225421 Mjr. Frederick Harvey Honeyman MC.British Army 6th Btn. Green Howards from:Middlesborough (d.11th Jun 1944) Major Frederick Honeyman was awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry when the Green Howard's landed in Normandy on the 6th of June 1944.
He was commanding A Company of the 6th Battalion at La Riviere when he earned the Military Cross. He led an attack on an enemy position guarded by seven pillboxes and defended by soldiers by throwing grenades over a six-foot wall. Although he was hit in the arm and leg by splinters, his citation records how he ‘restored the impetus of the attack and took the position, killing or capturing all the enemy.
But five days later he was killed as he tried to rescue some of the wounded men from his company who were trapped in a wood. Under severe fire he went alone towards another British position to try and enlist help, but was shot.
A letter sent to Major Honeyman’s mother from his batman, Tom Harris, is in the Green Howard's Museum collection in Richmond. Harris wrote: “He was not only my company commander, but also my best friend and he treated me more like his brother. ...at the most unfortunate moment he sent me back out of the way and considered my safety before his”.
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