John Aldred

This story is shared by the Trust with kind permission from Mavis Williams, Researcher. The photo is courtesy of http://www.inmemories.com/

John Aldred was born on the 9th of October 1919, the eldest son of James & Susannah Aldred, (nee Holstead), who had married on the 1st of January 1916 at St. Thomas’s Church, Dixon Green, Manchester.

We see John Aldred for the first time on the 1921 census which was taken on the 19th of June 1921. He was with his family living at his grandmother’s house at 16, Spring Street Farnworth, Lancashire. His parents were both working in the Cotton industry, his father was a Labourer in the Cotton Winding Room of Burgess & Ledward, Cotton Manufacturers, Wardley Mill, Walkden and his mother was a Cotton Weaver for J. Barnes & Co., Ltd., Cotton Manufacturers, Gladstone Road, Farnworth.

When the 1939 Register was taken they were still living on Spring Street but his mother was now a housewife and his father was a Foreman (Cotton Winding). John was working an Insurance Clerk.

He joined the Army on 17 June 1940 and first served in the 2/4th Battalion, The South Lancashire Regiment before volunteering to serve in the 13th (2/4th Battalion, The South Lancashire Regiment) Battalion when it was converted into a Parachute Battalion.

He was the batman for Capt Daisly, chosen when Capt Daisly's original batman was injured and was unable to fly. Their glider took off from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire at 01:10 on D-Day. It was due to land at Drop Zone N, at Ranville but it was thought to have been hit by German anti-aircraft fire and crashed in a wood at Ferme de Manoir, St Vaast-en-Auge, Calvados around 02:45 killing most of those on board.

They were buried in the churchyard of St Vaast en Auge alongside others killed on D-Day where they remain to this day.

Original grave markers for those buried in the churchyard