Had a day off on Thursday 5th June so I decided to pop up to Watchfield Cemetery to pay my respects to a D-day Casualty whom was brought home an laid to rest just outside Swindon, then off to Keevil. 3600656 Pte William Richardson was serving with the 8th Battalion Parachute Regiment and took off from RAF Blakehill Farm, unfortunately he was hit by flak whilst waiting to jump and eithier was killed instantly or succumbed to his wounds on the aircrafts return journey. If anyone has further information on Pte Richardson I'd be grateful, I'm aware he is listed on Brugh By Sands war memorial so assume that he hailed from that area of the world.
CWGC need to check their county boundaries they have Watchfield in Berks - since 1974 it's been in Oxfordshire. http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2437351/RICHARDSON,%20WILLIAM Son of Samuel and Annie Richardson; husband of Phyllis Maisie Richardson, of Cattedown, Plymouth.
Yeah had all of that from CWGC, they had a son together by the look of things named denis, you could of forgiven them had they said Wiltshire seen as it's right on the border.
Sparky75, Richardson was shot whilst in the aircraft of one of the planes from 271 Squadron which flew with 233 Squadron from Blakehill Farm as part of Operation Tonga . I think he was declared dead when he arrived back to the airfield. Ill check on that. brithm
That would be good if you could I'm assuming there would be some indication of what damage the airframe took within the squadrons records etc, and I would be surprised that he was the only one hit, there may have been further casualties in his stick of course they may have jumped, though I'd be surprised if there wasn't additional wounded brought back. Cheers
Hi Sparky, A bit of background information which you may already have - dunno? According to ParaData Pte. Richardson was with "C" Coy, 8 Para Battalion. Towards the bottom of the 8 Para WD page under "Allocation of A/C & Order of Drop" "C" Coy left Blakehill Farm in 6 Dakotas, Chalk Numbers 255-260. They were part of the main body of Paras to land approximately 12:50 + AM or 30 minutes after the advance parties of Pathfinders, etc. From an account on the History Learning site: "His Dakota was hit by German anti-aircraft fire and he was killed where he sat. The rest of the men in his unit jumped and landed at Bois de Bavent. The Dakota returned to its base in England with Richardson's body on board." From that if true (?) no one else was hit by flak. The fact that he was sitting when hit suggest they encountered anti-aircraft fire on the approach to the coast. 8 Para's DZ was the furthest inland, but it would have only been a matter of minutes to prepare to jump once crossing the coast. Regards ... Edit: Time
Hi many thanks for that, no I didnt know he was C Company. I had a look at the history learning site link, if I'm honest I'm a little dubious about the information, it lists the reference as the web. The inference I get from that is that they were seated as the aircraft crossed the coast, which I find a little odd, the run in from the coast to the lower edge of DZ 'K' is 7-10 miles if taken north of the merville battery, the OC of the advance party Major Payne saw main body arrive and states "that aircraft were flying in every direction at different altitudes and all flying well above dropping speed", now bearing in mind if normal drop speed was say 110mph, that doesn't give an awful amount of time for the stick to stand up, hook up the static line, and be ready to jump from the coastline,add in maybe 120-130mph gives even less time. I'd be expecting them stood ready to drop, before they reached the coastline. Would there be somewhere I could look within the RAF squadron/8th Bn records that may cast light and tally up chalk numbers to aircraft etc within the national archives?. Cheers once again.
Sparky, If you can determine the correct squadron their ORB might contain information or not depending on the attention to detail of the recorder. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/squadron-operations.asp Tony Leake is considered the 8th Parachute Battalion's historian. I'm not sure how you can get in touch with him. See here: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/44661-research-re-8th-parachute-battalion-in-normandy/ The only book that comes to mind on the 8th Parachute Battalion is a A Fierce Quality on the life Lt Col. Alistair Pearson and I somehow doubt there would be anything on Pte. Richardson there. Sorry not much to go on ...
Sparky, There is a bit by Tony Leake at the bottom of the following page on Pte. Richardson, but it doesn't offer anything new which is a little discouraging. http://www.highworthhistoricalsociety.co.uk/lest_we_forget_20.htm
William Richardson's service number (3600656) indicates he originally enlisted to the Border Regiment: traditionally the local regiment for Cumberland & Westmorland. I am not sure which battalion he was originally posted to but I do not believe he was with the 1st Battalion (which went into 1st Airborne Division. If I was to make a guess at it, it may have been the 4th or the 6th (Territorials). The Regimental Museum based at Carlisle Castle would be able to assist you with at least a little information about his early army career (you would probably be expected to give a donation / research fee for this). The WW2 names on the Burgh by Sands war memorial, including that of Pte. William Richardson were only added to it in 2009. I believe they were researched by someone living in the village and the information is with the Parish Council. Why not contact the clerk to the parish council and ask if they could let you have any information - giving the reason for your interest as you have indicated in your original post. This is the relevant link to the online contact details for the Burgh by Sands Parish Council: http://www.burghbysandsparishcouncil.co.uk/Pages/contactus.aspx In 2013 I wrote a short article about Burgh by Sands War Memorial, including two photographs of the actual memorial. I was pleased to see the headstone photograph you posted in your original post, so thanks for that. If it is of interest you can read the article and see the photographs I took by clicking on the following link: http://2ndww.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-brave-hearts-of-burgh-by-sands.html
I have just had a look at the minutes of the Burgh by Sands Parish Council meetings. As I thought, there was a booklet produced with information about each of the WW2 casualties who were due to be added to the Burgh by Sands war memorial shortly afterwards. Click on this link and you can read the relevant minutes about the War Memorial sub-committee: http://www.burghbysandsparishcouncil.co.uk/Documents/War%20Memorial%20minutes%2020.08.09.pdf Good luck.
