The Wartime Memories Project

- Parachute Regiment during the Second World War -


Allied Forces Index
skip to content


This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies.


If you enjoy this site

please consider making a donation.



    Site Home

    WW2 Home

    Add Stories

    WW2 Search

    Library

    Help & FAQs


 WW2 Features

    Airfields

    Allied Army

    Allied Air Forces

    Allied Navy

    Axis Forces

    Home Front

    Battles

    Prisoners of War

    Allied Ships

    Women at War

    Those Who Served

    Day-by-Day

    Library

    The Great War

 Submissions

    Add Stories

    Time Capsule



    Childrens Bookshop

 FAQ's

    Help & FAQs

    Glossary

    Volunteering

    Contact us

    News

    Bookshop

    About


Advertisements











World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

Parachute Regiment




Jan 1942 Training

28th Feb 1942 Raid

28th Feb 1942 Return  

OPERATION 'BITING' - THE BRUNEVAL RAID 27/28 FEBRUARY 1942

A Royal Navy MTB brings men of C Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion, into Portsmouth harbour on the morning after the Bruneval raid, 28th of February 1942. The CO of the assault force, Major J D Frost, is on the bridge, second from left.© IWM (H 17365)



13th July 1942 Visit

19th July 1942 Volunteers

21st July 1942 Medicals

23rd July 1942 Attachment

1st Aug 1942 Orders

3rd Aug 1942 Orders

6th Aug 1942 Volunteers Sought

10th Aug 1942 Reorganisation

11th Aug 1942 Orders Received

14th Aug 1942 Orders

16th Aug 1942 Advance Party

17th Aug 1942 Postings

10th November 1942 Parachute Brigade go to Gibraltar

12th November 1942 Airfield seized

21st November 1942 Move forward

29th Nov 1942 On the Move

29th Nov 1942 Report

30th Nov 1942 In Action

30th Nov 1942 Ground Gained

1st Dec 1942 Postponement

Jan 1943 Reorganisation

2nd Feb 1943 Reliefs

5th Feb 1943 Air Raid

10th Mar 1943 Small Engagements

11th Mar 1943 Attack Made

17th Mar 1943 Counter Attack

18th Mar 1943 Withdrawal

15th May 1943 Volunteers

1st June 1943 Reorganisation

8th June 1943 Physical Training

18th June 1943 Instructions

22nd June 1943 On the Move

25th June 1943 Officer

13th Jul 1943 In Action

13th July 1943 On the March

14th July 1943 In Action

15th Jul 1943 Hard Fighting

16th July 1943 In Action

16th July 1943 Hard Fighting

29th Jul 1943 Letter Home

9th Sep 1943 Explosion

19th September 1943 Move to Italy

29th Sep 1943 Maintenance

30th Sep 1943 On the Move

19th March 1944 Japanese attack

1st May 1944 Planning

5th June 1944 On the Move

5th June 1944 On the Move

6th June 1944 Pathfinders

6th June 1944 Landings

6th June 1944 Landings

6th June 1944 Landings

6th June 1944 Landings

6th Jun 1944 In Action

6th Jun 1944 In Action

6th Jun 1944 Para Dog Rescue

6th June 1944 In Action

6th June 1944 In Action

6th Jun 1944 A Complete Surprise

6th Jun 1944 In Action

6th Jun 1944 Battery Captured

