Club Event Red Beret pilgrimage Mon June 3 – Sat June 8 No 2 April 2019 People Battery facelift makes good progress Gordon’s road WORK on the 1.5 million euro (about £1.375 start at the end of this season. in Normandy million) upgrading of the Merville Battery Sylvie Dupont, Museum President of the museum, which started this year, is making Merville Battery, told Red Beret, that the very good progress, say officials. It is planned sad aspect of the project, was the number of A NEW ROAD in Merville- to inaugurate the new missing veterans, who were ‘regulars’ for many Franceville will be named buildings – reception, years on the D-Day pilgrimages and who had Rue Gordon Newton after the shop and car park – on passed away late last year. long-time secretary of the 9th June 5, eve of the 75th She offered her best wishes to veterans and Parachute Battalion Reunion anniversary of D-Day. their families for 2019. Club, who died on September The project includes a Coinciding with the Battery ‘facelift’, will be 30 2018. Garden of Remembrance. a spectacular Son et Lumiѐre (Sound and Light) Gordon will be the third A hanger is also to be reconstruction of the historic assault with 150 veteran to be so honoured built for the C-47 Dakota, local people taking part, on June 6, 7, 8 and 9. following the wartime CO, Lt which has a permanent The organisers expect 2,000 spectators each Col Terence Otway, and Major Sylvie Dupont: home on the Battery site. night. Bill Mills, a club chairman for missing veterans This work is expected to Daks in Normandy, Page 8 many years. Red Beret regrets to report that, in addition to Gordon, Farewell message to the veterans the club has lost over the past few months Cecil Hughes MBE, Joseph Holmes, Vincent Museum is on track to join ‘Top Leonard, Geoffrey Pattinson, and Ronald Tucker. Ten’ of Normandy’s Obits, pages 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 Doors open memorial venues - Paz to ladies IN AN emotional farewell to was time to hand over. AFTER half a century of being the 9th Parachute Battalion The ”remarkable” restructuring a male-only bastion, the club Reunion Cub after stepping project of the museum will committee has now acquired down from his long- need a lot of time and energy two women members. standing role as President in the next two years. He said Jill Moore, daughter of the of the Association Franco- that Sylvie Dupont, his Deputy late Gordon Newton, and Tina Britannique, Olivier Paz, at the commune, who succeeds Hill, wife of Secretary Paul Mayor of Merville-Franceville, him in the association, will be Hill, are the first ladies to join said the veterans of the club in charge of the project “helped Olivier Paz: great honour the committee since the club’s had been an important part of by our devoted and enthusiastic formation in the 1960s. his life over several decades. Pascaline (Dagorn), directrice Honour medals that he was Jill thought the women could “Those who forget the past of the museum.” “so honoured myself to pin on often give a slightly different have no future”, he said. Furthermore, both he and your lapels... the 9th Battalion perspective on club matters, “Merville and the 9th Battalion Beatrice Guillaume,Vice- veterans are a part of my life while Tina said she was very have a future”. President of and have played an important pleased to become more He anticipated that the Department Council, will sit part in who I am today. To be involved with the veterans. - museum, converted from on the new board. your Patron and a MBE is a the wartime gun battery, and “I have often said during the great honour”. now undergoing a substantial three decades as Mayor of He paid tribute to both the upgrading, may “very soon” Merville, my greatest emotions, British and French members of join the top 10 memorial sites my greatest happiness were the association, including those in Normandy. with you,“ he told the veterans. who had passed away “We make the bet that we’ll He recalled the events that had “We have tried to preserve have 100,000 visitors a year at marked the Merville legend – the memory of the Merville Jill and Tina: welcomed the Merville Battery”, he said. the naming of Colonel Otway Battery fighting and the allied “My first pilgrimage nearly 10 “This is possible thanks to you Street in 1993, the successive soldiers’ bravery. So to the 9th years ago made so much of an and your Club as well as the anniversaries, the sound and Battalion veterans let me say: impression on me”, she said. battery staff lights show, the curry suppers, your valiant battalion will be Chairman Tony Lea said the “For 25 years, you organized and the many Legion of recorded in history.” change was “absolutely great”. pilgrimages to the site of your In remembering the exploits feats, you gave substance to Reunion club’s £1,000 towards memorial of the 9th Battalion, it was the legend and you made the imperative, he said, that “we Merville Battery an exceptional THE 9th Parachute Battalion men and women who died on ALL play a part, English or and major D-Day venue”. Reunion Club has donated D-Day and in the Battle of French, male or female, and M Paz, who recently became £1,000 towards Britain’s Normandy. The memorial is that we are one big family.” President of the Mayors’ Union new national memorial to expected to be inaugurated The committee has agreed to of Calvados, said that after 28 be built at Ver-sur-Mer, on June 6. purchase a stock of 9th Para years’ involvement with the near Arromanches, to ladies’ scarves to match the Merville Battery he thought it commemorate the 22,442 47-acre home, Page 2 men’s ties. THE BRITISH NORMANDY MEMORIAL 2018 INTERNATIONAL COMMEMORATION REPORT

