Washington B Dugdale

Washington Baron Dugdale enlisted into the Cheshire Regiment.

He later transferred into the South Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) and volunteered for airborne force when the 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion was formed from the 2nd/4th Battalion The South Lancashire Regiment in May 1943.

Sergeant ‘Duggy’ Dugdale undertook military parachute jump training course 72 at RAF Ringway between 12 and 23 July 1943. His course report stated: 'A good example to the men and a good parachutist.’

He served with 8 Platoon, C Company (C Coy) and saw active service in Normandy as the Company Quartermaster Sergeant (CQMS) on Operation Overlord. He took off from Broadwell Airfield in aircraft 321. It is believed that he was wounded by 13 June 1944.

When the 13th Para Bn went to the Ardennes he was the Headquarters Company Sergeant Major (CSM).

On the Rhine Crossing he was Company Sergeant Major of B Company, 13th Para Bn.

CSM Dugdale saw service in the Advance to the Baltic, the Far East and Palestine before being posted to the West Yorkshire Regiment in July 1946.

By Wendy George

1943
13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion (Company Sergeant Major)

Operations

Event

Advance to the Baltic

The airborne soldiers were well suited to exploit the fluid situation that occurred following the collapse of the Rhine barrier defence. Short fierce actions were fought from the tanks of the 4th Tank Battalion of the Grenadier Guards and whatever transport could be purloined.

Event

Ardennes

After the Allied landings in Normandy and subsequent advance through France and Belgium, the German Army had succeeded in stalling the Allied offensive along their line of defence at the German border - the ‘Siegfried Line’.

Event

Far East

The 5th Parachute Brigade was sent to the Far East in preparation for a potential invasion of Japan. However, only the advance elements of the Brigade had reached the Far East prior to the Japanese surrender.

Event

Palestine

Arab intransigence over the surge of Jewish immigration that followed the Holocaust in Europe led to the forming of extreme dissident Zionist groups such as IZL (Irgun Zwai Leumi) and the Stern Gang, all seeking to promote their aims through violence.

Event

Rhine Crossing (Operation Varsity)

Operation Varsity was the largest single airborne operation in history. On a single day, over 16,000 men were inserted by glider and parachute into western Germany. Around 8000 of those came from the British 6th Airborne Division, flying aboard 243 C47 aircraft and 440 gliders.

Photos_1

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CSM Dugdale with a nurse and a Danish soldier, probably Copenhagen, Denmark 1945.

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Group photos_1

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Warrant Officers & Sergeants Mess. 13th (Lancs) Parachute Battalion. Larkhill, Wilts. February 1945.

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Company Sergeant Major Washington B Dugdale

{ Duggy }

05 Jan 1915 - 10 Jan 1982

Service History