6th Jun 1944 Mistaken Identity

6th Jun 1944 Drop

6th Jun 1944 D-Day

6th Jun 1944 Second Objective

6th Jun 1944 Convoy

6th Jun 1944 Enemy Position

7th Jun 1944 Village Cleared

7th June 1944 Objectives Taken

7th Jun 1944 Landings

7th Jun 1944 Assault Made

7th Jun 1944 Snipers

7th Jun 1944 In Action

7th June 1944 Reliefs

7th June 1944 Patrols

7th Jun 1944 In Action

7th Jun 1944 Attack

8th Jun 1944 In Action

8th Jun 1944 Shelling

8th Jun 1944 In Action

8th June 1944 Intermittent Shelling

8th June 1944 Mortar Fire

8th Jun 1944 In Reserve

8th Jun 1944 Under Fire

9th Jun 1944 Attacks

9th Jun 1944 Counter Attack

9th Jun 1944 Attacks Held

9th Jun 1944 Patrols

10th Jun 1944 Attacks

10th Jun 1944 Attacks

11th Jun 1944 Attack Fails

12th Jun 1944 In Action

12th Jun 1944 Attack Made

12th Jun 1944 Attack

12th June 1944  Shelling

12th Jun 1944 Attack Made

13th Jun 1944 Reliefs

13th Jun 1944 Prisoners

14th Jun 1944 Defence

18th Jun 1944 In Action

19th Jun 1944 In Action

24th Jun 1944 Shelling

25th Jun 1944 Quieter

7th Jul 1944 In Action

10th Jul 1944 Attack Made

17th of July 1944 Conference

18th Jul 1944 In Action

27th Jul 1944 Bombing

31st Jul 1944 Orders

1st Aug 1944 Training

2nd Aug 1944 Training

3rd Aug 1944 Exercise

4th Aug 1944 Exercise Cancelled

5th Aug 1944 Conference

6th Aug 1944 Breifing

7th Aug 1944 Orders

7th Aug 1944 Church Parade

8th Aug 1944 Conference

9th Aug 1944 Orders

10th Aug 1944 Maps

11th Aug 1944 Briefing

12th August 1944 Operation Dragoon

12th Aug 1944 Briefing

13th Aug 1944 Briefing

14th Aug 1944 Loading

15th Aug 1944 Assault Launched

15th Aug 1944 Defences

15th Aug 1944 Landing

16th Aug 1944 Intelligence

18th Aug 1944 Advance

19th Aug 1944 Advance

20th August 1944 Operation Dragoon

21st Aug 1944 Attack Made

12th September 1944  Hit a mountain in Italy

16th Sep 1944 Orders

17th Sep 1944 In Action

18th Sep 1944 In Action

18th Sep 1944 In Action

18th Sep 1944 Overwhelmed

18th Sep 1944 Hard Fighting

18th Sep 1944 Landings Delayed

19th Sep 1944 In Action

19th Sep 1944 Strong Opposition

19th Sep 1944 In Action

20th Sep 1944 Orders

20th Sep 1944 Attacks

20th Sep 1944 Fire Fight

21st Sep 1944 In Position

21st Sep 1944 Attacks

21st Sep 1944 Hard Fighting

22nd Sep 1944 Shelling

23rd Sep 1944 Attacks

24th Sep 1944 Under Pressure

25th Sep 1944 Counter Attack

25th Sep 1944 Orders

4th Dec 1944 Leave

7th Dec 1944 In Action  


THE BRITISH ARMY IN GREECE 1944

Paratroops from 5th (Scots) Parachute Battalion, 2nd Parachute Brigade, fire a Vickers machine gun from a rooftop in Athens during operations against members of ELAS, 7th of December 1944. © IWM (NA 20635)



18th Dec 1944 Taking Cover  

THE BRITISH ARMY IN GREECE 1944

A paratrooper from 5th (Scots) Parachute Battalion, 2nd Parachute Brigade, takes cover on a street corner in Athens during operations against members of ELAS, 18th of December 1944. © IWM (NA 20863)