47-acre home for new British memorial in Normandy PRESIDENT Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Theresa May have promised to attend the formal inauguration during the 75th anniversary of D-Day on June 6 of Britain’s new memorial to honour the dead of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. The planned memorial, which overlooks Gold Beach at Ver-sur-Mer, where the 50th British infantry division landed, commemorates the loss of 22,442 servicemen under British command. Also honoured will be the thousands of French citizens who lost their lives. ED LLEWELLYN, the British ambassador, pledged Britain’s The memorial will be built on 47 acres of cliftop continued support for the memorial when he spoke at the international land, which offers visitors a view of the remains of the commemoration at the Merville Battery last year. wartime Mulberry Harbour off Arromanches, where “We have liberated the land of William the Conqueror”, he said. “I hundreds of ships unloaded supplies for the Allied would especially like to thank the Normans for the way they watch over armies. our dead and welcome our former fighters.” Its columns will record the names of the men and Pictured (l to r), Ed Llewellyn, veterans Philip Ward, Gordon Newton, women who lost their lives between D-Day and August Cyril Tasker, and Fred Glover, with Geneviève Darrieusecq, Secretary 31 when the Battle of Normandy officially ended. of State to the Minister of the Armed Forces. (Inset) Artist’s impression The centrepiece will be composed of three 9ft high of the new memorial. bronze figures of uniformed men by British sculture David Williams-Ellis mounted on a 9ft high granite plinth. It was a conversation with Hours of June 6 were ‘decisive for Normandy veteran George Batts in 2014 that led Nicholas Witchell, the BBC journalist, , Europe and the world’ to set the ball rolling. Batts ENVOYS of 11 countries liberty. friends, our brothers-in-arms.” had pointed out that the involved in WW2 gathered She stressed that we all had The international United States and Canada had at the Merville Battery on a duty to protect our history, commemoration day, she said, memorials in Normandy but June 6 last year in a two-hour and the memory of those who was a tribute to the British not Britain. ceremony to mark the liberation fought during this war so that paratroopers, who captured the Witchell linked up with of Europe. we could live in freedom. She Merville Battery, as well as architect Liam O’Connor, Earlier in the day wreaths revealed that her uncle was the other Allies involved in the designer of the Armed Forces were laid at the war cemetery killed in the fighting when he fighting. memorial at the National at , where most of the was just 27. She described the impending Arboretum in Staffordshire, 6th Airborne Division’s dead Geneviève Darrieusecq, project to upgrade the Battery and plannning began. In are buried. Secretary of State to the Minister museum as a “wonderful 1917, the British government Nearly 1,000 civilian and of the Armed Forces, said that tool for the transmission of confirmed £20 million military guests, and the public the hours of June 6, 1944 were memories” LIBOR funding for the main crowded into the Battery for the decisive for France, Europe and France, she said, also saluted components. region’s D-Day international the world. Noting that veterans its own civilians, who had paid Donations, including £1,000 commemoration under dark of the 9th Parachute Battalion a price for liberation. Nearly from the 9th Parachute skies with occasional rain - were present at the ceremony, 20,000 people lost their lives in Battalion Reunion Club, have “reminiscent of the sullen she said that “France knows the bombing, fighting and the been coming in steadily ever weather of 1944”, noted Michel what we owe to our allies, our repression under occupation. since. Parys, Consul General of “We are millions short of Belgium. what we need,” Witchell, who He said it was an important is now the Trust secretary, date in his family history – “one said. “We want to ensure that of the first dates that I learned the memorial is completed to as a child”. It coincided with a standard that is fitting and his father being deported to appropriate” Germany. The site is close to the spot In an afternoon of speeches by where CSM Stan Hollis of the representatives of each country, 6th Green Howards won the Jamie McCourt, the United only Victoria Cross on D-Day States ambassador, described for capturing two pillboxes and the beaches of Normandy as an trenches north of Ver-sur-Mer, “open air tomb” as the cost for and rescuing his men from a the restoration and defence of village. 2 RED BERET How the French Press saw it OBITUARIES Ronald Tucker Under age soldier who nearly fought in Italy

RONALD TUCKER, who has accepted. Trying to cut his rifle free – it died aged 92, was under age He learned some years later was attached to him by cord – when he enlisted in the Army that his mother had realised that his hand suddenly went numb in 1942, and narrowly missed he was off to North Africa and his knife was shattered.. He being sent to North Africa to when he arrived home on joined others in making their join the 1st Airborne Division, embarkation leave. She told the way under fire to the battalion as it prepared to invade Italy. vicar of her local church, and rendezvous nursing his injured He had initially joined the a letter on her behalf was sent hand. When he had time to Gordon Highlanders in to the bishop. Ron’s secret was check himself, he found that Aberdeen, and then volunteered out. four bullets had gone through for the newly-formed Parachute He dropped with the 9th his small pack, and a fourth