George Ilsley 13th Parachute Battalion & HQ Defence 1st Airborne Division (Arnhem)

Discussion in 'Airborne' started by brithm, Jan 22, 2020.

  1. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    War hero receives Legion d'honneur for his part in D-Day landings

     
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  2. Dave McIntyre

    Dave McIntyre Pegasusred

    mmmmmmmm? Difficult one this so perhaps I should at least point out the elephant in the room? As this is a newspaper article perhaps it could have been subject to some well-intended (but inaccurate) extrapolation of the information supplied. I have no reason to suppose that George Ilsley was not a brave member of the 13th Parachute Battalion on D-day and the subsequent Battle of Normandy but unless he had some very specialist technical qualifications - signals, medical, explosive or engineering - I cannot for-see any circumstances under which he would be plucked from the Normandy battlefield Jun-Aug 44 to join 1st Airborne Division for the Sep 44 action at Arnhem - but possibly for the 6th Airborne Defence Platoon during the Normandy Campaign & beyond.
    I have seen examples of the exchange of personnel between the Divisions but this has always occurred between actions. On a personal level one of my airborne ancestors was described to me as an Arnhem casualty when in fact he was a casualty of the Ardennes Campaign and so Chinese Whispers could have played a part in this confusion.
    As we always say - apply for his War Service Record to clear the fog.

    Hope to discover more about this WW2 veteran
     

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