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Dear Ruud,
We are more then happy to assist you with everything you do
to keep the memory alive with regards to those young
soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom. We, my wife
Ellen "Grant" and myself have a long relationship with '
het Engels kerkhof " as we always called it. In the very
early days,my father Huub Konsten , was voorzitter van het
Engels graven committee en heel vaak maar zeker ieder jaar
gingen we allemaal naar de herdenking, de bevrijdings dag.
In those days we had no special connection until the Family
Grant came to stay in Hotel LEENDERS. Before that time,
since 1947 the family Grant use to come every year on
vacation and stayed with the VELRAETS family, Nic Velraets
was the secretaris op het gemeentehuis, For many years they,
as many as 7 or 8 family members, visited the grave and
enjoyed a vacation and may I add ..had a great time. Harry
Schobben use to drive taxi and took them all over the place,
TRIOR, KONGNINGSWINTER, THE EIFEL, GEILENKERCHEN to just
mention a few. When oma Velraets became of age , the family
came to stay at Hotel Leenders, oma Leenders was my mothers
mother, who was married to Huub Konsten. I Jos Konsten went
to the Hogere Hotelschool in Maastricht and during the
summer of 1964 , I helped out in the hotel during the
summer vacation and met .....Ellen. In 1965 I was invited
to come to Scotland for a vacation , 2 weeks became
4 weeks, 1 month became 2 month, to make a long story
short, Ellen and I married in August 1969 and as they say
the rest is history. Mrs Grant , Ellen mother always said ;
I lost a son and I gained a son in law.............. that's
live. Even after she passed away, the family kept coming to
Brunssum, particularly Johny Grant who was also in the Army
and faugh in BIRMA at the time Jimmy was in Germany
Now to Jimmy's story : He had been in Germany at the front
line for a long time and was about to come home for Xmas
1944. The US ARMY took over the front line but to the
Germans brought in more heavy equipment, the US soldiers
started to loose ground and Jimmy's division was called
upon to assist and in the process he lost his live. We
don't have any photographs but we will get in touch with the
rest of the family and I am sure that we will find some. I
also looked up your web site and are very pleased and we
will keep in touch to assist you in every way we can, thank
you very much and keep up the good work
I also would like to mention that Jimmy Grant had yet a
younger brother Kenny ,who was 18 at the time and also in
Germany and was the first to be told about Jimmy's death and
was subsequently pulled away from the front line as he
should never have been there, no two brothers should have
been at frontline combat. Kenny is still alive and kicking,
84 years young and very fit, the fittest of all out of a
family of 9, 3 girls and 6 boys
Regards
Ellen en Jos |
