This page lists profiles of members of the 9th Parachute Battalion. Over time we hope this will build up to be a comprehensive collection of stories and photographs produced by the veterans and their families.
If you are able to provide a picture/bio for any of the 9th Para Battalion members, please contribute!
 | |
 | Christopher Jack Walton was born in Kentish Town, London on 25th December 1924. He was the youngest of the three Walton Boys that were called to serve their country. The eldest Nathan, was a member of the TA and joined the Royal Artillery at the outbreak of war in 1939. He survived the wounds that he received at Dunkirk, only to die on active service in 1942. Next was Robert, also a member of the TA, joining the Royal Artillery in 1939. He served with the 64th Medium (London) Regiment in North Africa, where he received life-changing injuries as a … |
 | From Cyril Tasker’s Obituary: CYRIL TASKER, who has died at the age of 97, saw service as a member of 716 (Airborne) Light Composite Company, RASC, in all the major operations of the 6th Airborne Division in Europe from D-Day to the historic meeting with the Red Army (Russian) troops in Wismar on the Baltic coast that marked the end of the war in Europe. The glider-borne company’s role was to supply front-line troops with rations, ammunition, and other vital goods. Cyril flew to Normandy with them on D-Day, and his glider landed near Ranville in the midst of a … |
 | Dennis enlisted in the Army in 1942, and after initial training, joined the Middlesex Regiment. In 1943 he was recruited by Lt. Col. Martin Lindsay for the 9th Parachute Battalion, part of the British 6th Airborne Division. In the early hours of D-Day, June 6th 1944, Dennis’s aeroplane was diverted eastwards, across the flooded area of the River Dives instead of Drop Zone ‘V’ at Varaville, for the assault on the Merville Battery. After the jump, it proved to be impossible to return directly to Drop Zone ‘V’, and when he found his container, its contents were badly damaged and … |
 | One of the old 10th Essex. On that fateful day, his plane had to go round again. In the confusion, he and several others were dropped many miles away from the DZ. He survived for a few weeks before being captured, spending the rest of the war as a POW. He was regular at the dinner club meetings which started when he and a few other veterans decided to have fish and chips together many years ago. |
 | An Essex boy from Heybridge, Doug was Sergeant in A Company. He could boast that he invaded France twice on D-day. As stick commander, he was last to jump, but his entrenching tool became stuck in the plane’s superstructure with the pilot heading back to Blighty like a homing pigeon. Back home, some gliders were about to take off, so he had to endure his first ride in a sick-making Horsa and without his parachute. He was not impressed! He was heavily involved in the Chateau St Come action, including acting at butt-marker for an annoying German sniper at one stage. Twice wounded, he … |
 | Frederick Glover enlisted into The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) 70th (Young Soldiers’) Battalion in the Second World War and later volunteered for airborne forces while serving as a Lance Corporal. He qualified as a military parachutist on course 75, which ran at RAF Ringway from 26 July to 6 August 1943. The course instructors’ notes record ‘Finished in good style.’ L/Cpl Glover was posted to A Company 9th (Essex) Parachute Battalion, with whom he fought in the Normandy campaign. Fred Glover was wounded whilst in glider number 27 as they landed in Normandy, and was taken as a PoW … |
 | Fred Milward was born on the 16th January 1924 the second son of Ben and Rose Milward in the village Ticehurst in East Sussex, his brother John was two years older. Ben their father was a farm labourer who tended to argue with his employers and Fred’s early memories are continually moving between different farms. At the age of 10 in 1934 the family moved to Westfield in East Sussex and between then and the start of the Second World War his father worked on four different farms in the village. In 1940 at the age of 16 Fred joined … |
 | On June 8 the 9th Parachute Battalion moved into positions around the Château St. Côme. The château was a dominant feature on the high ground overlooking Ranville and the vital bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne. It was imperative that this ground remained in Allied hands and the Germans would fight hard to take it from them. On June 10, after two days of heavy combat where the Paras were outnumbered by three to one, Geoff was part of a patrol that was sent forward to the château to ascertain if the enemy were nearby and in … |
 | George ‘Jock’ Moodie was born in Edinburgh in Feb 1925. A keen footballer, he was expected to play for Hearts until the war got in the way. When his call up papers came he wanted to join the R.A.F as a gunner. They promptly put him in the army. He joined the Royal Scots for 8 months when he saw the poster asking for volunteers for the Airborne he promptly applied (the extra 2 bob a week did it!). He soon found himself at Hardwick Hall, at that time the paras training depot. After passing through the training he went to … |
 | Gordon was part of a glider force that was tasked with attacking the Merville battery. He was awarded the Legion D’Honneur at the French Embassy in March 2005. Gordon sat on the 9th Battalion Reunion Club Committee for over 30 years, and now holds the title of Chairman Emeritus. |
 | A timeline of the life of James Rose’s (4911764), as researched/provided by his great nephew, Jerry Roberts: Father James Rose marries Charlotte Clarke in 1912. James Edward Rose is born on 16/12/1912. His brother George William Rose is Born on 10/01/1914. 29300 James Rose of the 16th Sherwood Foresters(Chatsworth Rifles) is killed at Ypres on 15/07/1916 he is 32 years old. His body is never found, he is commemorated at the Loos memorial. Charlotte Rose marries Archibold Wheeler in 1918 and becomes Charlotte Wheeler, Archibald Tremaine Wheeler is born in 1918. 09/05/1929 James attests to 6th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment … |
