Lieutenant Daniel L. Thomas

Unit : No.6 Platoon, "B" Company, 7th Parachute Battalion

Army No. : 164507 

The following account has been compiled by Lieutenant Thomas' son, Richard.

The Story of Lt. Dan Thomas

6th June 1944 (D-Day) – 19 August 1944 (aged 29)

Revised, March 2026

This record focuses on the part played by Lt. Dan Thomas on D-Day and in the days that followed. Much of the material in this record has been extracted from The Pegasus and Orne Bridges by Neil Barber.. and material extracted from The Tale of Two Bridges by Barbara Maddox which is based on the personal diary of Col. Pine-Coffin. Direct quotes from Lt. Thomas are highlighted in italics.

Summary

Dan Thomas parachuted into Normandy very early on D-Day as part of the small force which provided the initial reinforcement to the 3-glider "Coup de Main" which seized Pegasus Bridge over the Caen Canal at Benouville. He led a platoon which landed soon after midnight and held the ground around the Cafe Gondrée at the western end of the bridge. During this time, the platoon entered the Mairie (the first town hall to be liberated in France) and later greeted Georges Gondrée (proprietor of the Café, the first house and family to be liberated in France) as he and his family emerged from the cellar. They resisted heavy German counter-attacks and held on to the bridge until the arrival of reinforcement troops from the beach landings.

He was wounded twice after D-Day, and on the second occasion, his life was saved by Sidney Cornell, one the very few black soldiers - perhaps the only one - in the Parachute Regiment.

Approximate Chronology for Lt. Dan Thomas

Rank and Role

Dan Thomas joined the Territorial Army in April 1939 in the Queen's Westminster Rifles and joined the Somerset Light Infantry. He was mobilized on 3rd September 1939 (the day that war was declared) and commissioned as an "Emergency" Lieutenant in 1940. He was promoted to Captain in June 1945 and then served in Palestine. His military service number was 164507.

The 6th Airborne Division, led by General Richard Gale, had been formed by choosing regular battalions to "convert" to parachute formation and asking for volunteers who then had to pass rigorous medical and physical fitness tests. This was followed by initial training. The 6th Airborne Division had three brigades, each consisting of three battalions. 5 Parachute Brigade (led by Brig. Nigel Poett) included the 7th Parachute Battalion - formerly the 10th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry - which in 1944 was led by Col. Geoffrey Pine-Coffin. In turn, the 7th Battalion had three Companies (A, B and C) each made up of a number of Platoons.

Lieutenant Dan (sometimes "Tommy" or "Danny") Thomas was in "B" Company and led No. 6 Platoon (probably about 36 men at full strength). No. 6 Platoon included Sgt. Amey, Lock and Godbold. A near-full list, handwritten (after the war?) by Lt. Thomas, is included at the end of this Account. Of his original Platoon, 6 were killed, 9 were wounded, 15 were taken as prisoners-of-war and only 2 survived without injury or capture.

Preparation / Training

The Canal de Caen and River Orne were significant obstacles to the success of Operation Overlord. Behind enemy lines and with a surprise airborne assault, the bridges at Benouville had to be captured several hours before the seaborne invasion. The bridgehead of land either side of the bridges then had to be retained until relief arrived from the beaches about 3-4 miles away. It was to be the "largest airborne operation the world had ever seen". Parachute training - including jumps from balloons and very low aircraft heights – had taken place at Manchester Ringway (now Manchester Airport). Lt. Dan Thomas "successfully completed Parachute Training Course" in December 1942 "That physical training for the Parachute Regiment was probably the toughest physical exertion that I was ever subjected to…….Only the courageous, or stupid, survived." [Quote from Lance-Corporal Bill Sykes, No.6 Platoon]

General Gale was told of the 6th Airborne Division’s role - "Operation Coup de Main" within Operation Overlord in February 1944. Specific training (BIZZ II) began in March 1944, including some at a couple of bridges near Exeter. During BIZZ II the 7th Parachute Battalion had performed "extremely well" and was told to expect "an important job" which turned out to be the defence of the western side of the bridgehead.

