Charles (Joe) Cousins, 1st Airborne Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles, d. 13 June 1944

I am hoping to find out more about the last days of my great uncle, Charles (Joe) Cousins, who was injured on 7 June 1944 and died of his wounds in hospital on 13 June. Joe Cousins (service number 7014912) was a Londoner, a qualified butcher, and a rifleman in the 1st Airborne Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles (6th Air Landing Brigade, 6th Airborne Division). He was one of many who landed at Ranville, just east of the Orne River, in a Horsa glider as part of Operation Mallard on the evening of 6 June.

Correspondence from a number of his comrades at the time indicates that Joe belonged to the Quartermaster Staff (S Company); I can't cite a specific platoon number. This correspondence, combined with evidence from published sources, suggests that he was probably injured at or around ‘Ring Contour (or Hill) 30’ due east of Longueval and north of St Honourine where his company, along with C and F companies, came under heavy German fire between 09:00 and 12:00 noon on 7 June before withdrawing to Longueval. He may, though, have been further west, with A and B Companies, heading from Longueval to St Honourine. A letter from one comrade in C Company reported that a Corporal Burns had been with Joe when he was wounded.

I’m hoping – perhaps a remote hope – to discover how he was injured and what happened thereafter. I know that he was removed to a field hospital, appears to have been able to write a letter from hospital, but then died on 13 June. He is buried in Hermanville Cemetery. His daughter will be pursuing official records at the PRO in Kew, but we wondered if there were any surviving comrades (or descendants of comrades) who might provide a first-hand account or throw any light on his final days.

Dale

 

I have the battalions war diary at home, I'll have a look when I get home from work. I think I may have the regiments Missing Men file which is always worth a shout as he may be mentioned in a witness account. I've got at least one official regimental history as well that I'll check for you.

His service records will be with the MoD in Glasgow that may/should list a cause of death if he died in a field hospital.

Cheers
Andy

 

The diary states 64 ORs wounded on the 7th June.

The Missing Men file is WO 361/585 North West Europe: Royal Ulster Rifles; missing personnel. This will probably cover both battalions from 1944 to the end of the war so may be quite thick.

 

Hi Dale

It might be worth contacting this web site as they may have more information and/or perhaps you can add to their details

https://paradata.org.uk/units/1st-airborne-battalion-royal-ulster-rifles

TD

 

Many thanks to Andy for checking the RUR’s war diary and missing men file. I’m putting in an application to the Glasgow Army Records Office: the advice that it can take quite some time for files to be checked helped prompt me to put out an enquiry via ww2talk. Thanks, too, for the PRO reference: I had identified a couple of record groups on the basis of footnotes in secondary sources and published collections of primary sources, but will be adding this reference to the file. Many thanks, as well, to Tricky Dicky for the website suggestion, which I will also pursue. This is all much appreciated!
Dale