A new local history book by Andrew Woolhouse pays tribute to a Heysham soldier with no known grave who was in the thick of the action during an assault in Normandy during the Second World War . . . 

Running across the French countryside on August 19, 1944, approximately 300 men of the 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion had no time to admire the rolling hills and quaint little church on the knoll outside the tiny village.

At top speed they had to cover more than 1,000 yards of open ground in full view of the enemy on a hill east of Putot-en-Auge, Normandy.

Shells and mortars burst all around them, fired from the hill, but remarkably only a few suffered injury by the time they had reached the little church and the relative safety of Putot.

They could not stay there for long though – they now had to capture the hill because it covered the only road in the area that was vital for the further advance of the 6th Airborne Division.

A heavy bombardment of the hill began, as troopers, with bayonets fixed, marched up the slopes from the village. Nothing happened – none of the expected machine gun fire or dreaded counter barrage from the enemy’s mortars.

That was until the walk up the final steep ascent began and all hell broke loose as cleverly concealed machine gun pits opened fire at point blank range from three sides and the torrent of lead cut down the paras without mercy.

The uninjured and following waves stormed forward, attempting to take the positions, only to be met by grenades thrown from just 30 yards away over the brow of the hill.

Snipers in nearby farm buildings picked off targets, including the Battalion Medical Officer as he tried to help three dying men.

Among the few who reached and fought in the enemy positions was Lieut Edward Mason Bibby, from Heysham, leading the men of ‘B’ Company.

He charged the enemy and was wounded in the head. One of his men stopped and patched him up and Lieut Bibby was seen once again fighting, this time hand-to-hand, with a bandaged head.

However, the Germans forced the paratroops off the hill and back to a group of houses and barns, one of which was used as the RAP (Regimental Aid Post). Wounded and dying men filled the floor as blood-soaked medics worked mong the groaning men.

Thirty one men were to lose their lives, later buried by their comrades in the small church graveyard. Many more were left seriously wounded and several men were listed missing, presumed captured. Lieut Bibby was one.

During subsequent Allied advances, a German field hospital was overrun and liberated. Wounded paras spoke about Lieut Bibby. They said they saw him captured and transferred to a hospital in Rouen. He was then sent to Amiens and was not seen again. His body was never found (or at least identified) and what happened to this young officer is still a mystery…

  • Andrew Woolhouse’s book ‘13 – Lucky For Some: The History of the 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion” is available from Amazon UK