Amazing find: Son of missing soldier reunited with father’s fork

CEREMONY: Villagers in Houdetot gather for a special ceremony at which David Balfour was presented with his father Robert’s fork

Now & Then, a column by Angus Young

Son of Second World War soldier presented with poignant reminder of father who died defending France

A Hull man born a week after his father died in action during the Second World War has been presented with a remarkable personal reminder of him which had been lost for nearly 84 years.

In June 1940 Robert Balfour was killed as his regiment, the 1st Black Watch Battalion of the 51st Highland Division, attempted to defend the village of Houdetot in Northern France against advancing German forces.

British and French soldiers were based there defending the main route to the nearby coastal town of Saint Valery, identified as a possible evacuation point for Allied troops still left in France following the rescue of just over 338,000 men at Dunkirk a week earlier.

After two days of fierce fighting, the heavily outnumbered Allied troops were forced to surrender.

REMEMBERED: Private Robert Balfour with his wife Doris

The human toll had been heavy. Thirty Allied soldiers, including three officers, were recorded as being killed.

However, many more Highlanders including some from the Black Watch were also missing. Among them was Private Robert Balfour, whose body would never be found.

In a battle featuring heavy artillery shelling, tanks and the use of flame-throwers, no-one would ever know what exactly happened to the missing young Scots.

Originally from Fife, Robert had settled in Dover shortly before the war with his new wife Doris.

Having just given birth to their second son David, Doris would have to wait a year before receiving formal notification that her husband was presumed dead having been officially listed as missing in action.

British troops recorded as missing in action during those dark days of May and June 1940 are remembered at the Dunkirk Memorial, which specifically commemorates 4,528 soldiers from 110 units who died in the campaign and who have no known graves.

Private Balfour’s name appears on Column 66 at the Memorial.

As a teenager, David first visited the Memorial in 1957 when it was officially opened by the late Queen Mother and has been back six times since.

POIGNANT: David Balfour at the memorial to soldiers of the 51st Highland Division who died defending Houdetot

Earlier this summer, he returned to France again with his family, but this time for a very different reason after the incredible discovery of a personal possession belonging to his father.

Their visit to Houdetot had been organised by local officials and residents after three weathered metal forks were found semi-buried in the foundations of a house in the village during renovation work by the owner.

David, who lives in Sutton Park, east Hull, takes up the story: “The people who live in that part of Northern France have a great interest in and respect for the British soldiers who died there during the war.

“The forks were quickly identified as being British military issue. Two of them had the letters BW – Black Watch – stamped on them along with individual service numbers.

PRIZED POSSESSIONS: Private Robert Balfour’s fork and soil from the village of Houdetot

“Fortunately for us, a local writer and historian called Herve Savary along with some local officials then did the detective work and managed to track down Dad’s service number and matched it to the numbers on one of the forks.

“From there, they managed to find me through a lot of research at Ramsgate into family trees and that’s how the invitation came about.

“No-one really knows how or why the forks ended up where they did in the foundations of the old house so that remains a bit of a mystery.

“We do know the other stamped fork belonged to a lad called Collins who was captured by the Germans and spent five years in a Prison of War camp in Poland before coming home. As far as I’m aware, they haven’t yet been able to find any surviving relatives.

PRESENTATION: David Balfour receives his father Robert’s military issue fork

“It’s thought the unstamped fork could have been issued as a replacement to someone who had lost their original one so we will never know who it belonged to.”

His father’s fork, along with a glass jar containing soil from the village, was presented to David and witnessed by his family during a special ceremony held in Houdetot town hall in July.

It followed the laying of wreaths at a monument to the soldiers who died in the village in 1940 and the symbolic placing of white roses on the graves of Highlanders buried in the local churchyard by schoolchildren.

A local piper performed Scotland the Brave during the proceedings.

TRIBUTES: Helmets, flowers and a photograph of Private Robert Balfour and his family at the village memorial

David said: “It was a very emotional occasion. Seeing the fork for the first time and actually holding it in my hand was a very special moment.

“My mother did not know my father was dead for a year until she got a message from the Red Cross.

“Although she’s no longer with us, I would like to think she’s as pleased as we are about his fork being found after all these years.”

His mother later married a Polish naval officer who served with the Free Polish Navy during the war. As a result, he also has two half-sisters.

REMARKABLE MEMENTO: David Balfour with his father’s fork

After leaving school, David served an apprenticeship in Chatham Docks before joining the Merchant Navy. He met his late wife Irene on a visit to Hull and settled here, eventually working in shipbuilding and repairs at the Yorkshire Dry Dock on the River Hull.

Now retired, he’s added his father’s fork and the gift of the soil where he fell to a collection of commemoration memorabilia, which includes a typed invitation sent to his mother from the Imperial War Graves Commission on behalf of the late Queen Mother to attend the unveiling of the Dunkirk Memorial in 1957.

He said: “It means so much to have the fork here with me at home.

“I will always remember the kindness and respect shown by the people in Houdetot towards my father and his friends who lost their lives there.”