Sergeant Wilfred Rickett initially joined the Army with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI). He signed on in 1931 after walking from Sheffield to Pontefract to join up, he was only 16 and lied about his age by two years.
Sergeant Rickett transferred to Airborne Forces in around 1943, and completed Parachute Course 94/95 at RAF Ringway just before Christmas in December 1943. He was subsequently posted to the Medium Machine Gun (MMG) Platoon of 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion. His Parachute Jump instructor noted this about Wilfred's performance:
"Confident and reliable NCO, a very good parachutist"
He was part of the Normandy drop and fought to take and protect Pegasus Bridge, followed by the campaigns leading to the Rhine crossing in 1945. He was demobbed in Jan 1946 and died in 1978.
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Created with information and image kindly supplied by P Rickett.
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