Captain John H Max

John Hornsby Max was the son of David John and Mary Elizabeth Max, of Old Stratford; Buckinghamshire.

He was granted an emergency commission in the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry in June 1940 having completed training at an Officer Cadet Training Unit and later volunteered for parachute training.

John Max qualified as a military parachutist on course 7 which ran at RAF Ringway in January 1942.

By the time of the Normandy landings, John Max had been promoted to Captain and was serving as General Staff Officer Grade III (Intelligence) in 6th Airborne Division Headquarters. He was killed when his glider crashed to the east of the River Dives in the grounds of the Chateau de Grangues.

Most of the other men in the glider survived and were taken prisoner, however one of the glider pilots, Barry Powell, died on impact, and the other pilot, Duncan Wright, is reported to have been shot by soldiers of the 711th German Infantry Division, together with the seven survivors of a crashed Stirling which was carrying men of the 591st Parachute Squadron and HQ Royal Engineers, after a failed escape attempt.

Captain John Max died on 6 June 1944, aged 26 years, and is now buried at Ranville Cemetery, Normandy.

Profile photograph courtesy of David Ward.