14385183 STAFFORD Michael R Pte 1st Battalion The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) DoW Age 19 Anzio Italy 28th April 1944 3973373 HOROBIN Leslie L/Bdr.3/2 Maritime Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery. Born Buxton Derbyshire. Presumed killed aged 20, when the SS Empire Caribou was sunk by U556 on the 10th May 1941 14228231 COPE Basil Gnr. 11 Field Regiment Royal Artillery. KIA Italy 1st March 1944 age 20 Staffordshire Advertiser 1st April 1944 PLY/X 110320 TATTON Norman Yates Marine 47 Royal Marine Commando KIA 14th June 1944 Age 20 Staffordshire Advertiser 8th July 1944
Marine Norman Y Tatton, would have landed with 47 Royal Marine Commando on Gold Beach on D-Day. They landed behind the right-hand assault brigade, 231st Infantry Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Division, with the task of moving west to capture Port-en-Bessin from the land-side. This small port was on the demarkation line between British (Gold) and US (Omaha) forces and was the place where the PLUTO pipeline eventually emerged from the English Channel. Its capture was achieved on 8 June 1944. Their work done, they moved from the very right of the British zone to the Orne Bridgehead on the very left on the 11 June 1944. According to the book: "From Omaha to the Scheldt - The Story of 47 Royal Marine Commando (Forfar)', Marine Tatton was one of 23 casualties treated at the RAP for shrapnel or bullet wounds in their first 4 days at Sallenelles in the Orne Bridgehead. He was the only one of these casualties to die. He is referred to earlier in the book as one of 3 Royal Marine Commandos in a detachment called Timberforce; Lt Bennett, and Marines Quinney and Tatton, that travelled on 4 February 1944 in MTB 666 on a mission to a fiord north of Bergen, Norway. They were to pick up a passenger and drop others. It took 12 hours to get there and 3 days of appalling weather to get back. They nearly sunk and when the MTB beached in a British inlet it was half full of water. RIP Marine Norman Y Tatton.
I have also had a look through the names on the WWII memorial tablet at St Luke's Church, Leek (post 3 above). There are a couple of names on the tablet that I did not peruse further J Clark and A W Jones, as there are so many. Another 50th (Northumbrian) Division soldier here: BEECH, HAROLD Rank: Private Service No: 4918820 Date of Death: 18/07/1943 Age: 25 Regiment/Service:Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment), 7th Bn. Grave Reference: IV. C. 8. Cemetery: CATANIA WAR CEMETERY, SICILY Additional Information: Son of James William and Frances Beech, of Leek, Staffordshire. The 7th Bn Green Howards crossed the Primosole Bridge 30 minutes after the 168th Infantry Brigade (the latter attached to 50 Div only for the fighting in Sicily), moving up the Catania Road to a point about 100 yards short of the Fosso Bottaceto. At around 01.30am on the 18th July 1943, the Battalion turned towards the western end of the Fosso Bottaceto, and the railway line and railway bridge that crossed this ditch. Having met its objectives the Battalion was subjected to heavy machine-gun fire, was pinned down and losses were heavy. Later there was a withdrawal to a more suitable position. It appears that Pte Harold Beech was likely killed in this action. RIP Pte Harold Beech.
This is the third (and likely final) 50th (Northumbrian) Division soldier on the WWII memorial tablet at St Luke's Church, Leek. JOHNSON, CHARLES REAY Rank: Lance Bombardier Service No: 7637527 Date of Death: 14/06/1944 Age: 24 Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery, 86 (The Hertfordshire Yeo.) Field Regt. Grave Reference: Column 2. Cemetery: BIRMINGHAM MUNICIPAL CREMATORIUM Additional Information: Son of Charly and Ellen Johnson, of Leek, Staffordshire. The 86th (The Hertfordshire Yeomany) Field Regiment, RA, were attached to 50 Div for the purposes of the D-Day assault on Gold Beach. They supported 50 Div a lot in the couple of months thereafter. I have no information on L/Bdr Charles R Johnson's demise, but know he died in the UK. That likely, either, means he was already ill and didn't make the D-Day assault, or was wounded in Normandy and evacuated to the UK for treatment (but died). RIP L/Bdr Charles R Johnson.