18th Dec 1944 Posting

20th Dec 1944 Postings

21st Dec 1944 Advance Party

23rd Dec 1944 On the Move

24th Dec 1944 On the Move

25th Dec 1944 On the Move

27th Dec 1944 Air Raid

28th Dec 1944 Defensive Positions

29th Dec 1944 Move

30th Dec 1944 Defensive Positions Taken Up

31st Dec 1944 Quiet

1st Jan 1945 Orders

2nd Jan 1945 Reliefs

5th Jan 1945 Village Cleared

3rd Jan 1945 In Action

4th Jan 1945 Heavy Fighting

4th Jan 1945 Hard Fighting

6th Jan 1945 On the Move

7th of January 1945 Orders

7th Jan 1945 New Positions

8th Jan 1945 Reliefs

12th Jan 1945 Reinforcements

1st Mar 1945 Preparations

12th Mar 1945 Orders

18th Mar 1945 Preparations

20th Mar 1945 On the Move

23rd Mar 1945 Preparations

24th Mar 1945 In Action

25th Mar 1945 In Action

26th Mar 1945 Reliefs

27th Mar 1945 Advance

28th Mar 1945 Advance

29th Mar 1945 Orders

30th Mar 1945 Advance

30th Mar 1945 On the Move

31st Mar 1945 Advance

1st Apr 1945 Bridgehead

2nd Apr 1945 Shelling

3rd Apr 1945 Attack Made

4th Apr 1945 Attack Made

5th Apr 1945 Bridges

6th Apr 1945 Enemy Active

7th Apr 1945 Advance

7th Apr 1945 Ambush

7th Apr 1945 Ambush

8th Apr 1945 Advance

9th Apr 1945 Consolidation

10th Apr 1945 Moving Forward

11th Apr 1945 Advance Resumes

12th Apr 1945 Forwards

12th Apr 1945 Negotiations

13th Apr 1945 Forwards

14th Apr 1945 On the Move

15th Apr 1945 On the Move

16th Apr 1945 Advance

17th Apr 1945 Advance

18th Apr 1945 Advance

19th Apr 1945 Moves

20th Apr 1945 On the Move

21st Apr 1945 Area Cleared

22nd Apr 1945 Preparations

23rd Apr 1945 On the Move

26th Apr 1945 Conference

27th Apr 1945 Orders

28th Apr 1945 Wood Cleared

29th Apr 1945 Wood Cleared

30th Apr 1945 Advance

1st May 1945 Reorganisation

2nd May 1945 Reorganisation

2nd May 1945 On the Move

3rd May 1945 Reorganisation

4th May 1945 Reorganisation

19th May 1945 On the Move


If you can provide any additional information, especially on actions and locations at specific dates, please add it here.



Those known to have served with

Parachute Regiment

during the Second World War 1939-1945.

The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List

Records of Parachute Regiment from other sources.


The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.

Announcements



    25th Annversary

  • 1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.
  • The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 25 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web.
  • 19th Nov 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 264989 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible.
  • Looking for help with Family History Research?   Please read our Family History FAQs
  • The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
    If you enjoy this site

    please consider making a donation.

Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text.




Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home.

If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion
Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.



Want to know more about Parachute Regiment?


There are:1569 items tagged Parachute Regiment available in our Library

  These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War.


E White 2nd Btn 1 Coy. Parachute Regiment

E White served with the 2nd Btn 1 Coy. Parachute Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch.

Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.

Dan



Pte. EV Mcneill 12th Btn. Parachute Regiment

Pte.EV Mcneill served with the 12th Btn. Parachute Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch.

Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.

Dan



Pte. JE Johnson 9th Btn. Parachute Regiment

Pte.JE Johnson served with the 9th Btn. Parachute Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch.

Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.

Dan



FJ Davies Parachute Regiment

FJ Davies served with the Parachute Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch.

Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.

Dan



H Boardman 13th Btn. Parachute Regiment

H Boardman served with the 13th Btn. Parachute Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch.

Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.

Dan



Cpl. Peter Charles Williams 10th Btn. Parachute Regiment

My Grandfather Peter Williams was born 25th January 1915, we believe at New Tyle, Scotland. He originally joined the Welsh Guards but transferred to the Parachute Regiment. He unfortunately died at only 32 years old from tuberculosis on the 15th January 1948. My Mum Diann and her sister Joy know very little about him. He died when my Mum was only 7 years old. My Nan (now 93 years old with severe dementia) was not married to him and due to this fact has refused to tell us anything about him. This is very distressing for my Mum (now 73) who has spent her whole life wondering about him and her heritage and also for myself and my own daughter knowing nothing of the life of my Grandfather. We do know he was married to a Margaret Lewis briefly prior to my Mum being born. If anyone could help me with the smallest of information it would be very kind. I just want to help my Mum find some information regarding her Dad.

2733995 Corporal Peter Charles Williams served with the 10th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment during WW2. He died after war death records ceased from Tuberculosis which means he would not appear on the Commonwealth war Graves Records.

Sharon Barnes



Pte. Frederick Frances Hynes 2nd Parachute Battalion Air Corp

My late father, Frank Hynes, was in the 2nd Parachute Battalion of the Army Air Corps. He came from a long line of professional army men, enlisting in the 4/7 Royal Dragoon Guards as a boy aged 14.

