I have always had a huge interest in the SSW and, like many of us, that stemmed from learning about family experiences. What follows is a thread on my great uncle’s service. Sadly he passed away when I was young but thankfully he wrote down some of his wartime experiences.

Lt Keith Best served in 2 Troop of 591 squadron attached to 9th Parachute Battalion. 2 Troop formed part of the force that was to be dropped on the heavy gun battery at Merville. Unfortunately, things did not go to plan…

“When we got across the Channel there was a lot of flak and our pilot seemed to be taking evasive action…We began to get thrown about inside and then the red and a green lights came on in what seemed to be unusually quick succession and we were bundled out of the door…

As I found out later, instead of finding the drop zone near Varaville, the RAF put us down well east of the River Dives and ten or fifteen miles off target on higher ground near the village of St Pierre-Azzif. There was nothing I could do about getting to Merville on time.

A map showing the considerable distance between Saint-Pierre Azif (top right) and Merville.