His family was given the curb chain of the English Aviator

Returning to his family 75 years after the death of Sergeant Frederick Harold Hopkot’s silver bracelet aviator, Natziller (Boss-Rin) was hanged by the Nazis in 1944 at the Strutf concentration camp. On Sunday, September 12, a bracelet was officially presented to the soldier’s family by the Armed Forces’ Ministerial Representative Geneva Dorusek.

A bracelet for memory

Neatly stored in a case, this silver curb chain was first donated by the pilot’s uncles before he left for World War II. “They gave me a bracelet, with Royal Air Force wings, engraved with my name and number as a gift for finishing my classes“, The soldier wrote in a letter to his parents on July 29, 1943.

Lines read to the Assembly before the Sergeant’s son-in-law Paul Hubcutt took control. “We collected it so well, we did a lot of research and found out that it was our uncle Fredin, so it is very good that this bracelet is coming back to our family.The retiree smiles close to his comrade.

A sacred moment underlined by the Minister of the Armed Forces Geneva Toryusek: “We will never give the torturers a memorable victory … The curb chain I just gave to the Hubbut family is one of the clearest signs of this.”

An event that moved Anna Bernard, who invented the bracelet in 2018 when she had fake ashes. “This is a climax, there are a lot of emotions and I am very happy to take their bracelet back to the UK.“, The young woman declares.

Family handover

Crossing hands from the curb is almost accidental. Anna Bernard stumbles upon it while weeding the site. “We had to water the plants, we fell down the garden pipe and went down into the ash pit, a little chain was sticking … that’s where I found the bracelet“, The temporary worker recalled.

It reads the sergeant’s first and last name, RAF symbol and a number. Curb chain silver, reduces its oxidation. After analysis, it is noteworthy that the jewelry is very personal, and does not come from the Royal Air Force. “We had to identify the family, thanks to social networks, we were able to contact the Association of British SoldiersGuillaume de Antlov, director of the former Strutoff camp, recalled.

Until then, it had been officially announced that Frederick Harold Habgood was missing by the British Army. Creates a link to a letter sent by his family, where he describes the bracelet, which he found on the strut. “We, his family, were fully aware of his tragic death there.Soldier’s son-in-law Paul Hubcut says.

To Yorkshire or Strutoff

75 years ago, Sergeant Hubbood departed from an airport in Yorkshire, England. At the Avro Lancaster bombing, he was about to destroy a Bosch factory located in Stuttgart.

His mission ended above Strasbourg, where a German plane struck him on the wing. His plane crashed on July 28, 1944, in the Otrot sector of Pas-Rin. The sergeant escaped the attack, but his flight ended quickly. “He was strictly condemned and later arrested by the Gestapo. Transferred to Strutof and executed on July 31, 1944“, Details Geneva Doryusek.

The bracelet has now been returned to the family of a soldier who donated it to the Royal Air Force Museum in England for the benefit of the general public.