On 26th May the 7th Parachute Battalion moved from its base at Bulford to its Transit Camp at Tilshead on Salisbury Plain. The officers were briefed on the location of the bridges and the detail of their tasks on 27th May and each platoon commander then briefed his platoon during the following day (with their Major sitting in "to make sure he got it all right"). The battalion was due to commence jumping at 00.50 on Drop Zone N (DZ 'N') and then Rendezvous at the northern end of a copse by the Sallenelles road about 1000 yards from the Orne Bridge. They were expected to arrive at the bridges sometime after 01.30 and then set up defensive positions beyond the small perimeter treated by the glider Coup de Main force.

Lt Dan Thomas’s No. 6 Platoon was to establish a strongpoint immediately by the western end of the (larger) Canal Bridge. “The whole operation was a masterpiece of planning. With the aid of a large plan and sand table models, we spent our time memorising it until we knew the area like our own backyard. We certainly had enough equipment to capture the bridge. Each man carried 100lb of equipment. We had everything, including picks and shovels, ten RAF dinghies in case we had to cross the river as well as guns and ammunition. We only had light guns with us and it was really a matter of luck that the Germans had nothing bigger."

Take-off, Jumping and Landing

To avoid any snags, the battalion spent the day of 5th June in a temporary tented camp at Fairford Park about two miles from Fairford Airfield. At 21.30 they left for the airfield after blacking up in camouflage cream and destroying all indications of unit identity. They boarded a total of 33 converted Stirling bomber aircraft - from which there had been no opportunity for any practice jumps. Each platoon was divided between two aircraft, with Lt Thomas in Stick 141. Each man had to hook up his parachute to a static line so that it opened automatically on jumping. The planes circled over southern England for some time until the whole Battalion was airborne by 23.30.

Men from three Horsa gliders of the Coup de Main force succeeded in capturing both bridges within 10 minutes of their landing at 00.30. They sent the "Ham" and "Jam" signals to confirm that both bridges had been captured intact.

The Stirling aircraft began their run-in to DZ 'N' at 00.50. Most men had a kitbag on each leg on a 20 foot line. They jumped from between 300-500 feet through a large hole on the floor of the plane, with the jump lasting little more than 30-40 seconds. Rounds of red and green tracer anti-aircraft bullets were fired at some of the parachutes. Some men were killed or wounded and others missed the drop-zone, some by a considerable margin. One entire "stick" of Lt. Thomas's No. 6 platoon - 18 men in all under Sgt. Amey - were dropped over 12 miles away and most were killed, wounded or captured. Many supply loads were also dropped in the wrong place or not found, which meant an acute shortage of wireless sets, machine guns, anti-tank weapons or mortars.

There was considerable confusion around the Drop-Zone - "a real buggers' muddle" - and the rendezvous process took longer than expected. However, Thomas's stick "was given an almost perfect drop and was put down square across the DZ so that the whole stick duly arrived at the RV and was later available at the bridge". "As well as a pack weighing 80lbs, we were told, of all things to take picks and shovels with us in addition to our entrenching tools. They said that we were likely to come under heavy fire and that we would need to dig in. Our battalion also had to carry 15 assault craft. Most of us got rid of the picks and shovels during the run of a mile or so to the bridge and when we heard the code signal HAM and JAM over the radio, meaning the bridge had been taken, we dumped the dinghies as well. Arriving at the bridge, we looked around and saw a small building that was used as a station for the light railway that ran alongside the canal. Breaking into the building, we came across a pile of about 200 picks and shovels!"

German counter-attacks had already started on the bridges, including from an armoured half-tracked vehicle which was destroyed near the Canal Bridge and which continued to explode dramatically for some time. Other paratroopers from the 7th Battalion continued to arrive at the bridges to support the glider troops, some in dribs and drabs, others in larger groupings. The bulk had arrived by about 03.00, but less than half the full battalion strength had reached the rendezvous - only 20% in the case of "B" Company.

Holding the Canal Bridge

Col Pine-Coffin's battalions defensive task was hampered by the lack of men - less than 270 in total in all ranks - but he gave his officers more detailed orders during a briefing at 04.15. Lt. Thomas' No. 6 Platoon was to establish a strong point on the West end of the canal bridge itself, taking up position in and around the Café Gondrée to cover the open ground to the south, along the canal.

