London Memorial today can confirm an additional serviceman was killed on July 3, 1944 when a German buzz bomb landed on Sloane Court in London. The known death toll due to the bombing is now 66 servicemen.
Private First Class Reidar C. G. Ogle was standing in front of 12 Sloane Court, the house in which he was billeted, within ten yards of the point of contact of the bomb with the street. According to a letter sent on October 6, 1945 by Edward F. Witsell, Acting Adjutant General, to a member of Congress, “a thorough search of the area revealed no trace of him and he was reported missing in action as of 3 July 1944. Subsequently, reports were received in the War Department which were considered sufficient to establish the fact that Private Ogle was killed in action on 3 July 1944, during the above mentioned enemy air raid on London.” London Memorial recently obtained the letter in response to a FOIA request.
According to the newly released documents, only PFC Ogle’s “nude torso remained.” There were “no marks of identification found.” Because PFC Ogle was the only solider unaccounted for in the area, the remains were linked to PFC Ogle.
Separately, London Memorial can also now confirm based on military records that the following servicemen who died on July 3, 1944 in the UK were not killed in the Sloane Court blast:
- Gresik, Herman E., Capt., 1313th Engineer General Service Regiment (died in Dorchester, England)
- Whitten, James C., 3076th Ordinance Motor Vehicle Distribution Company (died in Glasgow, Scotland in car crash)
- Foley Jr., John D., Cpl., 72nd Station Complement Squadron (died in Newport, Essex)
Pete Wood of London first identified the possibility that PFC Ogle might be connected to the July 3, 1944 bombing. London Memorial then filed a FOIA request with the Army Freedom of Information Act Office back in 2014.
-AS