HISTORICAL CONTEXT

9th Battalion, Parachute Regiment was tasked with capturing the Merville Gun Battery which Allied headquarters had designated as a D-Day priority.

The battalion were dropped by parachute at 00:50 on D-day as part of Operation Tonga (6th Airborne Division's parachute and glider assault in the early hours of D-Day). The men of the battalion were widely dispersed when they were dropped.

One glider crash-landed near the battery, killing ten soldiers. Of those who did land in the right area, a number drowned because much of the drop zone had been flooded by the Germans as a defence against anti-parachutists.

Only 150 of the 700 men got to the rendezvous point in time for the attack. Despite being under-strength, the commanding officer gave the order to proceed. The battery was captured but the battalion incurred significant casualties.

The troops then occupied Le Plain and Château d'Amfréville, engaging with the enemy several times.

The exact circumstances of his death are unknown. He has no known place of burial so he is commemorated on the Bayeux Memorial to the Missing, Calvados.