Holtan, Reidar Scott
Officially reported died of wounds: Captain Reidar Scott Holtan R.A.M.C. British Medical Journal 24 Feb. 1945
Biographical
| Surname(s) | Holtan |
|---|---|
| First name(s) | Reidar Scott |
| Family details | Son of David and Ida Holtan. husband of Mary Frances Holtan, of Stratford-on-Avon |
| College | St Thomas' Hospital |
| Dates at college | 1931-1938 |
| Dept / course | Conjoint |
| Qualifications | L.M.S.S.A. |
| Military unit | Royal Army Medical Corps, attd. Airborne Forces |
| Service number | 246803 |
| War / conflict | World War Two (1939-1945) |
| Date of death | 19-Aug-44 |
| Age at death | 32 |
| Rank at death | Captain |
| Cause of death | He was killed in a P.O.W. train by an allied aircraft |
| Burial place | Villeneuve-St. Georges Old Communal Cemetery |
| Notes | Captain Holtan was the Medical Officer for the 8th Parachute Battalion part of the 6th Airborne Division, flew from Blakehill Farm on the 5th June 1944 with the rest of 8th Parachute Battalion in a Dakota aircraft flown by 233 Squadron of RAF 46 Group. He was not dropped on the Drop Zone and was captured soon after landing in Normandy. 'At 3.30 am the first prisoners of war were brought into Feuchtinger’s headquarters. A medical officer and three corporals, they were all big men with blackened faces who refused to say a word; the officer was the M.O. of 8th Parachute Battalion, Captain Holder [HOLTAN], who supposed to have landed on DZ K, but had been dropped to far to the south.' [p. 233 Crookenden, Napier Dropzone Normandy, Ian Allan, 1976]. He was shot in a prisoner of war train by the RAF and died of his wounds on the 19.8.44. In 1931 his home address was Sutton Lodge, Sutton, Surrey |
| Sources | St Thomas’ s Hospital Medical School Records, King’ s College London Archives; Commonwealth War Graves Commission; additional information contributed by Hugo Mitchell. |