He served in North Africa and Italy and was captured at Arnhem where he received a gunshot wound to his left forearm. He was transferred Prisoner of War to Fallingbostel, Stalag 11B on 25th September, 1944 and was released on 23 April 1945.

He went home to Brighton, UK and worked in the Special Constabulary, a bar manager at the British Legion Club at Shoreham-by-Sea and as a diamond polisher in Brighton and London. He emigrated to Sydney, Australia at the age of 30 where he met and married my mother. He worked as a Plant Controller at the Shell Oil Refinery for many years, then as a Clerk of the Court. He died in 1978 of a stroke at the age of 56. I was 23 when he died, and had not talked to him in detail about his war service or time as a POW, I had no idea really until recently when I began to look at my family history and obtained his military records. I would love to know more if anyone has more information regarding his service.

Anne Barker



Private Edward Henry Clements

Edward Henry Clements was with the demolition party in Arnhem, Holland and was one of the few survivors of Operation Market Garden. He escaped from a POW camp and was shot in the leg. I am looking for information on which POW camp he was at and also what medals he received. I am his son and would like to get the well-deserved medals back in the Clements family. My father lost his records and medals. My hero father served in North Africa, Italy, and Holland.

Edward Clements



George Henry Beynon 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment

My father, George Henry Beynon of Aberavon, South Wales, was in the 1st Parachute Regiment. (1st Battalion I believe) He fought at Arnhem in September 1944. He was captured and sent to Stammlager 357 - Hut E4. I would appreciate any information your readers can supply.

Alan Beynon



Campbell Gray 7th Btn. The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders

During WW2 all members of the Parachute Regiment were volunteers recruited from the many regiments throughout the army. I was with the 7th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders. We had had a visit from General ‘Boy’ Browning, who had given us a talk on the role of the Parachute Regiment and asked for volunteers to form the 5th Battalion (Scottish) Parachute Regiment.

About 400 volunteered, and we were posted for training to Hardwick Hall, near Chesterfield, which was the training school for the Parachute Regiment. The big attraction in volunteering was the 2/- (10p) a day extra pay, which doubled our regular pay as we were only on 2/- a day. The training was very tough, and quite a number of volunteers were returned to their former units as unsuitable. Those who survived the initial training were committed to very intensive training to ensure full fitness. Training day started at 8am and ended at 6.30pm every day. The training staff bawled and shouted at us all day long, and after a few days we were doing things instinctively despite the shouts of ‘Go, go, go’.

We practised dispatch from aircraft on dummy fuselages of floor- and door-exit aircraft, which were mounted about 12ft from the ground. For the next stage of our training we moved to Ringway Airport in Manchester. There, RAF instructors took us in hand to help us land properly. The normal physical training continued at Ringway. That regime kept us up to peak fitness. Learning how to descent from aircraft was the next stage in our training. To qualify as a parachutist, we had to do seven descents, two from a static balloon and five from aircraft. Tatton Park in Manchester was the drop zone, and this was where the balloons were located. Slung from the balloon was a basket roughly eight-feet square with a hole in the base, big enough for a body and parachute to pass through, with a bar above the aperture to hook the static line to. The static line was the means of releasing the parachute from the containing bag to allow it to develop. Four men at a time with an instructor (RAF) went up to a height of 800ft. My turn eventually came round, and it was then that I began to doubt the wisdom of having volunteered for this branch of the services. It was quite an eerie feeling as we stood, one man in each corner of the basket, watching the ground get further and further away. The silence was only broken by the whistle of the wind and the instructor’s voice pronouncing, ‘800ft, lads, get ready no. 1.’ No time was wasted in dispatching us. We sat at the edge of the hole in turn, and the instructor did the hook-up to the bar then ‘Action Station’ – hands on edge of aperture, sitting with legs in hole, head back and ‘Go.’