had Regiment, successfully Parachute Battalion on D-Day. hit a metal cross. winning his wings and being Like others, he landed miles He had bought the cross posted to the 6th (Royal Welsh) from the drop zone and failed when the battalion had stayed Parachute Battalion, which was Felt on top of the world to get to the rendezvous in time overnight at the Benedictine being sent out to join the 1st actually 17). The CO offered to for the attack on the Merville Abbeye de Maredsous in Airborne Division.. transfer him to the 6th Airborne Battery. Later he took part in the Ardennes the previous Shortly before the battalion’s Division then being formed in the “Battle of the Bulge”, the December. He usually wore it departure, he was sent for by southern England, and Ron at German counter-attack in the around his neck. In the rush to his Commanding Officer, who first refused even after being Ardennes. leave that morning he had put queried his age, and plainly offered leave. He was told to In the following Crossing of it in his breast pocket. He said did not believe Ron when ‘think it over’; after a talk with the Rhine operation he was hit in his book, A Teenager’s War, he claimed to be 19 (he was friends in the barrack room, he by machine-gun fire on landing. that he “suddenly felt on top of the world: this cross had saved my life”. VETERAN Ron Tucker’s There was no doubt in his ashes were parachuted into Ashes parachuted mind that he would never be Normandy from a C-47 hurt again . “It was fantastic”, Dakota a few days before he said. “I felt as if I had being scattered at the Merville into Normandy armoured plating around me Battery during the 9th Reunion and nothing could penetrate it.” Club’s pilgrimage last year. in Operation Tonga. Then he X, last September, but was After treatment in military They were carried by John took the casket to the Merville unable to do so because hospitals in Holland and Todd, a 73-year-old ex-Para, Battery and handed it over of high winds. He hopes, Belgium, Ron rejoined the who is a member of the to the directrice, Pascaline however, to parachute into battalion in Wismar, the Pathfinder Parachute Group, Dagorn. Normandy during the 75th Baltic coastal town, where the the premier round canopy Everybody, who took part anniversary commemorations. European war ended with the group in the UK. He told Red in the drop, signed a second At the Battery, Ron’s link-up between the British Beret that the jump had been Union flag which has been daughter, Ann, scattered the Army – the Paras were in the “a great honour and privilege” mounted with photographs. ashes, helped by Pascaline, vanguard - and the Red Army. John also made a video of around a poplar tree that had “Anyone who knew Ron, the event. Both have been been provided by the Battery would say he was a positive presented to the family. management together with a man,” said a close friend.”He John, a sergeant, spent granite plaque. knew no boundries, nothing 13 years altogether in the stopped him, a modest man territorials and, latterly, the fortified by his Christian faith Parachute Regiment reserve. and courageous to the very He met Ron in end”. the Teeside branch of the Ron grew up in Parachute Regimental Middlesborough. In his post- Association in 2013. Three war years, he worked mostly years later both of them went as a sales representative. His to the Plaque at the Battery: ‘moving occasion’ last job was caretaker of a and watched jumps from local primary school. At 91, his a Dakota, which rekindled The occasion, Ann said, was memory was affected. Further John’s interest in parachuting. “very moving”. Olympe, the deterioration of health and He decided to join the group, young child of a French family partial loss of sight put an end whose members are mainly who had befriended Ron each to driving. However, all was ex-military parachutists. year on his pilgrimages, laid not lost when he replaced the He qualified again after a rose; a British girl soloist, car with a mobility scooter. completing a parachuting Emma Brown, sang a hymn He was honoured by France On the DZ: course. “The King of Love My John Todd with the ashes with the Legion of Honour. “When I mentioned to Ron Shepherd Is”; the Rev Adrian His wife, Dorothy, predeceased The Lincoln-based plane took that I would be jumping into Teare, the club’s honorary him, and he is survived by two off from - in Normandy in 2017, Ron’s padre, recited the Airborne children, Peter and Ann, six France, and John, carrying the eyes lit up and he asked if he Collect; Nathalie Varniere, a grandchildren and four great ashes in a casket wrapped in a could come with me”, John friend of the club, delivered an grandchildren. Union flag, landed north-west said. eulogy. Ann said afterwards of on the former John intended to jump with that she and her husband Ronald Tucker, born 9 DZ-K, where the 8th Para fellow enthusiasts at Arnhem could not believe the kindness November 1925, died 25 April Battalion were dropped at Renkum, the wartime DZ- and generosity of everyone. 2018. RED BERET 3 OBITUARIES Gordon Newton Post-war police officer who ran the 9th reunion club for 26 years