In the official war diary written 4 weeks later - on 29th June 1944 - Col Pine-Coffin wrote: "The gallant fight being put up by A Coy I hoped would prevent any large scale attack developing from the South. If it did so develop however the country was fairly open to the South of the bridge itself and I placed one Platoon of B Coy (Thomas) in this position and felt confident that he could at least delay any attack from that direction for sufficient time for me to be able to take any necessary action... This plan worked well and during the course of the day's fighting the enemy launched eight separate attacks in addition to nagging constantly with small parties and occasionally armoured cars."

The Tale of Two Bridges records this stage as follows: "The Platoon was dispersed in a tight semi-circle around the west of the bridge. It was as depleted as any other Platoon and did its job with a small party under Corporal Hutchinson, on the right. There was a similar party under Sgt. Fay [killed later in the same attack which wounded Lt. Thomas] on the left and Lt. Thomas himself with the remainder right by the bridge itself.

To quote the words of Lt. Thomas, "The Platoon, having been deprived of the job of ferrying, and finding themselves reserve Platoon in the Battalion, had rather developed the idea that they had been left out of the show." In point of fact, they were far from being the reserve Platoon. They were holding the divisional objective itself and it is doubtful whether any other Platoon in the whole Division had such a responsible job as they did."

"When we landed it was pitch-black - you could not see a hand in front of you - and all the time we were being counter-attacked by German infantry and light armour. But they were lightly equipped and not very well organized. When we first began to hold the bridge position we came across a group of Germans on exercises. They only had blank bullets, but when they saw us they fired. It was pointless thing to do but they must have been really frightened."

Occupying La Mairie

The Platoon's area extended to the Town Hall (La Mairie) on the road to Caen just beyond the T-junction to the west of the bridge: "It appeared to me that a tall building in a prominent position should be occupied by our forces and denied to the enemy. The south dormer window offered an ideal fire position. Therefore, escorted by two riflemen, I proceeded to the Mairie not knowing if the building was occupied by the enemy. We searched the surrounding area and this resulted in the 'flushing out' from some of the outhouses of some naturally frightened civilians, the staff of the Mairie both female and male. They informed me that the Mayor had departed and that the building was not occupied by the enemy. We entered the Mairie and commenced our search. It was my intention to place my two riflemen in the high dormer window. This task was helped by a great pile of locally confiscated radio sets under the window. My conscience was troubled by the sight of two pairs of hobnailed army boots clambering over the highly polished radiogram cabinets. Having written a brief note to the missing Mayor, my namesake [Monsieur Lucien Thomas], I departed to join my main force at the bridge."

Postscript: On 16 July 1947, Brigadier Poett wrote to Dan Thomas from the War Office to say he had “heard from General Gale that the Mayor of Benouville is anxious to get in touch with you as he believes that you were the first officer to call on him during the operations in Normandy...". Dan wrote to the Mayor and on 24 July, Georges Gondrée wrote a letter which started: "This morning just before midday I have had the greatest pleasure to translate the letter that you have sent lately to our Mayor, M. Thomas. He was very pleased to hear from you and will answer in due course to your most welcome letter, in French naturally."

At first light more serious German counter-attacks started, coming from both north and south, some with tanks and other armoured vehicles. Snipers also attacked from the church tower. In effect, the paratroopers "formed a lonely island inside enemy territory with attacks coming from any direction, with no real front or rear."

Liberating the Café Gondrée

In the Café Gondrée, right by the bridge, Georges had taken his family to the cellar after some initial contact with the glider force whom he thought had come from a crashed bomber. The family were still sheltering in the cellar when Georges heard the sound of digging.

