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(The following letter is from the Dec. 2002 issue of Family History Magazine.) THE BRAVEST MAN AT ARNHEM Lt. John A. Wellbelove Further to your most interesting article on the fate of 13 Platoon, B Company, 1st Border Regiment at Arnhem in September’s (2002) issue, I have more information about Platoon Commander Lt. John A. Wellbelove. He was a Canadian Officer who had been loaned to the British Army under the Canloan scheme. In the history of the scheme, written by Wilfred I. Smith, he was observed by an adjacent Platoon Commander, A. Wilson, during the final stages of the defence of the bridgehead. In a letter to the author, written in 1987, Wilson described the death of this Canadian Officer, whom he regarded as "the bravest man at Arnhem. Wellbelove’s platoon was on our left. We were being attacked by the Herman Goering Officer Corps behind four German tanks. The only way the tanks could get at us was up the short road to the restaurant, but coming through the trees were hundreds of Germans. Four of us were on the left-hand side of the restaurant with Wellbelove approximately 50 yards on our left. "When they got to within 30 yards of us, our Bren jammed and Lt. Barnes’ batman was shot between the eyes. To our left we could hear Wellbelove encouraging his lads and firing his Sten gun. We jumped over the parapet as the Germans came around the side. We could still hear Wellbelove shouting :’Come on you Heine bastards!’. It was the first time I had ever heard him swear. He was a perfect gentleman and it must have upset him seeing his lads slaughtered. He kept firing his Sten until he was overrun. "You can’t do anymore than that. God knows how many Germans he killed before they got him. Over the years I’ve told my son about him and what a brave chap he was. No braver man has ever came out of Canada. He was a credit to his country and regiment." The Commonwealth War Graves’ Debt of Honour Register indicates that Lieutenant John Arthur Wellbelove, CDN/318 and "B" Coy 1st (Airborne) Bn. Border Regiment, died on Thursday 21st September1944, aged 24. His parents were John and Mary Eva Wellbelove, of Eston, Saskatchewan. Donald S. McLean,
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Grave stone photo courtesy of Frans van Cappellen. Wellbelove Bay Saskatchewan Geographic Names Board, Canada, has named 3,913 northern lakes, peninsulas, bays, rivers and islands after those who have served for Canada. Honouring the six who died in World War II completes the Saskatchewan Geo-Memorial Project, which began in 1947. Included is John Wellbelove who has a bay named in his honour :- Wellbelove Bay, Map Sheet 064L10, Lat 58˚37', Long 102˚58'.
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