Help find the Darlington guardsman killed with the Queen's favourite?

It was the day that Adolf Hitler, realising that the game was up, shot himself in his bunker.

That same day, a group of British guardsmen, including one who had been born in Darlington, was in the small town of Kutenholz, near Hamburg, in northern Germany when 14 of them were killed in action. No one knows what happened to them, although three were in an armoured vehicle that hit a mine and five were in a Sherman tank that was also destroyed by a mine.

Their families back home were notified of their deaths – at least one of them received the telegram bearing the dreaded news on May 4, the day that Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of German forces at Luneburg Heath, about 60 miles from where the men’s bodies still lay beside the road.

Guardsman Colin Godfrey Wray in 1938 with the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards. He is on the right of the top row of three

So perhaps on the morning that the war formally came to an end, Flossie Wray must have learned of the death of her 25-year-old son, Guardsman Colin Godfrey Wray, of the Grenadier Guards. She had given birth to Colin in Darlington in the third quarter of 1919 when she lived in the town with her husband, Herbert, who had died in 1937.

Flossie and Herbert also had a daughter, Kathleen, to complete the family in Darlington.

Colin was buried by British soldiers beneath a wooden cross about a week after his death in a field at Kutenholz belonging to fruit farmer Heinrich Klint (below, picture courtesy of the estate of Ron Joy).

In 1947, the British moved all of their dead into war cemeteries and so, on August 6, Colin and the other guardsmen were reburied at Becklingen war cemetery, about 80 miles from Kutenholz, beneath the proper Portland stone headstones (below).

But this meant they became forgotten by the town in which they had died.

A group of researchers, led by Debbie Buelau, decided to right that wrong and last April, unveiled four stones in Kutenholz bearing their names.

Debbie Buelaw is on the left, in blue, at the unveiling last year of the four memorial stones in Kutenholz

Debbie said: “I was feeling that these British soldiers should be remembered. They should not be anonymous anymore. They should get their names back.

“People should know that they died here. All of them were brothers, husbands, sons. They should get their personality back.

“They were humans who cried like everybody does. They shouldn't be forgotten.”

Debbie, a mother-of-two who volunteers at the former prisoner of war camp Stalag X-B, began researching the stories of the 14 men.

One turned out to be Lt Robin Tudsbery, 25, who had been in the vehicle destroyed by the mine. He had spent nine months in 1943 in Britain escorting the royal family, and, as he was he had become friendly with Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret. When he had been posted away from guard duties, Elizabeth had held a farewell tea party for him, and then in December 1944, when she heard he was back in the country, she invited him to a dance at Buckingham Palace.

Princess Elizabeth visiting RAF Middleton St George on August 11, 1944. Picture courtesy of Geoff Hill

Four months later, he was killed in action at Kutenholz. His parents, Sir Francis and Lady Tudsbery, learned of his death on May 4, and Buckingham Palace sent them a telegram saying: “Their Majesties and the princesses were so distressed to hear of the death of your son, and I am to tell you how much they liked having him here at the [Windsor] castle.”

His parents built a chapel dedicated to him in Edinburgh, the Robin Chapel, for which Princess Elizabeth laid the foundation stone in 1950 and visited when she was queen in 2013 for a memorial service.

Her Majesty sent a message of thanks to Debbie when she learned that he was been commemorated in the town where he died, and Debbie and her team have also been able to make contact with the families of several more of the 14.

But Guardsman Wray (above) is proving elusive. Although he was definitely born in Darlington, it is not known how long he and his family stayed in the town, and it seems likely that he joined the army from Sheffield. He may have had other siblings beyond Kathleen, and it is believed that her married name was Bailes.

If you can tell us anymore – even if you are not related, can you tell us where they lived? – we would love to hear from you so we can pass the information on to Debbie. Please email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk