Sam Wadsworth Megson

This story and photos are shared by the Trust with kind permission from Graham Watts, Sam's great nephew and Connie Thomson, Sam's niece

Sam Wadsworth Megson was born in Portsmouth in 1923, the son of Mr & Mrs Sam Megson of Princes Street, Mile End, Portsmouth, younger brother of Margery Jenkyn Taylor and Philippa Freeman Taylor, and older brother to Constance Lilian Megson.

His mother's family originated from St.Ives in Cornwall, hence him joining the Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry. His Father was in the Royal Navy and originated from Horsforth in Yorkshire.

Before the war, Sam was an apprentice, training to be a Carpenter. He joined the 5th Battalion, Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry, and landed on Gold Beach on the 22nd of June 1944.

He was involved in the many assaults to capture Hill 112, the high ground overlooking Caen. His Battalion succeeded in capturing the hill on 10th July 1944, where they consolidated in a wood. Fighting continued all night and they fought off multiple counter-attacks from 9th SS Panzer Division but had to withdraw on 11th July 1944 due to the high losses of men, including their commanding officer. Sam was killed on the 11th July 1944, age 21.

So many men from the Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry had been killed during the battle, the hill became known locally as Cornwall Hill and the wood they had consolidated in became known as Cornwall Wood.

Sam is buried in the Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery at St. Manvieu, Cheux, Normandy, France.

He is also remembered on:-

The Normandy Wall at the D-Day Museum, Portsmouth.
The Portsmouth Guildhall War Memorial
The St. Ives War Memorial
British Normandy Memorial, Ver-sur-Mer, Normandy, France

And there is also a placard that was placed on the street where he lived in Portsmouth as part of the D-Day 75 commemorations.