Ipswich hero Reginald Makeham killed by Hitler remembered

This month marks the 112th anniversary of the birth of Reginald Henry Makeham. However, Reginald never lived to see most of his milestone birthdays, after being executed on the orders of Hitler when he was just 28.

Born on July 28, 1914, Reginald grew up in Spring Road, Ipswich, alongside sister Katherine and brother Derrick.

Their father, Reginald Senior, had served in the First World War, and instilled values of integrity, responsibility, and duty into his young son which remained with him throughout his life.  

As a result, when war was declared in 1939, Reginald, now 25 and newly married, was quick to sign up.

Private Reginald Makeham earned a reputation for discipline, determination and courage. (Image: Commando Veterans Archive)

Schoolchildren gather at the war graves in Christchurch Park on Armistice Day last year. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Local School children gather at Ipswich WWI & WWII War Graves to commemorate Armistice Day (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Private Makeham, as he became, was a proud and respected member of the Gordon Highlanders. His reputation for determination and discipline saw him selected for the No 2 Commando, one of Britain's elite special forces units which undertook some of the most dangerous operations of the war.

In September 1942, Reginald took part in Operation Musketoon, a daring commando raid against an electricity generating station at Glomfjord in German-occupied Norway.

After days of hardship and close encounters with German patrols, the unit launched an attack on the night of September 20.

Explosives were planted throughout the facility – after the Norwegian workers were helped to safety – and commandos inflicted such severe damage that the plant remained out of action for the remainder of the war.

Desperate to avoid capture from the furious German forces, the commando split into two. While one group made it to the neutral Sweden, the other, containing Reginald, was captured.

The Sachsenhausen British and Commonwealth Memorial in Germany, with Reginald Makeham's name shown on the right hand side. (Image: Woose / John Dekhane)

The Prince and Princess of Wales (then the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) with camp survivor Manfred Goldberg during their visit to the former Nazi concentration camp at Stutthof, near Gdansk. (Image: Bruce Adams/Daily Mail/PA Wire)

The timing was pivotal for by this time, Hitler had issued his infamous Commando Order, which declared that all captured Allied Commandos were to be executed immediately.

After being held at Colditz Castle and later transferred to SS Headquarters in Berlin, Reginald and his fellow commandos were sent to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, near Oranienburg.

On the morning of October 23, 1942, they were led outside for execution. One by one, they were shot with a single bullet to the back of the neck.

Today, Reginald is remembered as hero in his hometown of Ipswich. His name is also honoured in Sidlesham and Keswick, as well as on the Scottish National Roll of Honour housed within Edinburgh Castle and on a memorial at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Germany. He and his fallen comrades are commemorated on the Brookwood 1939–1945 Memorial in Surrey.