Private William J P Devlin

Private William Joseph Patrick Devlin, commonly known as 'Pat', served with 1st Parachute Battalion. He was the son of William Patrick Devlin, and of Evelyn May Devlin, of Wallasey, Cheshire.

Intelligence Section. 1st Parachute Battalion.

William Devlin enlisted into the Cameron Highlanders on the 2 May 1939, but later transferred to the Royal Artillery and volunteered for Airborne Forces in October/November 1942.

He attended parachute course number 39, 16 – 27 November 1942 and passed. There are no individual records or comments about each parachutists performance on the course, but the overall course assessment was as follows;

STANDARDS OF PROFIENCY

5. a. Morale. Despite the awkward period this course experienced at Hardwick due to the change of all parachute training from Hardwick to Ringway, they maintained a high standard. This was considered due to the fact that the officers undergoing the course with the men were of a standard far above the average.

b. Ground Training. It has been noticed that if morale and discipline is high ground training and parachuting also reached a standard above the average. With this course the ground training was excellent.

c. Parachuting. The parachuting was good with steady improvement consistent with training and experience. The very low number of injuries all of a minor nature speaks very well for the standard attained in parachuting. The total number of descents made was 776 – 225 from the balloon and 551 from aircraft.

In January 1943 he, along with a large re-enforcement draft was sent to North Africa to ‘make-up’ the numbers in the 1st Parachute Brigade, which had incurred heavy casualties in their initial battles in Tunisia. He served as a rifleman in 9 Platoon, T-Company in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, returning to the United Kingdom in December 1943.

On the 17 September 1944 the 1st Parachute Battalion dropped on DZ ‘X’ over 6 miles to the west of Arnhem in Holland. After the failure to penetrate the German defences blocking their advance into the town between Sunday 17 and Tuesday 19th September the battalion withdrew to a position on the outskirts of Oosterbeek. This is where Private William Devlin was seen by Captain the Reverend Talbot Watkins, the Padre of the 1st Para Battalion. The following is the citation, for the Military Medal, that he wrote;

During the airborne operation at ARNHEM, September 17– 25, 1944, this soldier repeatedly displayed great initiative and reckless courage which inspired and enheartened all who saw him.

On 21 September, the Battalion was forced to retire from an exposed position and it was impossible to bring back all the wounded. This man volunteered to go back through very heavy MG and mortar fire, and he brought in one by one four men, carrying them more than 200 yards, this undoubtedly saving their lives.

On 23 September, when enemy tanks had pierced our perimeter, he seized a PIAT and single handedly and with supreme bravery in the face of great danger chased one of them, firing three shots at it. He failed to destroy it, but forced it to retire. This magnificent action helped in no small degree to restore the position.

Casualty: 24 September, 1944 – Reported Missing.

The citation was endorsed by Major JA Jessop, then the acting Officer Commanding the 1st Parachute Battalion, but it was not awarded.

Note that he is commemorated on his headstone as being ‘KILLED IN ACTION’ on the 20 September 1944.

KIA: 20/09/44 aged 25.

First buried in the rear garden of the Ter Horst family, Benedendorpsweg.

Now lies at rest in the CWGC Cemetery, Oosterbeek. 2. A. 10