James D Beasant | ParaData

Sergeant James Donald Beasant qualified as a military parachutist while serving as a Private on course 87 which ran at RAF Ringway from 13 to 25 October 1943.

The course cadre comprised of 291 trainees and eight of these were injured on the course. James impressed the course instructors who recorded the following notes "good jumper, worked hard, fine spirit and personality".

He was posted to 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion and served with No 5 Platoon B Company.

He served with the Battalion in Normandy, the Ardennes, on the Rhine Crossing and in the Far East.

He was awarded the Legion d' Honneur at the French Embassy in 2004.

By ParaData Editor

Date not known
13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion (Sergeant)

Operations

Event

Ardennes

After the Allied landings in Normandy and subsequent advance through France and Belgium, the German Army had succeeded in stalling the Allied offensive along their line of defence at the German border - the ‘Siegfried Line’.

Event

Far East

The 5th Parachute Brigade was sent to the Far East in preparation for a potential invasion of Japan. However, only the advance elements of the Brigade had reached the Far East prior to the Japanese surrender.

Event

Normandy (Operation Overlord)

Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of occupied Europe commonly known as D-Day, saw the 6th Airborne Division for the first time.

Event

Rhine Crossing (Operation Varsity)

Operation Varsity was the largest single airborne operation in history. On a single day, over 16,000 men were inserted by glider and parachute into western Germany. Around 8000 of those came from the British 6th Airborne Division, flying aboard 243 C47 aircraft and 440 gliders.

Decorations

Legion d'Honneur

2004

Photos_1

Enlarge Details

L/Cpl James Beasant late 1940s

1 Image Buy Prints

Group photos_1

Enlarge Details

Group photograph believed to be of men from the 13th Parachute Battalion

1 Image Buy Prints

Latest Comments

There are currently no comments for this content.

Shopping Cart

Sergeant James D Beasant

Service History