The sensation of falling was terrifying, with a drop of some 180ft before the chute developed. An instructor on the ground with a loud hailer talked us down. There was a tremendous feeling of exhilaration once we were back on the ground, and we couldn't wait to do a repeat performance. The next stage was dropping from an actual aircraft, in our case Whitley bombers, stripped to carry a stick of ten men. There wasn't a lot of space in this plane, with the round aperture in the floor located about halfway up the fuselage. Five men sat each side of the aperture alternately facing each other. There was little or no headroom, and it was extremely uncomfortable, to say the least. When the red light above the aperture came on, no. 1 swung his legs into the aperture and awaited the green light that came on in a matter of seconds. Off he went, followed by no. 2, on the other side of the aperture, and the remainder followed in turn. After finishing the required number of descents, we attended the ceremony for presenting the coveted wings, by which we became qualified parachutists. Once we had completed the course and qualified, refusal to continue was a court-martial offence with imprisonment of normally 56 days. Our home base was at Larkhill on Salisbury Plains, where we completed our training, being dropped from aircraft, at night and in daytime. The planes were Whitleys, Albemarles, Dakotas and Stirlings.

Around March 1943, the 5th Battalion (Scottish) was scheduled for north Africa, but I had a bout of pleurisy and was sent instead to hospital. When I came out, the 5th was gone, and I was posted to the depot at Chesterfield to join a draft for north Africa to rejoin my battalion. A few days before embarkation, however, I and a number of others, mostly signallers and mortar men, were taken off the draft and posted back to Larkhill to join a new battalion that was being formed, the 12th Battalion (Yorks), Parachute Regiment. The endless exercises continued as before in preparation for the invasion of Europe. When, in May 1944, we took off for a transit camp near Keevil, we knew this time it was for real.

The camp was ringed with armed soldiers (not airborne), and no one was allowed in or out. The first morning saw my company marched to a hut and seated for a first briefing. There was a large map mounted at the end of the hut and covered with a cloth. After a few words of introduction, the briefing offer removed the cloth and revealed a map of the Normandy region of France that showed the German troop positions in the area. In another hut, there was a large sand model of the area that indicated the drop zone, rendezvous point and our objective. The village of Le Bas de Ranville was our objective. While that of the 6th Division was to secure the bridges of the River Orne and Orne Canal, the waterways running close to each other, and the ground east of the river, and take out the gun battery at Merville. Such action would cover the beaches where the sea landing was to take place. We were scheduled to go in a few hours before the landing. Briefing took place every morning, and any changes in enemy-troop movements were noted. We were informed that Overlord would take place on 5 June. Adverse weather conditions initially cancelled this, though by evening it was confirmed that we would indeed be going.

At this stage of the war the parachute soldier carried a fairly hefty load, each with a special kit bag strapped to the leg with a 20ft length of rope attached and tied to a waist belt. This we released during our descent. It was quite handy in letting us know in the dark when we were about to hit the ground. In my case I carried a wireless set too, which was wrapped in foam rubber. We arrived at the airfield near Keevil around 10pm on 5 June and made our way to the enplaning area after drawing chutes. My battalion was being transported by Stirling bombers with Canadian crews. Exit from the bomber was through a rectangular floor aperture at the tail end of the aircraft. Very few of the men had experienced action before, and we were all in good spirits – the great adventure was about to begin.

The signal corporal who was in the next plane to mine came over and shook my hand saying, ‘I'll see you over there, Jock.’ I never saw him again. He disappeared after being dropped in the wrong area with a number of others, all of whom, except him and the signals officer, managed to rejoin us. It would be around 11pm when we got on our way and taxied to the runway for take-off. I must say that no one felt like talking after take-off, and the noise of the engines made it almost impossible anyway. We were scheduled to be dropped around 1am, our drop zone being a few miles inland. There was some light anti-aircraft fire as we crossed the French coast. At last we got the order to ‘Hook-up’ and ‘Stand To’. I was no. 2 to go. We had to rely on the guy behind us handing us the end of our static line, making sure it was free of entanglement prior to hook-up. All eyes were then glued to the lights above the aperture. When the dispatcher (RAF) bawled ‘Red On’ followed by ‘Green On’, then ‘Go, go, go,’ we went through the aperture as fast as possible. We were going in about 500ft, and it was essential to have a fast dispatch to ensure that we would be closer together on the ground. It was a moonlit night with some light cloud. I had quite a good descent, landing a bit heavily but safely in a corn field with stalks up to my waist. There was a real danger for us at this point of being shot at by one of our mates, so a simple code system had been devised, the first day being ‘Ham’ to be answered by ‘Egg’, the next day ‘Bread’ and ‘Butter’.

