'First In Last Out' exhibition 20 May 2022

This photograph was taken on the Breville Ridge in Normandy, with Drop Zone N in the background, on 5 June 2017.

DZ N was the largest of all dropping / landing zones on D-Day, and by nightfall, around 3,000 men had landed there by parachute and glider.

The Breville Ridge, with its commanding views over the Divisional area, was fiercely fought over. The Airborne troops were outnumbered three to one and were engaged in a fraught and bloody battle, but they held their ground.

Every man in this photo saw action on the Ridge, or landed in the fields behind.

From L-R.

Back Row: Gordon Newton, 9th (Essex) Parachute Battalion, Cecil Jeffcoate, 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry; Jim Beasant, 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion, George Talbot, 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry; Geoff Pattinson, 9th (Essex) Parachute Battalion.

Front Row: William Bray, 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion; Nick Archdale, 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion;  Ernie Stringer, 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion;  Bill Gladden, 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment; Laurie Weeden, The Glider Pilot Regiment.