Sapper John L Thomas

My father, John Lewis Thomas enlisted in the Army in February 1943 aged 20 years old.

He volunteered for and joined the 3rd Parachute Squadron RE in April 1943. He was trained for over the next year to take part in the invasion of Normandy (Op Overlord) Specifically, he was part of 3 troop of the 3rd Parachute Brigade, which made up part of Operation Tonga. They were tasked to destroy two bridges crossing the River Dives at Robehomme and Varville, then to defend the high ground at Le Mesnil from German advances. During the period of 6th June and 13th June 1944 he was wounded by a 'bomb blast' and was evacuated back to England on 13th June 1944. After making a full recovery he returned to his Squadron and troop at Le Mesnil on 9th August 1944.

Sapper Thomas was then involved in the advance to the River Seine as part of 3rd Parachute Brigade and the 6th Airborne Division and captured the town of Beuzeville. The division was then withdrawn from France and embarked for England at the beginning of September 1944. He was then sent to Belgium by sea, as part of the 6th Airborne Division, on 24th December 1944. He was involved in the Battle of the Bulge on the Western Front and by the end of January 1945 crossed into the Netherlands. Near the end of February 1945 the division returned to England to prepare for another airborne mission - to cross the River Rhine into Germany. He was part of Operation Varsity on the 24th March 1945 as part of the 3rd Parachute Brigade, which advanced to Wismar and the Baltic Sea. On the 18th May 1945 they left Germany and returned to England.

He then joined 591 Airborne Squadron post war and spent May - August 1945 as part of the Allied Forces in Norway. He then returned to the UK and then embarked as part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in Germany from November 1945 to November 1947. He was then released to Army Reserve in November 1947, he was a Stevedore, and was discharged from Para 204 - 11 T.A. on 22nd January 1951 as medically unfit for further service. He served 7 years 339 days in the army.

He contracted TB. Tragically he died in March 1955 aged 32 years old, 5 months before I was born.

By John Thomas