Oxfordshire D-Day Stories: Lt. Colonel John Granville
Oxfordshire D-Day Stories: Lt. Colonel John Granville
Lt Col. John Granville
Johnny Granville joined the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment as a Second Lieutenant in August 1936, when the Battalion was in India.
He quickly made his mark as an instructor and as a polo player in the regimental team, as well as a fine shot. Posted home early in 1940 he was appointed Adjutant of 7th. Battalion of the Regiment as it was formed in Aldershot.
As the Battalion expanded he commanded a company but later moved briefly to the newly-formed Reconnaissance Corps before being called back into the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment which had returned from India and had been converted into an air-landing battalion in the 1st. British Airborne Division. This was a new concept requiring the Battalion to be structured round the Horsa Glider and trained to fly in and to fight on landing behind enemy lines.
On the evening of D Day Major Johnny Granville landed by glider with his C Company to the west of the Orne River and Canal crossings which had been seized earlier by D Company and joined the fight to hold the bridgehead against enemy counter-attacks. Then the advance to the Seine commenced, and C Company played their part in a series of rearguard actions as the enemy withdrew eastwards.
The 2nd Battalion was finally withdrawn on the 4th. September 1944 to be rested, but on the 23rd December they were rushed to Belgium to counter the German offensive in the Ardennes. Here Johnny Granville and C Company distinguished themselves in the bitter battle for Bure, when reinforcing the 13th Parachute Battalion who were struggling to hold on against repeated enemy counter-attacks.
On the Battalion’s return to the United Kingdom, Major Granville was sent on a staff course followed by a sequence of staff appointments in Egypt, the War Office and Malaya. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, his last appointment was to the Ministry of Supply in 1954- 1955.
Lt. Colonel Granville's medals were donated to the museum during the 80th anniversary of D-Day by his family, and can currently be seen on display in our special exhibition, Oxfordshire to the Orne (18 May - 22 September 2024).
