Airborne Assault MuseumArticle
Normandy (Operation Overlord)
Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of occupied Europe commonly known as D-Day, saw the 6th Airborne Division in action f...
William Patrick Hedges was the son of Henry James and Alice Maud Hedges and husband of Phyllis Mable Hedges of Osney, Oxfordshire. He served with 22 Pln, 'D' Coy, The 2nd (Airborne) Battalion Ox and Bucks Light infantry and took part in the Normandy landings in June 1944. He was in Glider 4, under Lt Tony Hooper, on the Coup de Main assault on what is now known as Pegasus Bridge. The assault team landed at the River Dives Bridge, due to navigational errors.
The action surrounding his death after being wounded on the Dives Bridge at Varaville is described in Appendix C of Pegasus Bridge (Page 327 and subsequent Footnote 6) written by Neil Barber. These state:
"There were Germans in the farmhouse to the south east of the bridges. These had attacked the Oxf and Bucks, throwing phosphorous grenades. Some of this hit the back of Private John Lathbury’s smock and began smouldering, so he jumped in the river. This had happened as the others began to run across the bridge. His friend Private ‘Hammy’ Hedges was aged 32 and so had taken Lathbury under his wing. As Hedges ran across the bridge he was shot in the leg. Lathbury, Alf Whitford and ‘Hammy’ Hedges were all subsequently captured. [6] Lathbury was taken across to the farmhouse and locked in a cupboard under the stairs !
Footnote:
6. Hedges is now buried in the Periers en Auge Churchyard just to the north west; date of death listed as 7th June. As Everett was buried beside the road, it may well have been that Hedges was wounded and moved for treatment before he died. Everett was buried on the north-west side of the road, east of the bridge at MR217761. His date of death was changed from the 6th to the 7th June for some reason, but it is obvious that he was killed on D-Day."
Editor's Note: Pte Hedge's burial is the only Commonwealth forces war grave in the cemetery. The headstone on his grave states that he was 32 years old but it appears that he was probably aged 30 at the time of his death.
Created with information kindly supplied by Neil Barber and Frances Stobbs.
Service History
- Date not known 2nd Battalion Ox and Bucks Light Infantry (Private)