After releasing my harness and dumping the jump jacket – put on over our outer equipment so that our lines on dispatch couldn't snag on anything – I gathered myself together. I had to get myself to the rendezvous point, a quarry just on the approaches to Ranville. As I proceeded, I heard movement just ahead of me. I went to ground immediately and gave the code sign ‘Ham’ and got the ‘Egg’. It happened to be a signaller of my own platoon, who had injured his back in the drop. We got to a hedgerow at the side of the field, but he couldn't go any further so I had to leave him there and carry on. We had been told at the briefing not to stop to help wounded or injured men under any circumstances. The objective was top priority and required the maximum number of men to achieve it.

I eventually reached the quarry, guided by the flashing red light of my battalion. Other battalions were guided by a hunting horn or a whistle to their different rendezvous points. The drop zone was coming under fire by this time, but most of us were clear of it by then. I was the commanding officer’s, the CO’s, signaller and reported to him on arrival. By around 3am we were still at about only half-strength. It turned out that many of my battalion had been dropped in the wrong area, and in some cases it took a few days before they got to us. In any case, the CO decided to move on to secure Le Bas de Ranville. Resistance was fairly light, the Germans having withdrawn to a wood to the south. By 4am we were well dug in. Things were remarkably quiet for a short time, and then we heard the naval barrage starting and knew that the seaborne landings were about to take place.

Come daybreak our forward position reported enemy-troop movement in our direction, supported by two SP or self-propelled guns. With this forward position were a naval officer and a rating who had parachuted in with us and had established a radio link with a cruiser off the coast. Unfortunately, they were killed in the first assault on the forward position, as was a mate of mine on radio contact with HQ. The forward position, consisting of an officer and 12 men, came under heavy fire and suffered casualties, though the officer and three of the men managed to escape and pull back to the company position. The two SP guns were destroyed by six-pounder guns of one of the other companies. Another section reoccupied the forward position along a hedgerow. Later that day a further attack was launched on our position. We came under heavy mortaring and SP gunfire, and our casualties were fairly heavy.

That evening we witnessed the remarkable sight of around 500 tug-aircraft and gliders streaming in over the coast to land astride the Orne river and canal. It looked like we were well and truly there to stay. By this time, after having come ashore at Sword Beach and suffered heavy casualties, the commandos had arrived at our position. Our division had secured all objectives and were holding firm despite being under almost continuous heavy fire, which, of course, meant more casualties.

We were pinned down in a small bridgehead and awaiting the fall of Caen before the breakout could take place. My battalion was well under strength. We were moved back and forward along the line, exchanging position with other units. On D+6 my battalion – what was left of it – were chosen to take the village of Breville, which was heavily defended. We were down to around eight officers and 350 men by this time. We proceeded to a place called Amfreville, where we trooped into the local church for our briefing. The order was that ‘Breville must be taken.’

The Black Watch had tried to take it and had suffered heavily in their attempt. The commandos were holding position on the outskirts of Amfreville, facing towards Breville, and we took up position for the attack on the road alongside them. The attack, preceded by a barrage at 9.45pm and supported by a few tanks, would be launched at around 10pm. Unfortunately, the first salvo fell short and landed on the road in which we were assembled. Our CO and several HQ personnel were killed and several others wounded. Just as the attack company moved off, the Germans laid down a counter barrage, and they were cut to pieces in the open ground approaching Breville. I went in with the second company and had to pass through the dead and wounded. The company commander, although lying wounded, waved us on to keep going.

I reached the edge of the village with a number of others, and we got pinned down in a ditch. After taking our bearings we moved out to reach Breville crossroads, exchanging fire as we went. I still had the wireless set on my back but had lost the aerial. The village was virtually on fire from end to end. Things were a bit uncertain, to say least. At the crossroads we came under very heavy bombardment and again had to shelter in a ditch for what seemed like hours till, eventually, except for some spasmodic small arms fire, we had secured our positions. We lay all night expecting the usual counter-attack, but at dawn patrols sent out reported that no enemy was contacted. Breville had been taken at last, and our bridgehead was complete.