GORDON NEWTON, who Gonneville-en-Auge on fire. jettison it. has died aged 94, was among He banked away, landing about The group caught up with Complete Airborne soldier the volunteers of the 9th a mile from the objective. the battalion again a few days parachute wings. Parachute Battalion for a Gordon had been seated at the later at the Château St Côme, In September 1943, Gordon “suicide mission” on D-Day; rear of the glider but decided to which was to become the was posted to the 9th Parachute and after his demobilisation he move further forward. When scene of some of the fiercest Battalion stationed at Bulford joined the Metropolitan Police, the aircraft landed, the tail fighting seen in the Normandy in Wiltshire, and at that stage rising through the ranks to broke off. He would have been campaign. there were only 231 men in the become Chief Superintendent The battalion spent over two battalion. It became more and and Commandant of the famed months in the area, and in more apparent that the battalion Hendon Police Driving School. Wedding August, when the breakout would be involved in the Several hours before dawn finally began, they reached opening of the Second Front. on D-Day, he flew out with ring smiles the railway station at Dozule Only a couple of years ago, an the other volunteers in the in darkness. They realised, aerial photograph was traced battalion’s G-B Force, tasked GORDON lost his wedding when dawn broke, that the that showed such a glider near to land inside the Merville ring during last June’s Germans on the high ground Gonneville, and Gordon’s Battery, in a Horsa glider from D-Day pilgrimage. But it could see their every move. testimony confirmed that this RAF Brize Norton armed with all ended happily. Gordon thought this day would was indeed his Horsa glider. It a flame thrower - a ghastly The proprietor of the be his last, as the Germans was quite a moment for all who weapon, he felt. Golf Hotel in , remorselessly shelled and were there, when he visited the Half-way across the Channel, where the reunion club mortared the battalion, and site of his landing, nearly 70 the glider’s air speed suddenly stays each year during their casualties were heavy. years later. dropped. The arrester pilgrimage, found it under A few weeks later the remnants In December 1944 the battalion mechanism had broken and the his bed after the party had of the battalion returned home. was again back in action when parachute was trailing behind returned to the UK. It was Gordon had fought through the in the slipstream. It had to be taken back to England by entire Normandy campaign. cut free before it dragged the a friend of the club, and Asked years later about his Race to Wismar glider and the tug aircraft into safely returned to Gordon. feelings on D-Day, he said that the sea. Kath, Gordon’s widow, his only fear was of letting his it was rushed to Belgium to As they approached the has given it to grandson comrades down. help stem Hitler’s counter- battery, while still under tow, Callum, who is getting Gordon Newton was born in offensive in the Ardennes tracer bullets burst through married in the autumn. Menston, Yorkshire, on 23 June (‘Battle of the Bulge’), and it the floor, splintering wood and 1924, was here that they came across metal. killed had he remained where At the age of 16, he joined the village of Bande, where the The glider pilot detached he was. He tumbled out into the Home Guard. In 1941, the Germans had massacred 34 the glider, when he saw lights a flooded field and the weight family moved south, where he men, all under the age of 35, below. Thinking it was the of his kit almost drowned him. again joined the Home Guard, in reprisal for an ambush by Battery, he put the glider into Anti-aircraft fire had damaged this time in Wycombe. At the Belgium Underground on a steep dive. At about 500 ft, the flamethrower. He heard it this time he began work in a German troops. It was an act however, he realised that it was bubbling and was relieved to factory that was classified as a that all men of the battalion reserved occupation. However, never forgot. he wanted to be a soldier, and In March 1945, Gordon so volunteered, joining the parachuted into Germany in 70th Young Soldiers Battalion the Rhine Crossing operation, of the Royal Sussex Regiment a very successful operation for stationed at Caterham. the battalion, although some When he was 19, he battalions in the 6th Airborne volunteered to join the Division suffered heavy losses. Parachute Regiment, arriving After two months in Germany, at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire the battalion, now led by the in July 1943. There, he and charismatic Lieutenant Colonel his colleagues went through Napier Crookenden were put three weeks of intense physical on trucks and rushed north training, followed by parachute to Wismar, on the Baltic to training at Ringway airport in stop the Red Army advancing Manchester. Gordon’s report further west into Europe. The on this was ‘Very keen. Best in 6th Airborne Division, with the squad.’ the Paras in the vanguard, On his next leave, when he arrived at Wismar with just returned home, his mother hours to spare. With his glider was mortified, saying that experience on D-Day, and he had promised not to join then parachuting in the Rhine the Parachute Regiment or Crossing operation, he jokingly Commandos. Gordon replied, described himself as the ‘I was conscripted. Nothing I complete Airborne soldier. could do about it.’To placate He joined the Metropolitan her, he gave her a small Royal visit: escorting the Queen around Hendon silver brooch in the shape of Turn to next page... 4 RED BERET Tough, happy - and a perfect granddad MY GRANDDAD had numerous qualities that singled him what it was, it was designed to bring people together. He out as an extraordinary person. Let me focus on just three. saw people– from his oldest acquaintances to someone he First, his generosity. He had an almost legendary habit of just met – as family. Nothing comforted him more than tipping. And then there were occasions for pocket money, surrounding himself with people and ensuring that they getting the drinks in, buying presents – he always went were happy and that they felt they were part of