sparky75, Richardson was in one of the aircraft of 271 Squadron, this was "A" Flight a small detachment of 10 aircraft sent to Blakehill Farm airfield, from my research it carried part of A Coy, Battalion HQ "B" Party, Lt. Marquis and his RAMC stick (224th Parachute Field Ambulance) and as Cee pointed out C Coy. The 271 Squadron Operation Record Book [AIR 27/1574]: The Station's Medical Officer report for the Month of June [1944] from RAF Station Record Book Blakehill Farm [AIR 28/86] reports: It should be also noted that three aircraft from 575 Squadron flew from Blakehill Farm Airfield for Operation Tonga. Brithm
36 Dakotas from N°46 Group flew from Blakehill Farm on the night of 5-6 June 1944. All were for the 8th Para Bn for the DZ "K" Touffreville/Sannerville. On the 650 men of the Battalion less than 200 arrived on the good Drop Zone. The German anti-Aircraft was on the coast and also near the Caen-Canal area because a naval repair area was near Colombelles. (2 miles from the DZ). One of the 233 Sqn RAF of Blakhill Farm crashed at Colombelles. Only the first para droped. All the 19 others and 4 aircrew has been killed. There is a plaque near the field where the Dakota crashed.I know very well a pilot of 233 Sqn who flew on D Day. He said that he had not problem to arrive on the DZ, but when he came back in England by Dieppe, he was hit by the German Anti-aircraft and in the morning he saw more than 200 little holes in his Dakota. He return with the Aircraft in the afternonn of D Day for the reinforcement of the 6th Airborne. I had the great honour to have Brigadier Alastair Pearson CB, DSO***, MC as friend for many years. I have the list of all men of the 8th Para Bn in Normandy in 1944 with his Company, etc... If you need any information about these brave men of the 8th Para Bn, I will be very please to help you. Yves Le Cuziat, MBE Chairman 3rd Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Division, Memorial Association
I'm a new member, having only joined today but having been prompted by the blog about Private William Richardson. I happened to Google his name earlier today and the results led me to the thread which is of particular interest to me. Private William (or 'Bill') Richardson was my uncle (one of my mother's brothers) and I know a fair bit about him and his military service. I originally started investigating what happened to him in 1984 on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, when I contacted the Parachute Regiment. They published my request for information in their 'Pegasus' journal and I subsequently received several responses from his comrades who were with him on the night of the 5th/6th June 1944. They go into a fair bit of detail about what happened. Apparently he was hit by shrapnel from an anti-aircraft shell and died before the Dakota in which he was being transported landed back in England. As the thread states; he was buried in Watchfield cemetery in the CWGC plot, which is near to where his unit were stationed just prior to D-Day. I've visited his grave on several occasions over the years. I have his service record which I obtained from the MOD several years ago and can confirm that prior to joining the Parachute Regiment in 1943, he was in the Border Regiment (5th Territorial Battalion) and served in France in 1940, being evacuated from Dunkirk on the 4th June 1940. He was actually the Batman for Major (later Lt.Col.) Hewetson who went on to command 8th Parachute (Midlands) Battalion in 1945. He actually transferred to the Parachute Regiment with Major Hewetson. Bill did indeed have a son called 'Dennis' (as was mentioned in the thread) but as he was only several months old when his father died and his mother remarried, I have never met him. Thanks to everyone who contributed. Charpoybasher. I have much more information about my uncle, including some photographs and would be glad to share these with Sparky75 who initiated the original enquiry and kindly paid his respects to my uncle at Watchfield cemetery. Please feel free to contact me. Whether my uncle was the fist British casualty on D-Day will probably never be determined but having read another thread about Lt. Den. Brotheridge etc. at Pegasus Bridge and judging by the very interesting information about the timings of the flight and drop that my uncle was involved in, I guess it is a possibility. Thanks to everyone who provided this information about the aircraft etc., as this was new to me and filled in a number of gaps. Anyway, I hope this information is useful.
Welcome to the forum. Have visited the plot he is in a few times & wondered about the stories behind the men there. Interesting to read he was an ex-BEF man, quite often wonder what they went on to do once the 1940 campaign was over. Have you a photo of him so we can put a face to the name?
G Hewetson was a 2nd Lieutenant with the Battalion in France, 1940-Most likely a Platoon Commander. Here's the day his battalion left France in 1940. Unfortunately it's not very clear but it is 75 years old