 | James Kenneth French was known to his friends as “Jimmy”. Prior to the outbreak of war he joined the Royal Artillery and was trained as a signaller. In 1943 he volunteered to join the Parachute Regiment. He qualified as a military parachutist on course 96, which ran at RAF Ringway in December 1943, and subsequently served with 9 Para Bn HQ Coy Signals Platoon during the campaigns to liberate North West Europe in 1944-45. The first action he saw was on D-Day when 9 Para attacked and disabled the Merville Battery, they then defended part of the eastern flank of the invasion at the Battle … |
 | John Murray – Memoirs Transcribed by his daughter Marion, in 2017 My parents were James Murray and Elizabeth Carson Workman. I was their eldest son. I was born on the 6th of February 1923 in Greenock Scotland. I did not go to high school as if you did you had to stay till you were 16yrs old, and a uniform needed to be purchased, as my parents could not afford a uniform with 5 children I left school at 15. I worked in Drummonds sawmill which made wooden boxes and tin boxes which were used for tobacco. Trades were not … |
 | Joseph was initially from Battersea in London. Born on the 19th July 1926, the second son of Jeremiah and Belinda Holmes. He was initially posted into the Royal Ulster Rifles before undertaking Parachute training in the Peak District of Derbyshire, before the move down to the Newbury area in Berkshire. He always said that he and a few other comrades, from the RUR, were always proud of the fact that they continued to wear their black buttons from the RUR. During the course of the actions in Normandy, he was in the party who were to deploy the Bangalore torpedoes, … |
 | From the Oldham Chronicle: “A heroic Delph grandfather who was awarded France’s highest military honour has died aged 88. Leslie Hull was presented with the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur for his heroic deeds in Normandy during the Second World War. But the medal was only handed to him 60 years after the conflict ended. Mr Hull was serving in the 9th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, in Normandy on D-Day and he and 650 of his comrades had the task of parachuting into France and silencing the German Guns. Allied forces preparing to make landings on Sword Beach in Northern … |
 | Peter LOVETT first joined the Kings Regiment, 8th Bn, N°7 Assault Beach Group who landed with the 2nd wave troops on Juno Beach near Graye-sur-Mer. 5 weeks later, owing to the Battalion being disbanded, he was transferred to the 9th Parachute Bn as a replacement close to Chateau St Côme in le Bois de Bavent. Peter then fought in Normandy for the Operation Paddle, also in the battle of the Bulge, and he later dropped over the Rhine for the first time as part of Operation Varsity. On VE Day, he met the Russians at Wismar. He later went to … |
 | Unit : HQ Company, 9th Parachute Battalion Service No. : 14592538 Pre-War: Peter Russell was born on the 11th November 1924 and was brought up in Brussels, Belgium. His father, Major Daniel George Russell, served in the British Embassy Belgium in the inter-war period. At the age of 15, he escaped Belgium via Dunkirk in May 1940 with the rest of his family. He moved to his father’s home town, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, until being conscripted into the army in 1943. Training: After initially serving with the Royal Fusiliers, Peter Russell volunteered for the airborne forces. He took part … |
 | Philip Ward of Fincham, Norfolk, joined the local Home Guard in 1941, aged 16. In 15 April 1943 he was called up into the General Service Corps, in Beverley. He was posted to Cheshire Regiment where he trained as a machine gunner before volunteering for airborne forces. He qualified as a military parachutist at RAF Ringway in May 1944 and was initially posted to No2 Airborne Forces Holding Unit at Clay Cross near Chesterfield, before being posted to 9th Parachute Battalion at Bulford as a reinforcement. Posted to Normandy in July 1944, he served as No. 2 on the Vickers … |
 | Ron Tucker lied about his age and joined up at 16. He was just 18 years old when he parachuted into Normandy as part of the 9th battalion, tasked with assaulting the Merville Battery. He went on to fight in the Rhine Crossing campaign, and was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in 2016. At one point during the campaign he had a lucky escape when a bullet passed between his webbing and hit the crucifix in his pocket. Ron’s story is told in the book ‘A Teenager’s War‘. |
 | Terence was born in Cairo, Egypt on 15th June 1914 at the American Hospital. He returned with the family to England in 1915 where he stayed while his father served in France. From Dec. 1918 to autumn 1921 he was at Rushbrooke, County Cork, Ireland. The family returned to England where Terence attended the local Council school at Thame, Bucks, followed by Watford Grammar School. But , for the last 6 months of 1923, he was severely ill with whooping cough. As a result, on medical advice he was sent to Dover College where the sea air would help lungs … |
 | After enlisting in the Army in 1942, Tom was accepted for parachute training after serving in a Royal Artillery anti-aircraft battery in London, and later the East Surrey Regiment. However, a few days before passing out at Ringway airport he fractured his foot in the gym, and this meant he had to go through the five-week parachute training course again. Too late for D-Day, he was posted to the 9th Parachute Battalion at Bulford as an Intelligence section reinforcement; however, the battalion arrived home soon afterwards. He served with the battalion in the Ardennes Battle of the Bulge, and the Rhine Crossing, … |
 | 10th June 1922-13th April 2010 Born in Sedgeberrow and a pupil at Pershore Senior School, Mr Johnson joined the Worcestershire Regiment at the age of 16 in 1938. Walter married Joyce on the 9th June 1945 – she had been in the land army at Avonbank Pershore where they met. In 1943 joined the Paras and is described on the division’s training record as “well above average, a capable performer and good jumper”. From the Worcester News: In the book he describes what happened when he was first dropped, losing his rifle and landing in an elm tree. “After a … |