The cost was very heavy indeed, with all our officers killed or wounded. There were 168 dead from all companies and only around 100 of the original battalion left. The following day was spent burying the dead, British and German. I assisted in burying one guy who had been killed alongside the burning church. He was buried where he had fallen.

When I returned to Normandy at the 40th anniversary, I went to Breville. That grave was still there alongside the ruins of the church. Apparently, the people of Breville had asked that it should remain there rather than being removed to Ranville War Cemetery.

Later, Breville became a battle honour for the Division, such was its importance for the Normandy campaign

Campbell Gray









Recomended Reading.

Available at discounted prices.



The Day the Devils Dropped in

Neil Barber


A detailed account in the words of the men who were actually there and not a narration of their experiences by an author. This, along with the deliberate omission of hindsight, therefore dictated the goals of the research and the format of this book. The author wanted the reader to be able to see who was actually ‘speaking' within the text, to put faces to the incidents, and so the whole of the text is interspersed with over 200 photographs, thereby recording their faces for posterity.
More information on:

The Day the Devils Dropped in



Rifleman: A Front-Line Life from Alamein and Dresden to the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Rick Stroud & Victor Gregg


'Completely fascinating. This feels like one of the last voices of a vital generation. For the first-hand account of the Dresden fire-bombing alone, this is gripping reading. It has an immediate power throughout that makes war fiction a pale shadow of the real thing' Conn Iggulden 'Second World War memoirs are commonplace, but very few soldiers had Victor Gregg's breadth and depth of experience. Rifleman is a thrilling story of a young man in extraordinary circumstances. Yet what makes Gregg's story so enthralling is how he was shaped by his wartime experiences and primed an eventful - and dangerous - life behind the Iron Curtain. Rifleman is an outstanding book that deserves to become a classic' Lloyd Clark, author of Arnhem 'Many people performed extraordinary feats of bravery and lived through an astonishing array of campaigns during the long years of the Second World War, yet few can have seen more action than Rifleman Victor Gregg. His hugely entertaining and often moving memoir i


Rifleman: A Front Line Life

Victor Gregg & Rick Stroud


`Completely fascinating. This feels like one of the last voices of a vital generation. For the first-hand account of the Dresden fire-bombing alone, this is gripping reading. It has an immediate power throughout that makes war fiction a pale shadow of the real thing.' --Conn Iggulden, author of the bestselling Conqueror series `Second World War memoirs are commonplace, but very few soldiers had Victor Gregg's breadth and depth of experience. Rifleman is a thrilling story of a young man in extraordinary circumstances. Yet what makes Gregg's story so enthralling is how he was shaped by his wartime experiences and primed an eventful - and dangerous - life behind the Iron Curtain. Rifleman is an outstanding book that deserves to become a classic.' --Lloyd Clark, author of Arnhem `An engaging account of an eventful life' --Caroline Sanderson, Bookseller `This hugely entertaining and often moving memoir is as action-packed as any fiction, and yet this is no novel - Gregg's adventu
More information on:

Rifleman: A Front Line Life



Joyce's War: The Second World War Journal of a Queen Alexandra Nurse

Joyce Ffoulkes Parry


Thank goodness that Joyce ignored the then military censors and kept a war diary because we learn so much from her diary which is so easily read in this book edited by her daughter, Professor Emeritus Rhiannon Evans , who has painstakingly presented her mother's words into this Voices From History book for The History Press. In addition this is a fine and rare example of a member of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (Reserve) who not only served for almost the whole of World War Two but also served in different areas and locations such as ambulance trains, hospital ships such as HMHS Karapara and in Casualty Clearing Stations and hospitals such as the 47th British General Hospital in Calcutta. Few books exist about nursing in the Far East and we are very fortunate to be able to read about conditions and patient treatments in these regions which include Egypt and India. If, like me, you have an interest in military nursing history then this is the book for you b








Links











The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items.

The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions.

If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running.



Hosted by:

The Wartime Memories Project Website

is archived for preservation by the British Library




Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV
- All Rights Reserved

We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.