something. above and beyond what was fair. He was never explicit as to Finally, he was tough. Not in the sense that he was a soldier why he did it. He didn’t need to be. It was clear that he was or a policeman, but in his lesser-known triumphs that really just generous. He was probably the most generous person demonstrate his robustness. Surviving hitting himself a lot of us will ever know. He wanted to show people his in the eye with a champagne cork, for example, flipping appreciation because he genuinely appreciated them. There over a sofa with a glass of wine, and not spilling a drop, or was nothing that he wasn’t grateful for, and he wanted surviving a near heart attack trying to stifle his laughter people to know that. when his two-year-old grandson said ‘a very rude word’ at Secondly, he was a gifted story-teller, a man always ready the family dinner table. with an anecdote, a joke or a musical accompaniment on He was good-humoured, and genuinely happy, and a his harmonica. He had a flair for making listeners feel perfect granddad. as though they were in the story. He would bring people He saw every day, every person in his life, as a gift and he together with his words. We have seen him stand up appreciated it as such. He would want you to know that it countless times, microphone in hand, speak for minutes on was something that he never took for granted. end. The anecdotes and jokes would range from lemonades to fox hats – that one I won’t repeat in church. No matter By Callum Moore

...Continued from page 4 Barnes Traffic garage where from the first day of induction medals and retired from the all the motorbikes were neatly and Gordon expected high Force in 1983. He was an early Police in July 1947 following lined up. He rode his bike to standards from those around member of the 9th Parachute demobilisation. the end of the row, parked it him. Battalion Reunion Club and His capacity for hard work, immaculately, dismounted, He would lead the parade at its secretary for 26 years; on skill and sound judgment slipped and caused his bike to the start of each driving course retiring in 2016, he was made saw him advance steadily fall on the neighbouring one and woe betide anyone whose chairman emeritus. through the ranks over and so on until there was an appearance was not up to In 2005, he was honoured the 33 years of his career unstoppable domino effect. He standard. On one occasion, he by France with the Legion of culminating in his appointment saw the funny side of this … rebuked a student whose shoes Honour. as Chief Superintendent and eventually! were dirty, and threw his hands He married, in 1953, Kathleen Commandant of the Hendon He was a larger than life in the air in disgust. One glove Worth, who survives him with Police Driving School of which character who would not flew off , and landed in the their three daughters. he was hugely proud. ask any of his officers to do rafters where it remained for all Gordon’s brother and sister anything that he would not to see. Gordon Newton, born 23 were also police officers and himself do. His irrepressible What is beyond question is that June 1924, died 30 September over the years their duties sense of humour often carried Gordon was a true professional, 2018. crossed as they were all, at the day when things did not go a gifted leader of people, and one time or another, based to plan. an expert on two wheels or four (Contributions from author at Kensington police station, Hendon’s world-class whose contribution to policing Neil Barber and Brian where his son-in-law was reputation for driving survives today. Moore, formerly commander, also to serve some 50 years excellence was built on He was awarded the long Metropolitan Police and Chief after he had left. His daughter professionalism at every level service and good conduct Constable, Wiltshire Police). also served in the police. Altogether, his immediate family members clocked 200 years of service. It was at Kensington police station that he met his wife, Kath, a WPC (as they were then called). They met again at a colleaque’s wedding, and in 1953 nuptials followed. Why was he called ‘Noddy’ Newton? This can be traced Domino effect back to the Velocette LE motorcycle which was used by the police who were required to nod to senior officers, as they could not take their hands off the handle bars to salute. Gordon was the first instructor of the ‘Noddy’ course and hence the nickname. Even a highly-skilled police motorcyclist like Gordon could have a bad day and so it came to pass when he rode his solo into New generation: meeting youngsters from a Merville school at the Battery RED BERET 5 OBITUARIES Geoffrey Pattinson Sniper who set off twice for Normandy on D-Day

GEOFFREY PATTINSON, intense fighting to hold the high went with the battalion to who has died at the age of 94, ground. On a reconnaissance Palestine. set off twice for Normandy on patrol, he and another Para had He was born in Glasgow. His D-Day after his Horsa glider sought cover in a stable as they first job was as a plan drawer for parted company from the came under fire. a Glasgow shipping company, towing aircraft shortly after “The German was clever”, which entailed planning cargo Wounded at the Château take-off. Geoff related in Neil Barber’s layouts on ships. He worked in He had volunteered to join the The Day the Devils Dropped shipping until retirement. The Parachute Regiment). 