Raymond Meyrick Bussell

Lance Sergeant School Officer Training Corps, Blundell’s School

31 Jan 1937 Entered The Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst for Regular Army officer training.

26 Aug 1937 Commissioned into the Dorset Regiment as Second Lieutenant

8 Dec 1937 While stationed with the 2nd Battalion, Dorset Regiment at Dover, he took part in a Battalion boxing meet at the Grand Shaft gymnasium, fighting in the light heavyweight class and losing to a Private Wilkins on points.

15 Mar 1938 The 2nd Battalion moved to Oudenarde Barracks, North Camp, Aldershot.

17 Jun 1939 At the Battalion Sports Day at North Camp, Aldershot, he came first in the shot out and second in the 120 yard hurdles and the pole vault while serving with 2nd Battalion The Dorset Regiment.

The 2nd battalion were sent to France in Sep 1939 as part of the British Expeditionary Force. During the retreat to Dunkirk, they were ordered to hold the La Bassée canal, losing over half their strength killed, wounded or captured. 245 survivors made it back to the England.

26 Aug 1940 promoted Substantive Lieutenant

29 Sep 1940 Appointed Scout Section Officer Dorset Scout Section, Auxiliary Units. In the Army List for the first quarter of 1941, he is recorded as being Specially Employed, which was commonly the case for those posted to Auxiliary Units.

5 Sep 1941 Joined 8th Battalion, The Dorset Regiment, stationed on beach defence in Dorset. Second Lieutenant Weaver had been posted to the Scout Section two days earlier, giving Lieutenant Bussell time to hand over to his replacement.

Dec 1941 Appointed to command 347 Battery, 105th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, which was formed from the 8th Battalion, The Dorset Regiment. 

4 Apr 1942 Posted to 5th Battalion, The Dorset Regiment at Dover.

16 Jan 1943 Attached to 10th Cameronians. Embarked at Liverpool for North Africa.

13 Apr 1943 Arrived North Africa. Two weeks later is was hospitalised for most of May. 

9 Jun 1943 Posted to H Force, as an unattached reinforcement officer (to replace casualties as required), for the invasion of Sicily.

26 Aug 1943 Posted as replacement to 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment. They were an air landing unit, trained for glider operations and part of 1st Airborne Division. 

Platoon commander, A Company during the invasion of the Italian mainland.

27th Nov 1943 The battalion embarked for the UK.

30 Nov 1943 Promoted Captain and appointed Adjutant

8 May 1944 Transferred to 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment

May 1944 Attended Parachute Training Course 116 at RAF Ringway.

30 May 1944 Appointed Platoon Commander No.1 Platoon, A Company,

17 Sep 1944 Dropped at Arnhem

Of his 17 man stick, two would be killed, two escape back across the Rhine and the rest were taken prisoner. Lieutenant Bussell was wounded in the arm on the evening of the landings as his Battalion tried to move towards the bridge from their drop zone west of Arnhem.

25 Sep 1944 Together with Lieutenant Michael Cambier he escaped from a cattle truck as the Arnhem prisoners were being transferred to Prisoner of War camps. The two men were sheltered by Dutch villagers from Loo. They fed them, provided civilian clothes and even arranged a doctor to visit and dress their wounds. On 1 Oct they set off for the British lines with a young Dutchman as their guide. The next morning, they were unluckily spotted by a passing German Army driver who took them to the Police station at Gorssel. The senior Dutch Police officer present learnt that they were escaped prisoners from their guide. He let the Dutch lad go, arguing his papers were in order. For this act of mercy, undoubtedly saving the lad’s  life, the policeman would spend the rest of the war in a concentration camp. When the German Sicherheitsdienst (SD) arrived, they took the prisoners back to their headquarters for interrogation. The SD second in command, Ludwig Heinemann decided almost immediately to execute the two officers, even though colleagues thought they should be treated as prisoners of war. With their hands bound they were taken outside and shot, being buried in an unmarked grave.

After the war, information about the burial came to light from a Dutchman working with the SD. An investigation established the identities of the men, and the sequence of events. Heinemann had also murdered many Dutch civilians and therefore he was tried in a Dutch court for War Crimes. Found guilty he was executed by firing squad on 10 Feb 1947. The bodies of the two men were exhumed and reburied in Vorden General Cemetery.