Private David Joyce

David Joyce was the son of David and Marion Joyce, of Grougarbank House, Crookedholm, near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Growing up in the country, he enjoyed walking and angling. He attended Kilmarnock Academy and joined the Army Cadet Force, where he was a member of the Cadet Pipe Band.

He enlisted in the General Service Corps, trained as a signaller, before volunteering for the airborne forces. 

Private Joyce successfully completed parachute training at RAF Ringway on course number 85, from 29 September to 10 October 1943.

His course report stated “Overcame nervousness, performance good.”

David was posted to 12th Battalion (10th Bn. The Green Howards [Yorkshire Regiment]) The Parachute Regiment and took part in Operation Overlord (Normandy Landings).

Pte Joyce was killed in action on 6 June 1944, aged 20, and is commemorated on the Bayeux Memorial to the missing and is also recorded in the War Memorial on Elmbank Avenue in Kilmarnock. His elder brother, Thomas, served in the RAF and after training was posted to the Punjab, returning home at the end of 1945.