9th Para Battalion’s small G-B In. “He was firing into the He was called up in 1942, and The collection. the Prince Force, named after its leader stable knowing that it was all wanted to be a pilot, but failed has said, captures the “spirit, Captain Gordon-Brown, tasked concrete. The bullets were the medical due to deafness resolve, warmth and humanity” to land inside the heavily- ricocheting around. I felt a in one ear. He then joined the of the men involved. Geoff’s fortified Merville gun battery pain across the back of both Army, and volunteered for the portrait is the work of Jonathan as the battalion’s main assault legs as though somebody had Paras. He joined the 9th Bn Yeo; it is now in the Queen’s laid a red hot poker on them. after his parachute training. Gallery at Buckingham Palace. I don’t know if it was a bullet In 2015, Geoff was selected He was honoured by France or a piece that chipped off the to sit for one of 12 portraits by with the Legion of Honour wall.” different artists commissioned He is survived by his wife, He was shocked to find that by the Prince of Wales. The Last Audrey, and two children, his boots were full of blood, so of the Tide collection focused Edwina and Ian. they both decided to ‘get out of on D-Day veterans representing it’. regiments with which the Geoffrey Pattinson, born 15 Geoff was later repatriated Prince had an affiliation (the April 1924, died 16 May 2018. to Britain. Years later, in his Prince is Colonel-in-Chief of irrepressible way, he would tell inquirers that he was “shot in the bum while running away”. My War He recovered from his Jonathan Yeo’s work WE were the first troops to occupy Bande, a village in Normandy wounds in time to the Ardennes, in 1945. There were no young men to be accompany the battalion to the seen as Himmler’s SD had shot 34 of them in a reprisal was launched on the ground. Ardennes in Christmas 1944, killing for an ambush by the Resistance on German Not knowing where they and survived being dropped troops. The villagers were starving. I and other snipers were, Geoff and the other Paras over the Rhine in the following were sent out to kill deer, and wild boars for their food. exited the glider with guns at March operation from a Unexpectedly, emerging from a thicket I found myself the ready only to find they were burning plane a few yards from a magnificent stag. I remember saying in Hampshire. They were put He was also in the battalion to myself half out loud : “You beautiful creature. I have on another glider, and arrived when the 6th Airborne Division t o k i l l y o u , a n d I h a t e m y s e l f f o r d o i n g s o . ” in Normandy that evening. met the Red Army in Wismar Geoff was later wounded at on the Baltic as the European Story told by the late Geoff Pattinson the Château St Côme, scene of war came to an end. He later Vincent Leonard Engineer who helped to ‘police’ Palestine

VINCENT LEONARD, who country pursuits until he was regiment was sent there after has died at the age of 90, saw “dragged unwillingly” back to the war to police the final active service in Palestine, and his parents’ home. days of the mandate, and help later in Europe with the British There he became involved prepare for the emerging state. Army of the Rhine. in the Home Guard, in which For both the Para war veterans He was born in Gateshead on his father served. Although he and the newcomers, Palestine 8 December, 1928. His family was classified as a “runner”, he presented a new military testified that he inherited the persuaded his father to teach experience. In his recently Geordie traits of “an iron will, him to strip, assemble and use completed memoirs, A Para a hard-nosed attitude with weapons like the Bren gun. in Palestine, Vincent describes unbending opinions and a heart After completing his the confusion of young soldiers Home was always open of gold”. He embedded these schooling at Ushaw College, “thrown into the middle of a Britain and the United States at qualities and characteristics in in County Durham, and St complicated and dangerous a politically sensitive time. the three dominant themes of Cuthbert’s Grammar School social, political and military On the military side, attacks his life; his family, his religion he was called-up for national stew “. by snipers, bombers and mine and his regiment. service in 1947, and almost The Paras were an obvious layers on off-duty soldiers His early schooling was immediately volunteered to target of Zionist nationalists. and Arab civilians were interrupted by World War 2, join the Parachute Regiment, One such group, Haganah, frequent and often staged which he regarded as a great which became one of the he recalled, were masters of by terrorists wearing British adventure, both his evacuation reference points of his life. psychological warfare and Army uniforms. Vincent was to North Yorkshire, where for He had a “ringside seat” at exploited incidents, which a time he threw himself into the birth of Israel when the soured relations between Turn to next page... 6 RED BERET OBITUARIES ...Continued from page 6 serving in Palestine when the to India, and spent a couple our achievements and was he had been brought up in King David hotel in Jerusalem of years in Australia He also especially pleased when he a tradition of service to the was blown up in July 1947, worked for spells in Germany, could boast of academic church and spent a huge amount killing 91 people including Rhodesia, Russia and Saudi prowess, managerial of time involved in local church British service personnel. Arabia. advancement or experiences in activities. His father, whose There was a lighter side, On his return to the UK he one uniform or another”, said experiences in World War 1 however, at Christmas 1947 became a manager at the new his son, also named Vincent. had deepened his faith, was when Army trucks took the Llanwern plant in Newport. He His concept of “family” was the local choir master and his Paras to join worshippers at stayed