Georges Gondrée: "Dawn was just beginning to break, and looking through a hole in the cellar wall (the hole is about a foot square) I saw vague figures moving among the vegetables in my garden. There was a wonderful peaceful air of dawn coming up over the land. The figures seemed peaceful enough and to my astonishment I could hear guttural orders which I always associated with any German working party. I said to my wife, 'Ils ne gueulent pas comme d'habitude'. ["They are not gobbing their usual way."] The light grew stronger and I then began to have serious doubts as to whether the people I could see were in fact the crew of a bomber. Their behaviour seemed to me to be very strange. I told my wife to go to the hole in the cellar, listen, and tell me if they were talking German, who said presently that she could not understand what they were saying. Then I listened and my heart began to beat quicker, for I thought I heard 'All right'. There came to my mind the thought that this was indeed the arrival of the English, but I said to my wife, 'Don't move because this may not be the real invasion. I have not heard what the BBC has said'." He then heard a sound at the side door. The 7th Battalion officer, Lieutenant Thomas, had decided to break into the building:

"Next to the bridge stands a café and I had to break into this building. I feared it could be a hideout for German troops. I ordered my men to smash the shutters and begin to search. In the pitch darkness one of my men stumbled over a table and let forth a stream of language, which indicated his Cockney origin. Immediately a trap door opened and a very frightened patron.... appeared and said 'Don’t shoot. We're French'. I was to learn that he was Georges Gondrée, who spoke prefect English having worked before the war as a messenger for Lloyds Bank in Paris."

Georges Gondrée: "I heard sounds of people trying to open the door and knocking upon it. I was immediately confronted by a soldier with a coal-black face. He said 'Avez vous Allemands ici?' I replied 'Non, pas d'Allemands. Entrez, Monsieur'. He was joined by another soldier and they entered and began to look around the room. I put my hand into the hand of the first soldier, but I did not yet dare to speak to him in English. I led them towards the cellar and the other one followed. They seemed at first a little reluctant to go down, but I nodded and beckoned and smiled, so at last they did and I pointed to my wife and two children. For a moment there was silence. Then one turned to the other and said in English 'It's all right, chum'. Then at last I knew who they were and I burst into tears. My wife and I embraced them and then we talked in English. They gave chocolate to the children. Presently orders were issued from the outside by Lieut. Thomas who was in command of the party. I at once made myself known to him and asked in what way I could help, suggesting that my house had better be used for the wounded. To this, he agreed, and my house was full of wounded for the next twenty-four hours.

NB The above accounts from Georges Gondrée and Dan Thomas are reported in a footnote in Neil Barber’s book as being "almost identical", except there is a slight discrepancy regarding whether the door was knocked on or not.

In his letter to Dan of 24 July 1947, Georges wrote: "Please find enclosed a photo of your Bridge with our house so you can show your mother, wife and friends the window where I first spoke to you very early on the morning of D-Day. The window is the first from the left, ground floor. This is our dining room. Do you remember while you were giving your instructions to your boys, I was looking at you and them? I did not speak a word of English, trying to make sure that you were really English. That's funny and already far behind, but still very fresh in my memory. I'll never forget that."

Postscript: After the war, Dan Thomas and his family visited the Gondrée family on a number of occasions. Georges sent him a copy of Ouest France dated 5 May 1958 which has an article about him with a photograph at Pegasus Bridge.

Major John Howard, leader of the Coup de Main: "7 PARA under Col. Geoffrey Pine-Coffin became responsible for the area west of the bridge. At around first light a Platoon of 7 PARA led by Dan Thomas, opened up the café for use as a First Aid Post. This was done with the willing help of the Gondrée family, who apart from Georges and Madame, included two young daughters, Georgette aged 9 and Arlette aged 4... Only one family and building can rightfully claim to be the first to be liberated that night."

Securing the bridge and counter-attacks

It was important that the portcullis bridge was manned, so on the advice of Gondree, we turned the bridge operator out of bed and instructed him to man the controls. The sight of this elderly gentleman sprinting down the main street clad only in his nightshirt produced gales of laughter.

At about 05.10 "all hell was let loose" as a Royal Navy bombardment landed a loud barrage of shells around the bridge area. This was being coordinated by a naval officer who had parachuted in with the 7th Battalion. As well as helping with the defence of the bridges, this raised morale by signalling that the beach landing was getting under way and that the "sense of fighting a lone battle had passed away." The barrage last until 06.15, but then became even more intense as 13 destroyers added to the noise.

