News - Ice hell secrets revealed at last (Ecclesfield)

THE full story of the lonely death of a Sheffield soldier in the frozen wastes of wartime Iceland is set to be revealed in a new TV documentary.

Arthur Rollinson, from Ecclesfield, was just 23 when he died of hypothermia after getting lost while on a routine mountain warfare exercise in January 1942.

He was known to be one of eight men from the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry who perished when they were caught in a blizzard.

By a tragic irony, safety was little more than half a mile away.

Now a complete account of the tragedy - and the heroism which led to 48 other men in their unit being miraculously rescued - is to be told in a two-part TV series which is being filmed by an Icelandic film crew.

They have just completed a visit to Sheffield to meet Arthur’s relatives, who two years ago paid an emotional pilgrimage to the remote cemetery where Arthur is buried.

Nephews Gerald and Ian Smart were amazed to discover that they only knew a small part of what happened on that fateful day nearly 70 years ago.

“We were astonished by what the film’s director Sturla Palsson told us - from being a tragic story it’s now also a heroic one,” Gerald said.

Sturla found that an everyday exercise became perilous when a fierce storm blew in and one of the officers in charge slipped and broke his leg - later dying of exposure.

“They were a group of 60 men but after the accident they dispersed and wandered in the dark without direction,” he said.

“Eight young men lost their lives, including Arthur, while four more managed to get to safety on their own.

“The rescue of the remaining 48 was nothing less than a miracle.

“It was by mere coincidence that people from a remote farm stumbled upon an exhausted soldier a short distance from their home. The farmers then spent the night looking for more survivors on the mountain side.

“The farmer’s wife looked after those who were brought to safety,” Sturla said.

“Two brothers bore the burden of carrying many of the unconscious men to safety.

“One was only 14, and he is still with us.”

Now Sturla and his team are searching for other survivors from that night, or for their relatives, most of whom are believed to have come from the Sheffield and South Yorkshire area.

“Arthur’s family are our only connection to a victim of this ordeal.

“We are still looking for survivors, their relatives or any other relatives of the dead,” he said.

Gerald, aged 67, said he believed the surviving brother deserved some kind of recognition for his heroism.

“What they did that night was incredible, to save so many of those men.

“When we went over there we knew absolutely nothing about it.”

Gerald said he and Ian now hoped to go to the film’s premiere in Iceland next year.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/ice_hell_secrets_revealed_at_last_1_4025429

A MUSEUM which commemorates soldiers who served in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) Museum will be officially re-opened tomorrow after a major refurbishment.

Brigadier Roger Preston, chairman of the KOYLI trustees will unveil the £230,000 revamp at 11.30am.

The museum, which is based in Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery on Chequer Road, charts the history of the famous Yorkshire regiment whose success at the decisive Battle of Minden in 1759 is honoured on Yorkshire Day each year.

Visitors can follow the origin of the Regiment to its amalgamation with the Rifles, find out why people joined the Regiment, what life was like for the families of the soldiers and just what the First World War Tommy had to endure in the reconstructed trench section.

New features of the museum include interactive displays and audio listening posts, where visitors can listen to diary extracts from the Officers and soldiers of the KOYLI, as well as new displays including items from the World Cultures collection, such as silks and other objects from India, to give visitors more insight into the experiences of the regiment.

The recently completed re-design was paid for with a grant of £204,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and donations from the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Trustees and the Friends of Doncaster Museums.

The KOYLI Museum has free admission and is open Monday to Saturday 10am until 5pm.

From: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/around-yorkshire/local-stories/regiment_s_showcase_to_reopen_after_refit_1_3823236

Event - Army display aims to be sure fire hit (KOYLI Doncaster)

The glorious history of Doncaster’s adopted regiment was brought to life when re-enactors donned the uniforms from famous campaigns to mark the re-opening of a museum.

Visitors to the Chequer Road museum were able to get close to the uniforms and weapons used by Yorkshire soldiers in the Napoleonic and First World War.

They were typical of troops who served over the 250-year history of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, whose regimental museum within Doncaster Museum has just benefited from a £230,000 revamp.

Formed in 1755, the regiment was known until 1881 as the 51st Regiment of Foot when it was renamed KOYLI.

Its place in Yorkshire’s history was won at the Battle of Minden in Hanover in 1759, when the infantry ensured victory by beating off a French cavalry charge.

On that day, August 1, the victorious 51st soldiers placed white roses in their caps and that is why Yorkshire Day - known as Minden Day to the regiment - is celebrated on the same day.

The re-design of the exhibits, following a generous grant of £204,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, as well as donations from the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Trustees and the Friends of Doncaster Museum, is almost complete and is bound to attract more visitors.

It traces the regimental history from the 18th century to the peak of its strength in the First World War, when manpower was increased to nine battalions and KOYLI men won eight Victoria Cross medals for bravery, and thereafter in the 1939-45 war and peacekeeping duties.

One of the new displays is a recreation of a trench dugout from the 1914-18 war, showing just what the ‘Tommy’ had to endure in the mud of Flanders.

Other new features include interactive displays and audio listening posts, where visitors can listen to diary extracts from the officers and soldiers of the KOYLI.

Also on display are items from the World Cultures collection, such as silks and other objects from India, to give visitors more insight into the experiences of the regiment during overseas service.

The KOYLI Museum is now open to the public, but an official formal opening is planned for the morning of Saturday, October 1, by the Mayor of Doncaster, and Brigadier Roger Preston, chairman of the KOYLI Trustees.

The celebrations will include a short display by the Cadet Bugle Section of their successor regiment, The Rifles, and re-enactors.

From: http://www.goolecourier.co.uk/lifestyle/reviews/army_display_aims_to_be_sure_fire_hit_1_3772467