John Howard (soldier)

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John Howard (born December 8, 1912 in London , † May 5, 1999 in Surrey , England ) was a British major during the Second World War . He gained fame during D-Day , more precisely Operation Tonga .

Life

Pre-war period

Howard was born on December 8, 1912, the eldest of nine children to Ethel and Jack Howard, who served on the Western Front during World War I. He excelled in school and as an athlete and went to the boy scouts , where he was, however, ridiculed. At fourteen he had to leave school to find work and earn money. He found a job as an office worker at a stockbroker and attended various courses in the evenings every day to improve his education. After he had to leave the company he worked for because of the Great Depression in 1931, he joined the army .

John Howard was used in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry Regiment and got his basic training in Shrewsbury , where he says he was not comfortable. After completing his training, he was promoted to corporal ( NCO ). Howard met sixteen-year-old Joy Bromley in 1939, whom he married on October 28, 1939. At this time he also resigned from the army and served as an Oxford police officer . However, he was drafted back into the army on December 2, 1939, in his old regiment. A fortnight later he was promoted to sergeant.

Second World War

Howard left the King's Shropshire Light Infantry Regiment in 1940 to join the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Regiment , where he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion. After 1941 to captain ( Hauptmann was promoted), he took command of the company. At the end of the year his company was converted into an airborne unit and placed under the newly formed 1st Airborne Brigade. On July 12, 1942, his son Terry was born. A daughter, Penny, followed suit.

Map of Operation Tonga and the landings behind the Sword beach section

John Howard, the now Major had become, was established in April 1944 in the office of Lieutenant-Colonel ( Lt. Col. ordered) Robert, where he learned that he and his company the attack on 5 June 1944 on the Pegasus and Horsa Bridge should lead in Normandy ( Operation Tonga ). Models of the bridges and the surrounding area were recreated based on aerial photographs from the Royal Air Force and reports from French resistance fighters. Howard prepared himself and his men extensively for Operation Tonga.

In the final hours of June 5, 1944, Howard's company and several other units of the British 6th Airborne Division , which had been transported by airplanes and gliders, landed behind the Sword beach during Operation Tonga in Normandy , on the following day, D-Day British troops should land. Howard's unit was one of the first to land in Normandy. Two British soldiers were killed in the attack and 14 others were wounded. On the morning of June 7th, at around 1:00 p.m., the British 1st Special Service Brigade , under Lord Lovat , pushed forward to Howard's troops. Although the landings were rehearsed successfully, many units were dispersed in Normandy. The area of ​​Pegasus and Horsa was successfully defended by the Germans until the Allied forces were relieved by the 1st Special Service Brigade and later by parts of the British 3rd Infantry Division at the end of June 6th .

Howard was wounded by fragments during a mortar bombardment on June 17, 1944 , and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order by Bernard Montgomery on July 16, 1944 for his services in Operation Tonga . He decided to visit his wife in Oxford on the night of September 13th. There he broke both legs, his left knee and his right hip in a truck accident, whereupon he had to stay in hospital until March 1945 and was no longer deployed in World War II. The accident had various consequences for his life.

post war period

Howard, being an invalid , could no longer remain in the army - as much as he wanted to. On the 10th anniversary of D-Day, he was awarded the Croix de guerre with a palm . In addition, the street over the Pegasus Bridge was renamed "Major Howard Promenade" in his honor .

He worked as a consultant on the 1962 feature film The Longest Day , which is about D-Day. In this film he was portrayed by actor Richard Todd . He retired to the hamlet of Burcot near Oxford in 1974 and visited the Pegasus Bridge annually as a memorial. His wife Joy died in 1986.

John Howard died in a Surrey hospital on May 5, 1999, at the age of 86 .

Awards

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Howard, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British major during World War II
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH May 5, 1999
Place of death Surrey , England