MikePadgett.com

The story of Lawrence Padgett

— A soldier from Yeadon who went to Europe and never returned.”

British Second Army, XII Corps, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division, 158th Infantry Brigade, East Lancashire Regiment, 1st Batallion, Private 3459145.

This was Lawrence Padgett, twenty four years old, from Yeadon. On July 6th 1944, his battalion landed on Sword Beach at Normandy.

The battalion joined with other battalions to fight through France, into Belgium, heading for the Netherlands. On some days there was stiff resistance from tanks and infantry, on others nothing passed over the plains but the cold, constant wind.

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Bergen op Zoom War Cemetery

After landing in Normandy, 1st East Lancs headed up through Belgium to support Operation Market Garden.

Lawrence Padgett was my father’s father’s brother. Lawrence might have been my father’s uncle, but within two months of the landing he was killed.

Lawrence died on September 22nd 1944. His grave is at the Canadian War Cemetery in Bergen op Zoom.

Precise details of how he came to rest there in the Canadian cemetery are still unknown to me.

Research so far

Much of what I have learned thus far is general information gleaned from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Internet sources, including the best account so far from the website of the Montormel Memorial. There is also a book that looks promising.

If I manage to find more accurate information, I’ll add it to this article.