Private Jack Smithies enlisted into 43 SL Royal Artillery in 1938 and volunteered for The Parachute Regiment in 1942.
He attended Parachute training course number 20 at RAF Ringway in July 1942 and was posted to HQ Company, 8th Parachute Battalion, and took part in the D-Day landings to Normandy on 5-6 June 1944.
Pte Smithies died on 31 July 1944, aged 24 years old. He left behind a wife, Joyce Smithies, and is now buried at Ranville War Cemetery, Normandy.
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Headstone image provided by Bob Hilton.
By Rebecca Blackburn with information supplied by Bob Hilton
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