Lance Corporal Ernest F Ealham MM

Ernest Ealham was born in 1917, and enlisted into The Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) on the 15th January 1940. [1]

In late 1940 or early 1941 he volunteered for Airborne Forces and served in the 11th Special Air Service Battalion (Parachute Wing), conducting his basic parachute training at RAF Ringway.

When the unit was being converted to the 1st Parachute Battalion, as part of the newly formed 1st Parachute Brigade in August/September 1941, he was placed in 14 Platoon, ‘U’ Company, which was soon designated for disbandment to fill in places in the rest of the battalion.

It is not known exactly what happened to Ernest, who was by now a Lance Corporal, but he ended up in the Middle East, possibly having served with the Queen’s Regiment in the 131st Infantry Brigade, of the 44th (Home Couties) Infantry Division in the Battle of El Alamein, through to the surrender of the Axis Forces in Tunisia.

In August 1943 he again volunteered for Airborne Forces and was posted to the 11th Parachute Battalion, then stationed at Ramat David in Palestine, near the Middle East Parachute School. At the age of 26 he was initially meant to do Parachute Course 60, which started on the 14 August 1943, but he fell ill and had to be deferred to a later one. This was to be Parachute Course 63, which began on the 31 August and finished on the 11 September 1943, which he completed. [2]

On return to the United Kingdom, in late 1943, he was posted to the 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion, and took part in Operation ‘Overlord’. In the airborne assault by the 6th Airborne Division in Normandy in the early hours of the 6 June 1944, L/Cpl. Ealham was amongst the very first men to parachute onto DZ ‘K’.

For his actions on this day he was awarded the Military Medal, which was announced in the London Gazette on the 19 October 1944, the Citation reads:

 ‘For outstanding leadership and devotion to duty.

 At Herouvillette on 6th June 1944 L/Cpl Ealham was Second in Command of the leading section of a platoon which came under heavy Machine Gun fire. The Section Commander and three other members of the section were wounded including the Bren Gunner. L/Cpl Ealham immediately took over command of the section re-organised it and covered the remainder of the platoon out of a dangerous position. Then showing a total disregard for his own safety he crawled forward in face of the enemy and brought back the wounded Bren Gunner and his Bren. His courage and leadership was an inspiration to all.’

He also took part in the Ardennes campaign and the Rhine Crossing (Operation ‘Varsity’) on the 24 March 1945.

Ernest was released to the Z/T Reserves on the 2 May 1947. [1]

The following was published in the Daily Express on the 6 June 2009:

 "The extraordinary tale of the very first British paratrooper to land on D-Day has come to light after his Military Medal sold for a staggering £32,000. Lance Corporal Eric Ealham was the first man to be dropped over Normandy several hours before the main D-Day invasion. After helping to destroy three strategic bridges, he led his platoon into a bloody battle with the Germans in a bid to stop them from reaching the nearby beaches.

 With many comrades wounded, L/Cpl Ealham single-handedly carried out a near-suicidal rescue of one injured soldier while under intense machine-gun fire. After dragging his colleague to safety, he resumed fighting and provided cover for a group of soldiers pinned down by the enemy, allowing them to reach safety. He was later shot in the leg and shipped back to England on June 8, 1944. Due to the sheer chaos and confusion of the D-Day landings, relatively few men were recommended for gallantry medals on June 6.

L/Cpl Ealham died of a heart attack in 1973 and his widow Rosetta kept her husband's precious George VI Military Medal in her bedside table until she died last year. Their children and grandchildren have now decided to sell it. It was initially valued at £3,000 but after collectors realised it belonged to the first paratrooper to be dropped on D-Day it ended up selling for 10 times that amount.

 His granddaughter Karen, 47, says: “Grandad never really spoke about the war and it wasn't until we went through some of his belongings after my gran died last year that we discovered he was the first British paratrooper dropped over Normandy. We knew he had the medal but didn't know what exactly it was for and what he did. He was very brave but I guess he would have said he did what he had to do. We hope he would have wanted us to benefit from his medal but we never expected it to sell for that much."

 L/Cpl Ealham’s battalion was due to land three miles south of Ranville, near Caen, but ended up scattered across the countryside. After carrying out their objectives of destroying the bridges the men fell back to defend woodland near the village of Herouvillette. It was here that L/Cpl Ealham's platoon came under German machine- gun and artillery attack, leaving his commanding officer and three comrades wounded. It was at this point he showed "outstanding leadership and devotion to duty" by dodging machine-gun fire to rescue an injured Bren gunner.

He was demobbed in 1946 but continued military service with the Territorial Army until 1956. After that his family, Rosetta and children Sheila and Ron, moved to St Albans, Hertfordshire, where he was a farm labourer and carpenter."

NOTES:

[1] The Parachute Regiment, Transfer & Enlistment Book 12, page 73.

[2] Parachute Course Reports, Ramat David. August & September 1943.