there until the late 60s all-embracing; he scorned brother, Tony, a priest. the Christmas Eve service at when he was head- hunted by the idea of an “in-law” and Consequently, his family the Church of the Nativity in Anglo American to manage a he informally adopted a large life revolved around church Bethleham. Vincent was one of newly-constructed coking plant number of people who became activities, both in regular and the first to put his name down. in Wankie, Rhodesia (now surrogate brothers, sisters, sons, frequent attendance at Mass After completing his national Hwange, Zimbabwe), which daughters and grandchildren. and in social contact. Priests service, he became a loyal used an innovative process His home was open to everyone. were regular visitors to his and active member of the of pre-heating the coal before home and he volunteered for Hertfordshire branch of coking. charitable work as a member of the Parachute Regimental In the late 70s he returned the St Vincent de Paul Society Association, and later the 9th to England to join Jenkins in Major theme and as a Knight of the Sacred Parachute Battalion Reunion Retford, Nottinghamshire, Heart. Club. He and his wife, Joan, where he worked on new plants He liked to have people around In later life missionary priests were ‘regulars’ for many years and materials handling until he him whom he could ply with and nuns, together with the in the club’s annual D-Day retired. food and drink, and often a Bishop, were hosted at dinners pilgrimage to Normandy. The principles he learned departing gift. on a regular basis and he worked Back in civilian life, during his training and service Probably the zenith of these for local service organisations, Vincent returned to his job with the Paras were reflected activities was his home in becoming a President of the as a refractory engineer in his family life –“ honesty, Rhodesia when, during the local Rotary Club. constructing and managing integrity, discipline, good agriculture show, he would coke ovens in the steel manners and smart appearance” have a houseful of people In 1953 he married Jean industry. He began his career to name a few. He invested in dropping in for food, drink or Gunn, who survived him with a in Bensham in Gateshead after his children by working hard to to sleep. The consequence of daughter and two sons. he left St Cuthbert’s Grammar send them to boarding schools this was a global network of School and afterwards worked and university, and pushing “honorary Leonards”. Vincent Joseph Leonard, in various places around the them to succeed. A major theme of his life was born 8 December 1928, died 3 country. In the late 50s he went “He rejoiced in any of his religion. As a Catholic, September 2018.

Fortunately, the help of the who had initially been told that Arethusa was not needed. he was missing in action. Joseph Holmes Joseph was unscathed at first He was admitted to hospital in the battalion’s European near Redhill, Surrey, where he RUR Para who was wounded and campaign, and had made underwent several operations a successful drop in the to remove the shrapnel from his taken prisoner in Germany daylight Crossing of the Rhine legs and lower body. Afterwards operation as the battalion, part he was sent to a convalescent JOSEPH HOLMES who has of the 6th Airborne Division, hospital in Richmond Park. died at the age of 92, was one seized immediate objectives In 2017, he was honoured of the 9th Parachute Battalion and then advanced across by France with the Legion of men to miss the assault on the north Germany to meet the Red Honour. Merville Battery on D-Day Army. On his discharge from hospital after having been dropped Although the enemy resistance he was posted back to the miles from the DZ. He survived was diminishing, a number of Royal Ulster Rifles depot in Normandy, the Ardennes Paras were killed in a fire fight Ballymena. He was demobilised (“Battle of the Bulge”), and the in Germany, and the remainder, in 1947, and returned to his Rhine drop only to be wounded including Joseph, wounded. pre-war employment as a lorry in Germany and taken prisoner. He had been hit by shrapnel, driver with the Great Western Joseph Holmes was born in and knocked out by the blast. Railway. Battersea in London on 19 July He recovered consciousness to He later joined the London 1926. He was initially posted find that he and his friends had Electricity Board, working with to the Royal Ulster Rifles been taken prisoner. The group a small team on emergency before joining the Parachute Knocked out by blast were later handed over to a repairs in the Greater London Regiment. He and others from German Marine unit and taken area until his early retirement the RUR were always proud several days before he and to a POW camp. From there the in 1989. of being entitled to wear the others rejoined the battalion. men were moved to two other In 1944 he married Mary RUR’s black buttons when they One of his first tasks on return camps before they ended up in Catherine Leaver, who transferred to another unit.. was to escort a Naval gunnery Stalag Luft 4 near Hamburg. predeceased him in 2016. He He was tasked in Normandy officer, who had dropped with Joseph was freed by the is survived by two sons, two on D-Day to blow a hole with the Paras, to a beach head. The advancing American forces, daughters, six grandchildren a Bangalore torpedo through officer’s task would have been to and repatriated to the UK and 13 great grandchildren. the barbed wire fortifications direct shelling by the Arethusa, shortly after the end of the around the Merville Battery a light cruiser positioned some European war in 1945. He was Joseph Holmes, born 19 July to help the