On this day in 1944, John William Beer (1922-1944) died in Normandy, a month after the D-Day landings.
A private in the 4th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, he was 22.
He arrived in Normandy two weeks after D-Day and died as his battalion fought their way through France and Belgium.
John, who joined the 4th Battalion in 1941, is remembered at Secqueville-en-Bassin war cemetery, near Bayeux.
His headstone there includes the inscription: ‘God’s greatest gift, remembrance’.
He is also remembered on Bishopsteignton War Memorial.
Paul Roberts
NOTE
John, born in Bishopsteignton in 1922, was the son of William Henry Beer (1881-1968) and Mary Jane Roberts (1884-1976). Mary Jane was the daughter of Henry Roberts (1859-1924) and Sarah Jane Sowden (1867-1946). Henry was the eldest son of James Roberts (1832-1898), a brother of John Roberts (1829-1919), my great-great grandfather who had 30 grandsons serving in the Great War.
Picture below
John’s headstone at Secqueville-en-Bassin war cemetery, near Bayeux. Picture on Find a Grave by Len, of Chelmsford.