Private Lucío Sauquillo Echevarría

In the summer of 1945, Luís Sauquillo Ereñaga a Basque politician from Acción Nacionalista Vasca (Basque Nationalist Action – ANV) arrived in Paris from Cordessur-Ciel to visit the Basque Government Delegation. He was from Aretxabaleta, a town Northwest of Vitoria, nestled in the Basque hills that resembled a Swiss scene.

It was in Paris that he found out that his son Lucío had been killed in action in June 1944. His other son, Gabriel was alive. But the blow was even harder to take because Luís had lost two other sons fighting in the Spanish Civil War. One had been killed in action and the other shot by the Rebel Nationalists. What was worse, was that he found out that Lucío had enlisted to join the British Army without his consent, something which had been impossible for him to prevent.

Lucío was born in 1923 and so when he signed up for the Army he was nineteen, something which was possible to do at the time due to the age bracket being 18 to 41. He and his brother Gabriel had arrived with the Habana in 1937 and by the time the war broke out were based in the Midlands and remained in Britain due to their parents being exiled in France.

It seems that Gabriel stayed in the Midlands and Lucío moved to Scarborough where he began his apprenticeship as an electrician. He began a relationship with a local girl called Olive Annie Agar and she gave birth to a son called Harry in Carlin How on 6 December 1941. The couple would not marry. According to his Army Record, 14411756 Private Lucío Sauquillo Echevarría enlisted on 16 November 1942 and started his training at 99 Primary Training Corps where he carried out his basic training before joining the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers (REME) as a Craftsman in 100 Company REME on the 17 of February 1943. The REME had only been established in October of that year and given his electrical skills he seems to have been an ideal fit.

On 14 September he transferred to the Army Air Corps (AAC) and subsequently joined the 12th (Yorkshire) Parachute Battalion which had been established in the May of that year. The battalion was part of the 5th Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Division formed in direct anticipation of the Normandy landings by the Airborne Forces. Originally, the Battalion had been the 10th Bn Green Howards.

Intensive training soon followed, including parachute training itself at Ringway. It then became based at Larkhill in Wiltshire North of the iconic Stonehenge. In October 1943, the battalion carried out a tour of Yorkshire and had a spot of leave, which was very well received. On the return to Larkhill, hard work began again in early 1944 as time was getting short now before D-Day.

The general plan for the part to be played in Normandy by the 6th Airborne Division was revealed to senior officers many days in advance of the actual operation. In short, the following tasks were given to it:

a. The capture of the bridges at Ranville and Benouville.

b. The destruction or neutralization of the coastal battery at Franceville Plage (later known as Merville Battery).

c. The destruction of the bridges over the River Dives at Varaville, Robehomme, Bures and Troan to delay the enemy.

d. Then to carry out a mop up operation between the Rivers Orne and Dives and to then to operate offensively against any enemy reserves moving from the East and Southeast.

At the end of May and ten days before the off, the battalion moved to Keevil aerodrome. Parachuting into Normandy at 0100 on 6 June 1944, 12th (Yorkshire) Parachute Battalion dropped into its Drop Zone and was soon trying to meet at its Rendezvous (RV) in a stone quarry near a road running parallel to the River Orne and the Canal. The battalion were to guard the East bank, facing South towards Caen and by 0315 it was setting off towards Ranville. The village was reached without the enemy being encountered, and the battalion’s companies deployed to their allotted positions digging in.

The first German counter-attack came in C Company's area at about 1130 and consisted of some one hundred infantry and some tanks. It was repelled at some cost to the company. Two tanks were knocked out by anti-tank guns in B Company's positions. A Company pushed forward beyond C Company. A visit by Major General RN. Gale passed on the information that the bridges had been captured intact, though the 7th Bn on the opposite bank were meeting tough opposition.

Early the next day a company from the 1st Battalion Royal Ulster Regiment (1st RUR) moved forward of A Company but was driven back. Three German tanks were then destroyed. 1st RUR advanced and attacked capturing Longueval one and a half miles South towards Caen. Just before dusk, 12th (Yorkshire) Parachute Battalion was relieved in place and withdrew to a rest area close to the Chateau of Ranville where it remained until later the following day.

On 9 June the battalion received orders to relieve 1st RUR at Longueval but due to continued heavy mortar fire it was decided to withdraw the Bn back to near Ranville and try to retrieve the casualties. They rested and reorganised over the day and were then placed under the command of 1 Special Service Brigade moving to Hauger and then taking up positions north to Amfreville.

An attack on Breville was needed and at 2215 on 12 June the battalion attacked with B Company in the lead. A series of friendly and counter barrages caused a great deal of casualties and took their toll. Amongst the three officers and twenty-eight others ranks killed that day was the commanding officer Lieutenant AP Johnson who was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Order. A further five officers and some 100 other ranks were wounded in action. Although depleted in numbers, reinforcements were received from within the Brigade and the battalion continued to fight on as a unit. Sadly, Lucío was amongst those severely injured on 12 June and died of his wounds the following day, aged just 21.

He is buried in plot 1.N.19, Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Hermanville. More recently, during the 75th anniversary commemorations of D-Day, the Sancho de Beurko Association memorialized Lucio through a visit and various articles. A team from EITB (Basque public television), also visited and Lucio's story reached many homes through various news outlets in his Basque homeland.