Just before 07.00, however, a "rumble of tracked vehicles" became apparent in the southern part of Benouville and a number of tanks were seen coming from Caen. They formed up to attack the village, but then withdrew when fired upon. Six half-tracks which came from Troan were also attacked and destroyed. More tanks, self-propelled guns, armoured cars and German troops on foot continued trying to penetrate the village. "A" Company was in the direct line of fire and took most of the casualties. A Regimental First Aid Post in one of the houses had to be abandoned and the Padre and several others, including medical personnel and the wounded, were killed. The German patrol then moved on towards the Mairie.

"B" Company men saw the patrol and took cover behind a wall at the T-junction. They fired an anti-tank gun at the tank which was then about 100 yards away, but it just bounced off the turret. The turret then swung round and fired at the men, killing two of them. The tank continued past the Mairie and then turned down the road towards the café and the Canal Bridge. But it was hit by four Gammons, started to burn and turned back towards the centre of the village.

The men who had been at the T-junction escaped. They followed the line of a hedge on the Mairie side of the road, down towards the bridge, where they met the men of Lieutenant Thomas' platoon on the knoll of ground west of the Café Gondrée.

At one point, according to Jim Moran - a soldier in the Platoon - "Lt Thomas ordered one of our lads forward with the 2" mortar, but he was killed as soon as he broke cover". This was almost certainly Pte. James Kearns.

The fighting continued throughout the morning, with both attacks and lulls. Soon after dawn RAF fighter planes had performed a victory roll over the bridge and dropped copies of that day's Daily Mirror and other newspapers. In spite of all the problems, 5 Parachute Brigade were now in their defensive positions, although not in the planned strength.

Top Brass and boat attack

At around 09.00 General Gale set off from his HQ to see how things were faring at the bridges. He was accompanied by two Brigadiers and least one Colonel - "a remarkable morale booster, albeit rather foolhardy as enemy sniping was keeping our heads down". Colonel Pine-Coffin spotted General Gale and Brigadier Kindersley nonchalantly crossing the canal bridge - "showing no signs of hurry over that unhealthy spot... They were seen to stop and chat to Thomas' men and then swing right-handed and walk slowly down the canal bank."

General Gale then noticed two boats coming towards them, about 100 yards apart, but without sign of life above deck. He shouted a warning to Pine-Coffin just before one of the boats opened fire on the 7th Battalion HQ. "When the leading vessel was 100 yards from the bridge, Thomas's platoon at the bridge could contain themselves no longer and opened up with a Bren, chipping splinters off the wheel-house". One of Howard's men then fired a PIAT. One boat turned back towards the coast and the other drifted to the bank where the crew were captured - later described as a naval victory.

Defending the Bridge

As the initial Regimental First Aid Post had by now been put out of action, the use of the Gondrée café for treatment of the wounded was in "an ideal position".

Counter-attacks were however intensifying and the position was by now "fast becoming desperate". Reinforcements sent across the bridge were met by Lt. Thomas where his platoon were dug-in. "B" Company had to repel repeated attacks, one of the worst problems being the large number of snipers making movement difficult as they picked off men from cottage windows, roof-tops and especially from the church tower.

Col. Pine-Coffin: "One of the weapons which the Germans had installed for the defence of the bridge was a 40mm electrically fired gun. The Germans disrupted the wiring system before they left, but did no actual damage to the gun itself. Two of Thomas's men tinkered with it for a couple of hours and not only got it going again, but even zeroed it against a nearby bank. They found it fired 5 feet below at 300 yards. The gun was subsequently used, with great success, against snipers who fired from the windows of the chateau."

When the Paras started to fire an anti-tank gun at the church tower, the Mayor of Benouville, Monsieur Thomas, suddenly appeared and began gesticulating "Don’t hurt my church!". German mortar bombs then started to arrive from the roof of the Benouville Chateau which was a maternity home. They were very accurate around the bridge which became "quite a hot potato".

Relief from the sea

Seaborne forces were expected to start arriving some time after midday. But, well after 11.00, the only sign of anyone approaching from the sea had been French civilians, mostly women and children, trying to escape the fighting.

