Dutch couple search for family of Carlisle WW2 RAF serviceman

Herman and Rita Harmsen adopted the grave of Robert Goulding in March 2023 and are now searching for his family, who they believe may be in his birthplace.

P/O Goulding was born on January 25, 1920 to parents John W Goulding and Annie Bateman who were living at 24 Petteril Street at the time.

Robert had three siblings, who after all getting married in Carlisle were, Alice Garnett, Annie Smith, and Majorie Thomson.

All three of Robert's siblings also had children who were born in Carlisle in the 1950s.

His grandparents, Robert and Margaret Goulding are buried at Caldbeck in a grave that is also adorned with Robert's name, marking his sacrifice in the global conflict.

Further information shows that Robert attended Trinity School in the 1930s when it was known as Creighton School and studied there between 1931 and November 1935 when he left to become a provincial clerk.

His name features on the school's Second World War memorial. 

Building on a passion for the history of World War II Herman and Rita explained how they adopted Robert's grave alongside three others at the Hardenburg General Cemetery.

A memorial featuring Robert's name and crew at the Hardenburg General Cemetery (Image: Rita Harmsen)

Rita Harmsen said: "We do a lot of World War II research.

"Last year in March we went to Normandy and we had a guide and he adopted the grave of an American soldier, so we asked him if we could also adopt the graves of the Commonwealth and he did not know that.

"So we searched and late last year I found information that you can also adopt from the Commonwealth and that is in our living place."

Whilst serving for the Yorkshire-based Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War, Robert took part in a combat operation over the Netherlands on July 6, 1941, with his '10 Squadron' which consisted of 94 bombers.

On this night, his Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V aircraft was shot down. However, his fate was not to be ascertained for months to come.

Six days after his plane's disappearance, on July 12, 1941, Robert and his crew were declared missing.

Five months later, on November 29, 1941, he was pronounced killed in action.

Rita and Herman have only been caring for Robert's grave since last week and have seen their search for Robert's family 'snowball'.

"Not very long, we started last week and I did a call in a Facebook group and we found a madam called Jan Travers and she contacted me about her own research.

"It has been a fast week but we are very happy with it," she said. 

"We call it here a 'snowball effect'," Herman chuckled. 

Rita and Herman have already had success finding the family of Sergeant Duncan Morrison who was killed alongside Robert over Coevorden near Hardenburg.

As they intensify their search for Robert's family, they explained why they believe this mission is so important

"We wanted to know, we only have the date of the crashing," Rita said.

"We do not have a birth date, we don't have any information about the family.

"Those guys are only 21 and died before getting our freedom again and we have a book called Namen Krijgen een Gezicht, which means in English, Names Getting a Face Again.

"You can always call a name but when you have a face you can almost touch them," Herman added.

"We want to try to get a picture, birthdays, and one day family - so we can say that he is taken care of," Rita stated.