Private Stewart A Brownsword

19 Aug 1944

Private Stewart Arnold Brownsword, son of Stephen Arnold and Ethel Brownsword, of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, enlisted into The Warwickshire Regiment during World War II and volunteered for airborne forces.

He qualified as a military parachutist on Course 81 which ran at RAF Ringway from 6 to 16 September 1943 and subsequently served in Headquarters Company of 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion.

He took part in the Normandy campaign with the Battalion, which initially blew up vital bridges to prevent German reinforcements into the Normandy beachhead. The Battalion then continued to occupy outlying positions to protect the beachhead and harass the enemy. Pte Brownsword was killed by enemy shellfire shortly after the Battalion had moved to positions near Goustranville.

Private Brownsword died on 19 August 1944, aged 19 years old. He is now buried at Ranville War Cemetery, Normandy.

By ParaData Editor

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OS Stewart A Brownsword newspaper
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Karen Cummings said:
During the war, Stuart "Ginger" Brownsword became friends with another paratrooper, Sam Rafferty. Sam survived the war and told the incredible story of Stuart's death, one most of his siblings did not live long enough to hear. According to Nick, Sam's son, "Ginger" sacrificed himself to save the rest of his battalion when he stepped out from safety and returned fire on a German tank, disabling it long enough for his team to escape. Here's a story from Sam through his son, Nick, posted on a company website. http://www.rafferty-steeplejacks.com/sam-raferty/
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