Private Michael Durston

Michael Durston enlisted into the General Service Corps. He volunteered for airborne forces whilst serving with The Royal Sussex Regiment in June 1943.

He qualified as a military parachutist on Course 75 which ran at RAF Ringway from 26 July to 6 August 1943. The instructors’ report states ‘Pte Dunstan [sic]: Satisfactory Standard.’Pte ‘Durston was posted to A Company, The 9th (Essex) Parachute Battalion (9th Para Bn).

He jumped with 9th Para Bn into Normandy on 6 June 1944 in advance of the main beach landings, to assault the German gun battery at Merville. Pte Durston was a member Lieutenant Pond’s glider party, part of Gordon Brown’s Force (G-B Force).

He then fought with A Coy 9th Para Bn in the Ardennes during the winter of 1944-5 and parachuted as part of the Rhine Crossings during Operation VARSITY in March 1945, subsequently advancing to the Baltic with the 3rd Parachute Brigade.

Pte Durston returned to The Royal Sussex in July 1945.