Col. Pine-Coffin: "One of the chief problems of this bridge Platoon was how to deal with the very large numbers of extremely excited and voluble refugees who wanted to cross. They did not know which way they wanted to go, but were very frightened and wanted someone to take them under control. Obviously they could not be allowed to stream across whichever way they wished as there was always the chance that they would later contact the Germans and report what they had seen. There might even be Germans concealed among them. Thomas' Platoon had the job of separating the men from the women and children and herding them into hastily improvised cages. The obvious pleasure of these civilians at meeting British soldiers on the bridge was most noticeable and gratifying, but their attempts to shake hands personally with everyone had to be discouraged as it took so long".

The Commandos eventually arrived, led by Lord Lovat, possibly accompanied by his piper. The bag-pipes were first heard from the neighbouring village of St Aubin, but could not be answered by the pre-arranged bugle as the way was still not clear.

Pte. Dennis Edwards: "For us excessively tired young soldiers, out of ammunition and in an impossible position, the sense of relief and exhilaration can only be guessed at. To know that the seaborne forces were ashore and moving inland was a cause of enormous relief and satisfaction. It was like hearing a reprieve of sentence, which in effect it really was."

As the Commandos arrived (probably not before) Georges Gondrée dug up hidden bottles of champagne from his garden and passed them around the troops.

The Commandos were due to move on across the bridges, but Pine-Coffin explained to Lovat that "B" Company was still pretty tied down by snipers and so they helped to clear them out.

Other platoons were sent to assist Thomas' No. 6 Platoon in holding the bridge itself.

The enemy were still keeping up a relentless bombardment at 14.30 and Commandos who crossed the bridge at that time under a smoke haze reported "passing some Airborne lads dug in at the side of the bridge. 'Good luck, Keep going, there's another bridge,' they shouted. It must have been one of the fastest walks I'd ever undertaken feeling so vulnerable with bullets pinging off the steel girders and a fair amount of mortar fire."

The situation got so bad that, during the afternoon, General Gale sent a message to Major-General Rennie (in command of the army invading from Sword Beach) with a desperate plea for relief. The request was incorrectly understood to mean that, with so much sniper and mortar fire in the area, the Airborne had been driven from the bridges and that both were now back in enemy hands. At 1900 General Gale told Col Pine-Coffin that he had stated that the relief of the 7th Battalion must be treated as a first priority task.

Eventually - some time after 2200 - relief was provided by the 2nd Warwicks and further paratroops. The 7th Battalion had held on for over 17 hours. The battalion finally marched into Brigade Relief at 01.00. Around 250 men mustered - including stragglers who had found their way to the bridges during the day. About 60 had been killed or wounded.

After D-Day - Twice Wounded

Dan Thomas (1990): "Once the bridgehead had been secured it was then safer for the locals to venture out to perform essential jobs. One unfortunate farmer claimed he had been fired on by British troops whilst performing a natural function. My Colonel dealing with the complaint apologised to the Mayor, saying “But you must agree, Monsieur le Maire, that a Frenchman’s backside can easily be mistaken for a German’s face!"

On 7th June at 13.30 the 7th Battalion moved to take up defensive positions at Le Hom. The following day they were shelled and mortared there at various times, sometimes heavily, but without casualties. On 9th June - still at Le Hom - direct shell bursts killed three soldiers and wounded twelve. They were bombed and strafed by German aircraft in the evening with one further injury. Thirty minutes of further shelling early on 10th June killed two more men with one more injury.

That morning, they attacked a German patrol and in the afternoon, with support from six tanks, completed a successful attack on enemy troops in the Le Mariquet woods between Le Hom and Le Mesnil, just outside Ranville. They estimated that 30 Germans were killed and 90 taken prisoner. Eight soldiers and one officer were wounded. The Battalion had taken up a final position in Le Mesnil by 18.09. On 11th June, they captured two more prisoners, and "B" Company was again shelled and mortared. BBC representatives visited the battalion in the afternoon.

