On 21st September 1944, local farmer, Vincent Cantrill from Retford was the first British soldier to cross the Rhine in to Germany in an armoured reconnaissance tank. He was a member of the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (SRY). The crossing took place near Beek in Holland and during their time there Vincent spent time with a local Dutch family called the Arts.
Vincent sadly passed away in October 1990, aged 69, assumedly unaware of the importance of the sacrifices that were made, not only by him, but by millions of young men and women who served their country. He lied about his age when he enlisted because he wanted to go and join his mates. Most of us today could not imagine the horrors that he must have seen.
Earlier this year, two of Vincent’s sons, Danny and Robert, decided to plan a trip to the town of Beek to honour their father and witness where this historic crossing took place 80 years ago. Danny joined a Facebook group for the local town and wrote a post explaining who he was and mentioned their upcoming visit. He immediately received replies from people who knew of the SRY and the infamous crossing, and they have been invited to the 80th anniversary celebrations in September this year.
The story has been featured in Dutch National Newspaper De Gelderlander, and a member of the Arts family, Willy, who met Vincent during the war, has made contact and they are looking forward to uniting in September.
Every year this story is told the school children at De Biezenkamp primary school in Beek to keep alive the memory of the brave men and women who fought for their countries during the Second World War and it is important that we in Britain do the same.
There are likely many untold stories out there of what happened during the war, and the memories and lessons from these stories should be kept alive amongst the younger generations. This story is particularly momentous because of the local connection to Retford, with Vincent being born here and returning here after the war to return to farming and to start a family.