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This story is about two other soldiers who served and fought in our Divisional Formation during the Normandy campaign. The first was Danny Lucas, who was attached to Divisional HQ in the Ordnance Regiment and was a Regimental Sergeant Major. However, following historical precendent his title was 'conductor', which harks back to the days of the Crimean War as his job was to conduct horse-drawn convoys with material to each unit. The other soldier was Jack Lightbown, a private in the 1st Battalion Manchester Machine Gun regiment - operating at the foot of the costly Hill 112 to the west of Caen. Like me, he was a native of Blackburn.

One mid-July morning in 1944 the Divisional AA and QMG - a Senior Staff Officer - was giving instructions to the Assembled Adjutants from each of the Battalion HQs under some trees. I spotted Jack there for the first time, as he had accompanied his adjutant. I soon learnt that he was from Blackburn, and told him that I would try to visit him at his Battalion location, half a mile away. 53rd Divisional HQ was situated at St. Mauvieu not far from Carpiquet, the first captured airfield.

Later that day 'Conductor' Danny Lucas returned to Divisional HQ and I told him that I would like to visit the 1st Manchesters to see Jack. It turned out that he was going there too the following day with a replacement Machine Gun, so I accompanied him in his small Bedford truck. After a few hundred yards, however, we dismounted to be less obvious before going on to the dug-out. The 1st Manchesters were being pounded from Hill 112 with mortars - called 'Moaning Minnies' because of the screaming sound they made as they came over.

There were bodies all around which had not been removed due to the extent of the German mortaring from the hill, which had not yet been captured in the Caen offensive.

I have not seen Danny since the war, and I often wonder if he was recommended for an award. He could easily have ordered his men to take weapons to dangerous areas, but he elected to carry out the tasks himself. I believe that Danny Lucas came from Reading where he had worked in the biscuit business before the war.

Jack Lightbown survived the war and used to make visits to my home. He was asked to stay on in the army after the war as he was a good long-distance runner. He passed away in 2003.

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