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| 5 Jun 2024 | |
| OE news |
On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, 6 June 1944, we remember those Old Eastbournians who served in the Normandy campaign and honour those who gave their lives.
James Douglas Haddow Ballantine (Gonville 1924-28) - Killed in action in Normandy on 10 July 1944. Mentioned in despatches.
Major Bryan Douglas Carey MC (School 1927-31) - Landed in Normandy on D-Day and served with the Airborne Division of the Devons. Won his MC in the Ardennes.
Peter Molison Colvin-Smith (Wargrave 1923-26) - Oversaw the production of Bailey bridges and latterly, sections of the Mulberry harbour used in the landings.
David Max Colyer (Gonville House 1933-37) - He crossed to France shortly after D-Day attached to the Guards Armoured Division and took part in the Battle for Caen and in Operation Market Garden, getting as far as Nijmegen Bridge in Holland.
Major General Glyn Charles Gilbert (Gonville 1935-38) - Company Commander in 3 Division. Fought with the 2nd Battalion from Caen to the Baltic.
The Revd Gordon Francis Hulbert Girling (Pennell 1928-33) - Served with the Essex Yeomanry and landed on D-Day. Fought his way through France and Belgium. Awarded the Order of Leopold of Belgium and the Belgian Croix de Guerre.
William Ian Havelock Gwynne-Jones (Gonville 1937-41) - Killed in action in June 1944 while serving with the Royal Armoured Corps.
John Hayes (Pennell 1933-37) - Killed in action on 11 July 1944 in Normandy.
Lewis George (Tim) Holtom (Crosby 1935-38) - Landed in France the day after D-Day.
Montague Bernard Horley (Crosby 1930-32) - Royal Tank Regiment. Killed in action on 6 June 1944. He was in command of the first British tank that got ashore on D-Day and was killed shortly afterwards.
Patrick Crofton Horton (Crosby 1932-37) - Killed in action in Normandy in August 1944 while serving in the Parachute Regiment.
Robert Alwyn Howell (Gonville 1921-24) - Fought in the Battle of the Atlantic for over four years. On D-Day he was Senior Naval Officer in charge of a convoy which landed 10,000 men on the Normandy beaches. Killed in February 1945 while serving on the corvette HMS Vervain which was torpedoed off Ireland.
Thomas Rayney Jackson (Blackwater 1928-33) - Killed in Normandy while repairing his tank that had struck a mine.
Lt-Col George Brian King (Crosby 1919-23) - Served in the Invasion of Normandy. Wounded in August 1944.
Murdoch Alan Maclean (Day Boy 1921-26) - Attached to 49th Division from D-Day until the end of the war.
Major The Revd Donald Peyton-Jones (Gonville 1928-32) - Assistant Beach Master at Sword Beach in Normandy.
John Carrol Romer (School House 1925-30) - Took part in D-Day operations.
Howard Peter Salmon (Wargrave 1926-30) - Took part in the D-Day landings.
David Keith Thomas (Crosby 1927-30) - Involved in the support phase at Normandy and had been attached to the 6th Airborne Division in Italy in 1943. He went on to cross the Rhine but was later captured by the Germans.
Richard Hawthorne Wolksel (Blackwater 1933-37) - Killed by landmine not long after the Normandy landings.
Colonel Laurence Hallows Worskett OBE (Crosby 1918-21) - Awarded OBE for his part in the invasion of Normandy. He was responsible for the provision and supply of all ammunition units from the invasion of France until the end of the war.
