On 7 May 1945 this military unit liberated Soest, Baarn and Hilversum, among others.
Soldiers of the Leicestershire Regiment of this division were tasked with the disarming of the German troops stationed in a wider area around Hilversum.On 10 May 1945,
a tragedy unfolded in this field. German troops came to surrender their weaponry. In the process, an anti-tank mine exploded amidst the other ammunition.
Thirteen members of the Polar Bears were killed instantly.
They were buried on 12 May 1945 at the Noorderbegraafplaats in Hilversum.
They are solemnly commemorated there every year on 7 May.

Private Thomas VH Atkin - 28 years
Corporal Jack Fisher – 25 years
Private Henry Hall – 28 years
Private Lawrence C Hart – 24 years
Lance Sergeant Owen W Hartshorn – 24 years
Private Robert HC Hyde – 23 years
Private Vernon G Langley – 27 years
Private Edward Obeney – 21 years
Private Samuel Onion - 31 years
Private Donald Wain - 27 years
Lance Corporal Roy Walley - 29 years
Corporal Lewis Whitehall - 32 years
Private Ronald Wood - 26 years
 

Locatie
Jachthuislaan Soest 

War Tragedy at Soestdijk Without a Monument, article in magazine "Van Zoys tot Soest", Historische Vereniging Soest/Soesterberg