Private Frederick William Rhodes

Born in 1924 in the Parish of Sculcoates on the outskirts of Hull to parents Frederick William and Edith. Frederick was the older brother to two sisters Edith and Marjorie. 
 
On enlisting into the Army, Frederick was eventually accepted by the Army Air Corps, and on completion of his training was posted to the 156th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, possibly joining the Battalion in Italy before it returned to the UK for preperations for the forthcoming invasion of North West Europe.
 
After the disapointment of not being including in the plans for Operation Overlord, and after 11 subsequent operations being cancelled, the Battalion, along with the remainder of the 4th Parachute Brigade, 1st Airborne Division was informed that it would be dropping into Holland as part of Operation Market Garden. On the 18th September 1944 the Battalion parachuted onto the Ginkel Heath area outside of Arnhem as part of the Second day airlifts. Tasked with advancing to the Bridge in support of the 2nd Battalion, the four companies of the Battalion met fierce German opposition. With the Battalion nearly decimated it attempted on 20th September to fall back across the railway line in order to reach the rest of the Division, who by this time were starting to form a defensive perimeter around the Hartenstein Hotel in Oosterbeek. From here the Division retreated across the Rhine during the evening of  25-26th September.
 
It is not know if Frederick was wounded, but was captured during the battles in and around Oosterbeek. Now a Prisoner of War, he was issued the POW number 90810, eventually arriving at Stalag IV-B in the Muhlberg / Elbe region of Germany. On 13th April 1945, along with his fellow 156th Battalion Paratrooper, Private Albert Leslie Williams (5631083), he attempted an escape during which both soldiers where shot and killed.
 
Private Frederick William Rhodes was later interred in the Berlin 1939 - 1945 War Cemetery where he is remembered with honour.

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