Corporal Leslie John G Judd

Leslie John ‘Johnnie’ Judd was born on the 19 January 1914, and came from Buckinghamshire. Before enlisting he was a trained driver.

He enlisted into the Royal Army Service Corps on the 6th June 1940, and joined what was to become the 250th (Airborne) Light Composite Company, RASC on the 5 August 1940. He was assigned to ‘D’ Transport Platoon.

Johnnie saw service in North Africa and possibly Italy in 1943.

He was married to Denise Estelle, who gave birth to a daughter, Francine Diana on the 27 December 1943, which means if he was with the Detachment in Italy, he did not get to see her until April 1944!

Having returned to the United Kingdom the Company was billeted in Lincolnshire, just to the South of the City of Lincoln. ‘D’ Transport Platoon was located with the Headquarters at ‘The Moorlands’ on the Newark Road.

The plan for the employment of the 1st Airborne Division RASC elements, in any future airborne operation, was constantly refined throughout the first half of 1944, so that by June 1944 they could be tasked with very little adjustment to their Order Of Battle.

By August Cpl. Judd was part of the Transport Section assigned to support No 2 Parachute Platoon, and they were located at the RAF Harwell Transit Camp, with the rest of the Transport Section’s and ‘D’ Transport Platoon.

On Monday, 18 September 1944, Cpl. Judd with 3 other men of the Transport Section, with a jeep and two trailers of ammunition and supplies, took off from RAF Harwell in a Horsa glider, bound for LZ ‘X’ near Heelsum in Holland as part of Operation ‘Market-Garden’. They landed okay, made their way to the RV at Wolfheze Station, and from there to the DMA (Divisional Maintenance Area) area, set up on the green, just over the road from the Hartenstein Hotel, which was now the Divisional HQ.

After the failure of the attempt the next day to recover supplies from the SDP (Supply Dropping Point) the men of 250 Company took up their secondary role as Riflemen.

Cpl. Judd was part of the composite defence force on the Eastern side of the perimeter, in the houses along Jagerskamp, and by Monday, 25th September, it was obvious they were going to be cut-off by the enemy, or overrun and an attempt was made to break out. During this attempt Cpl. Judd was wounded and taken prisoner. He was taken to the Kriegslazzarette, Apeldoorn (the Airborne Hospital), at the Willem III Barracks.

Unfortunately, he died of his wounds on the 15 October 1944, and was initially buried in the Heidehof General Cemetery.

The son of Charles John Judd and Honor Elizabeth Mary Judd (nee Gooder) and husband of Estelle Denise Judd, of Littlehampton, Sussex – who later moved to Lincolnshire and lived in Spilsby – he was 30 years old when he died.

He now lies at rest in the Arnhem/Oosterbeek CWGC War Cemetery, 24. A. 17.