assault. But, after miles offshore, at the battery if able to send a card giving basic 1926, died 27 September the scattered drop, it took the Paras’ assault had failed. details of his plight to his wife, 2018. RED BERET 7 PAUL HILL on standards and standard-bearers Reunion club on parade is an Anglo-French operation GAËTAN DAGORN is thought Rome that battles were fought remember who taught him to to be the only Frenchman, and for their return. parade “the English way.” It possibly the youngest, who Even today, standards are used was, he says, about four years carried the standard of a British to show which unit, regiment ago “by an old man, not a Gaëtan: dignity and bearing reunion club at last year’s or army is represented in veteran”. D-Day anniversary ceremonies battlefields. Standard-bearers have two a chartered flight across the in Normandy. In Normandy, they are styles in marking the last post. beach-heads. Just 20, he represented the 9th seen at every service of As the poignant notes sound, He performs about seven Parachute Battalion Reunion commemoration. At the service British standards are lowered ceremonies a year, but Club at Remembrance services in Ranville last year there were steadily until the tip of the particularly looks forward, as at Le Mesnil crossroads - 23 standards. pole rests on the ground. The all people in Normandy do, the site of the Canadian war Gaëtan is proud of his role, French standards are kept to the visit of the remaining memorial - and the Ranville and says he wishes he could upright but angled forward as 9th Para veterans. On June war cemetery, as well as at they mark their salute. 6, he usually parades at four other customary wreath laying Gaëtan has grown up ceremonies. There are other venues with the club’s standard with the veterans. Each occasions, too, such as at the of a white parachute centralised year of their pilgrimage, scattering of Ron Tucker’s to blue feathered wings on a they use the Merville ashes last year around the maroon background, and “9th Battery as a base for memorial tree at the Merville Parachute Bn Reunion Club” their pilgrimage. As Battery. in blue text. a small boy, he once Apart from being the standard The son of Pascaline Dagorn, accompanied them on bearer, Gaëtan is also in charge who is the directrice of the of the volunteers at the Battery Merville Battery museum, on which its smooth running Gaëtan volunteered as standard depends. The local people are bearer a year ago after the club enthusiastic in support of their had run into difficulties trying historic asset, and 200 to find someone skilled enough volunteers can be mustered for to accompany them on the big events. Their duties range annual pilgrimage. from translating for visitors to Standards are traceable back working on the site, and they thousands of years. In Rome, are needed even when the the standard was important as museum is closed in winter. a rallying point, a symbol of His day job is at the Public pride and, more practically, as Works Office in Caen, but a means of communication in he still has one more year to battle. complete his studies. A trumpet blast would draw A spokeswoman for the Royal the attention of the troops to British Legion thought it was the standard and the bearer “fine” that a young Frenchman would lower, raise, wave, or had stepped into the post. She make some other motion to On duty: wreath laying wished him success. indicate the next move for the at the railway station Gaëtan has a dignity and troops or to change tactics or at Putot-en-Auge and bearing beyond his age, and the formation. So important was (right) at the Château veterans, families and friends the standard to the armies of St Come of 9th Para salute him in turn.

NORMANDY’S skies will be filled with parachutists in June DAKS IN NORMANDY’S SKIES AGAIN with the re-enacting of the airborne element of Operation personnel. British parachutists Ltd will host at Duxford’s ’s highly Overlord 75 years ago.. will be joined by enthusiasts airfield the greatest number of complex sea, air and land The mass drop of ‘Daks’ after from America, Canada, Dakotas seen in one location operation resulted in 156,000 the Douglas C-47 Skytrain Norway, Sweden, Germany, since WW2. Allied troops landing in – known to all as the Dakota New Zealand and South Africa, The display heads a themed Normandy by midnight on June – will see 30 aircraft take off plus a few other countries. programme put together by 6 despite challenging weather from Duxford airfield, eight Among those taking part in Britain’s Imperial War Museum and fierce German defences. the drop will be Major General in partnership with Normandy miles south of Cambridge, Red Beret on June 6, and head towards Sir Colin Weir, the current Tourism and Daks Over is the news letter northern France. commander of 1st (UK) Normandy Ltd, that retells the of the 9th Parachute Battalion The cross-Channel drop of 300 Division. land, sea and air story through Reunion Club. Patron: Olivier parachutists into the original And members of 16 Air Assault historic sites: the cruiser HMS Paz MBE CLd’H, Chair: Tony British Drop Zone at Ranville, Brigade will make a special Belfast, flagship of a D-Day Lea, Vice-Chair/Treasurer: code-named “N”, will take jump into northern France, just naval task force on D-Day; the Mike Woodcock, Secretary: place between 4pm and 5pm. ahead of the Dakotas. wartime RAF Duxfield with Paul Hill, Red Beret editor: Although no D-Day veterans By assembling a fleet of its aviation museum; and the Tom Hughes trhysh@hotmail. will be jumping, many of the original DC-3 and C-47 Churchill cabinet war rooms in com parachutists are former service aircraft, Daks Over Normandy Westminster.