At 23.30 on 11 June 1944 at Les Mesnil the official dairy records that "Lt. Thomas (B Coy) shot and wounded in the arm by a Company sentry" - so-called "friendly fire" - as he was returning from receiving orders at Battalion HQ. According to Pte. Jim Moran, who was also on "stag" duty at the time, "Lt Thomas had a habit of crawling up to see if the sentry was alert and was shot by the other sentry."

Dan was evacuated back to the UK and treated at Broad Green EMS in Liverpool, but returned to rejoin the Battalion in Normandy on August 1st. The Battalion official diary for August 9th records that: "11.00 CO holds discussion with outpost Platoon Command (Lt. Thomas) and briefs C Coy afternoon patrols."

Dan was wounded again, this time much more seriously, 18 days later - on 19 August 1944 - in fighting near the village of Putot en Auge (near Dozulé) as the breakout got under way. "B" Company of the 7th Parachute Battalion came under machine gun and anti-aircraft fire during a troop-clearing advance.

Pine-Coffin's diary records as follows: "The Battalion crossed the railway line in the station area at dawn and immediately had difficulty in finding the track which was its further line of advance. The map was completely at fault here... and no such track existed and some time was wasted in searching for it and finally moving up the hedgerow which ran in the same direction. "B" Company commanded now by Captain Braithwaite... led the advance and were in turn led by Lieutenant Thomas's Platoon. Thomas had recovered from his wounds and recently returned to the fold.

The hedgerow selected for the line in advance was the long side of a narrow rectangular field of about 50 yards width and 200 yards length. As Thomas’s Platoon were moving forward up the line of the hedgerow it was just beginning to get light... This was likely to become a most unhealthy area.

A machine gun opened up somewhere in front on the leading troop just as they reached the far end of the hedge and Sergeant Fay was killed and Lieutenant Thomas was seriously wounded... A small German detachment with a very business-like dual-purpose gun mounted on wheels was soon found in the hedge on the opposite side of the field. It is an unpleasant thought to visualise what this gun could have done to the rest of the Battalion had its crew been more alert. It was in position and already pointed in the right direction and not more than 50 yards away."

The official diary simply records that "B" Coy suffered casualties "as follows - 1 killed, 3 wounded (incl Lt. Thomas).

"He led his platoon forward, advancing on the enemy... but his progress was brutally halted by a stream of machine gun bullets. Dan was hit in the chest. Instinctively, automatically, he managed painfully to wrap his own arms round his chest, to hug himself tightly to try to stem the flow of blood. And then, finally, there was a smiling, friendly black face peering down at him, the jab of a needle - and oblivion. A West Indian from Portsmouth, one of the few men with a naturally black face among those thousands made up with camouflage, had risked withering fire, put his own life on the line, to run to pull Dan to safety and to administer a jab of morphine. It was an act of tremendous bravery that won the man a Distinguished Conduct Medal before, in the bitter unfairness and indiscriminate brutality of war, he was killed in another action. Dan had been seriously wounded in the stomach. It is believed that he was evacuated to hospital in South Wales [RAF Hospital, Church Village in Pontypridd, Glamorganshire] where he spent a long time [12 months] convalescing"

Sidney Cornell

Private Sidney Cornell was almost certainly the soldier who saved Lt Thomas's life. He was in fact of Anglo-American descent and had been the Battalion's boxing champion. His DCM was awarded for several other acts of bravery. Sidney Cornell had been in 6 Platoon prior to D-Day, but then became a runner for the whole of B Company, an especially dangerous role. He was a remarkably brave and able soldier, but sadly was killed in Germany in 1945.

Palestine

After the war, Dan - now promoted to Captain D. L Thomas - rejoined B Company of the 7th Parachute Battalion. He served, under Col. Pine-Coffin, as part of the peace-keeping force in Palestine from March - November 1946.

Final Word

"We had trained so long that we would have been disappointed had we not been allowed to go over. In a way we were pleased to be going. I suppose to a certain extent we became conditioned to the horror of war and with our families on rations, split and evacuated, and with Europe over-run and oppressed, one sure way to finish it was to drive them out."

6 Pl "B" Coy 7 (LI) BN Parachute Regmt

Dan's Abbreviations:

K = Killed

M = Missing

IN = Injured

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