Gnr. Sidney Dalton MiD.
British Army 231st Bty. 67th (Suffolk) Medium Regiment Royal Artillery
from:28 Morris St, Oldham
Sidney Dalton was called up in 1942, enlisting at Saighton on 19th November. He was a Gunner in the Royal Artillery, and qualified as a Driver on 20th February 1943, then classified Signaller on 20th May 1943 (17 Squad).
His unit, 231st Medium Battery, landed at Arromanches on 29th June 1944, and was soon in action. On 11th July at La Biyude, nicknamed Happy Valley, they had their first casualty when Gunner Cyril Pardy was killed. After various actions in Normandy, they worked their way up through Europe. On 5th October they were in Eindhoven, and a couple of days later they were in Nijmegen, in liaison with an American battery.
He was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Oak Leaf "...for devotion to duty under fire by keeping his radio set in operation and thus helping materially to keep artillery in action at a vital period."
After hostilities ceased, the men became part of the British Army of the Rhine and were housed in the Rhine Army College billets in Goettingen and Hamburg. Among the recreations he did at this time were going on a photography course, and canoeing on the Mohne dam reservoir He was demobilised on 22nd August 1947 from B Troop, 25/26 Battery, 7th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery.
