I am currently in the process of reaseraching those men from our village who are commemorated on its War Memorial. I have come across a couple of men who are not shown on the memorial nor the scroll in the local church, among them being Serjeant William Henry Beckett, Service No. 2653992 who I came acrossby sheer accident as he married a woman from our village. His date of death is given as 1st. June 1940 and a Google search states the Guards were rushed to reinforce the line near Funes around this time. More surprisingly the British troops had been routed and The Guards restored order by shooting several of the fleeing troops and turning others around at the point of the bayonet. I find it amazing that British troops would shoot their own troops and am quizzical to know if an inquiry was ever held in to this incident at a later date?
Mangoman45, Hello and welcome to the forum. [ CWGC for full details: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2776877/ BECKETT, WILLIAM HENRY Rank:Serjeant Service No:2653922 Date of Death:01/06/1940 Age:30 Regiment/Service:Coldstream Guards 2nd Bn. Grave Reference: Row B. Grave 4. Cemetery:WARHEM COMMUNAL CEMETERY Additional Information:Son of Robert Henry and Edith Dinah Beckett; husband of Stella Beckett, of Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire. ] I'd have merged your post above with the linked thread only I wasn't sure whether you're also asking for any extra info about Serj. Beckett himself. If so, it'd be best to keep the topics separate. The link below is the thread dealing with the McCorquodale/Langley incident. British Soldiers shot for retiring without permission
Hi, You may be interested in the latter contents of this topic. This brave CG officer and his company commander Major Angus McCorquodale did shoot an officer of 4th Border Regiment for refusing to obey an order not to retreat. James Maydon Langley, MBE, MC, 2 Coldstream Guards & M.I.9 Steve Y
The link leads me to the menu for WW2 Talk and cannot find the topic that interests me. Is it possible to give me the direct link to the page relating to Sjt. William Henry Beckett and his involvement in the Dunkirk evacuation.
The link given above takes me to the WW2 Talk menu and i cannot locate the page that is relevant to my research on Sjt. William Henry Beckett. Is it possible to give me the direct link to the page you refer to?
Thread link above has now been restored, however it was posted in response to a specific remark unrelated to Beckett. I know you didn't ask but the original poster - Mangoman - never responded elsewhere. This was his only post.
