Lance Sergeant. 7th Battalion, Green Howards. Army service number 4396068.
Early life:
Norman was born in Hoyland about five miles South of Barnsley on 16th April 1915. His parents were Wilson Webster and Maud Mary Webster née Powell, who had been married in Barnsley a couple of years earlier in 1913.
In the 1921 census Norman was aged six years and two months and was living at 25, Noble Street, Hoyland with his grandparents and parents and sibling / cousins etc. His grandfather Alfred Webster was 85 and a retired collier. His grandmother was Elizabeth Webster and was aged 75. His Aunt Elizabeth was aged 46. His father Wilson Webster was aged 31 and a driller at Rockingham Colliery and Mother Maud was aged 29 and at home.
Norman was six and his sister Feodora was aged four. Their cousin Alfred Beatson was aged 21 and also a driller at Rockingham Colliery, Eliza Beatson aged 19 was a grocer’s assistant and Winifred Higgins was aged 11.
By 1939 Norman was a worsted roving piler aged 24, working for Rouse Brothers of Oakworth who had been operating from Vale Mill since the 1920s. Norman appears in the 1939 Register living at 3, Mill Lane, Oakworth. Also living here was his 49 year old father Wilson, a box mender at a worsted mill; his mother Maud, a 48 year old giller in wool combing; and his 13 year old sister Elizabeth, a scholar. His other sister Feodora had married Harry Wood in this year and had already moved out of the family home.
War service:
In 2019 we received a communication from Norman’s nephew, who very kindly sent us photocopies of his Army service card and some other information, which has allowed us to build up a clearer picture of Norman’s war service.
For context, the evacuation from Dunkirk took place between 26th May and 4th June 1940, before Norman enlisted.
Enlistment
Norman enlisted with the Green Howards on 27th June 1940 with the Army service number 4396068. His religious denomination was Church of England and he was medically classed A1 and his home town was Oakworth, Yorkshire.
His occupational classification was VB and this translates to ‘VB Woollen and Worsted Industry,’ which matches what we already know about him from the 1939 register.
Service record card:
His postings appear to be:
3rd October 1940, to 5th Battalion.
9th April 1941, to 2nd Echelon ME at an Infantry Base Depot. (Probably at Richmond)
8th August 1941, List X10.
30th August 1942, X (IV).
6th August 1942, to 7th Battalion.
3rd November 1943, X(IV).
14th November 1943, 7th Battalion .
11th December 1943, Disembarked from UK.
27th July 1944, NWE – Reported Missing.
Promotions:
7th June 1944, Unpaid Lance Corporal.
23rd June 1944, Unpaid Acting Corporal.
23rd June 1944, Paid Acting Corporal.
8th July 1944, Unpaid Lance Sergeant.
We know that Norman served in a hot climate as there is a photograph of him in desert uniform.
We have included a section of ‘The Story of the Green Howards, 1939-1945 / by Capt. W.A.T. Synge, published in 1952’
This book contains a detailed history of the Green Howards during the period in which Norman was killed and we include this short extract to provide a timescale on what the 7th Battalion was involved with at that time.
For context, D-Day was on 6th June 1944 and this covers a period about six weeks after that momentous few days of the Normandy Landings.
Page 322:
THE GREEN HOWARDS
On July 19 the 7th Battalion moved forward, on the left of the 6th Battalion. A mobile column consisting of “B” Company, the carrier platoon, and a troop of tanks and anti-tank guns, all under the command of Major H. R. D. Oldman, M.C., moved off first down the road leading south- east from Les Orailles. “A” Company, meanwhile, advanced across country to Le Lion Vert. Neither party met with any opposition, and, when Major Oldman’s column reached Le Lion Vert, it proceeded to advance down the road leading to Orbois.
Slight opposition was encountered from the Chateau du Bus, but this was brushed aside, and the column went on towards Orbois. By 6.30 p.m. Battalion Headquarters and the remaining companies had come up, and the Battalion began to organise a defensive position to conform with the 6th Battalion on its right.
“B” Company was now meeting opposition from the enemy, and was eventually withdrawn through “C” and “D” Companies, which had established themselves across the main road just in front of the wood which lies between the Chateau du Bus and Les Landes. The whole Battalion area was being shelled at intervals, and the crossroads at Le Lion Vert came in for particular attention. The Battalion now proceeded to strengthen its positions, and to probe the enemy’s outposts.
On July 21 Sgt. Potterton, M.M., took out a patrol as 21/27 Jul 44 far as the Orbois Chateau, and, by drawing the enemy’s fire, enabled their positions to be located.
On the 25th Lt. G. Sherratt took out a fighting patrol towards a cottage in front of the left flank of the position. After going a little way they were spotted by the enemy, who opened fire. Making a detour, they crept round the next hedge to the east, where they saw a German officer and N.C.O. on the other side of the hedge. They killed them both with sten gun fire. Two spandau teams in the same field were fired on with Bren and Sten guns at very close range, and all were killed or severely wounded. After this excellent piece of work, the patrol returned, having suffered no casualties.
Page 323:
Throughout this period, the Battalion suffered casualties daily from mortar and shell fire. Late on the night of July 27 it was relieved by the 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, and marched off to La Fiettées.
(In this period, Lance Sergeant Norman Webster was declared missing, believed killed.)
For the next four days both Battalions of the Green Howards remained at La Fiettées. They were able to have hot baths and overhaul their clothes and equipment. Recreation was provided in the form of films and E.N.S.A. entertainments.
Keighley News, 19th August 1944:
Official information has been received by Mr and Mrs W. Webster, of 13, Station Road, Oakworth, that their son, Cpl Norman Webster, of the Green Howards, is reported missing in North West Europe. Cpl Webster, who is 29, has been in the Army over four years, and has served overseas for more than three years. In civil life he was employed by Rouse Brothers, of Oakworth.
Keighley News, 14th April 1945:
Mr & Mrs Webster of 13, Station Road, Oakworth have been officially informed that their son, Corporal Norman Webster of the Green Howards, who was reported missing in North West Europe last August, is now presumed to have been killed in action.
Aged 29, he had been in the army for four years. Three years of that time having been spent overseas. In civil life he was employed by Rouse Bros. of Oakworth.
Post war:
Norman’s body was originally buried at map reference Le-Feugret 1/500000, 799.638, along with that of No. 14637699 Private Arthur Oldroyd, also of the 7th Battalion Green Howards, who died on the same date as Norman.
Their graves were exhumed and laid to rest on 27th June 1945 at Tilly-Sur-Seulles War Cemetery in Calvados, France. Norman is buried in grave 13 of row A in plot VI. He was 29 years old when he died. Private Oldroyd is buried in grave 11 of the same row and plot as Norman.
His mother Mary Maud Webster was Norman’s next of kin. Shortly after 29th August 1945 she received the following articles of Norman’s private property:
One pair black shoes, two wallets containing photographs, cigarette case, letters and photos.
Remembrance:
Norman is remembered on his headstone at Tilly-Sur-Seulles Cemetery in Calvados, France and his family had a special inscription added to his headstone which reads:
“DEEP IN OUR HEARTS A MEMORY IS KEPT OF ONE WE LOVE AND WILL NEVER FORGET”
Locally Norman is remembered on a stone which is part of the Oakworth WW2 Memorial Garden in Holden Park, Oakworth.
He is also named with a memorial inscription on the family grave at Utley Cemetery in Keighley which reads: Norman her son, Killed in Action Normandy. 1916 – 1944.
Norman’s mother Mary died in 1968, aged 72. His father Wilson died in 1971, aged 81. They are buried at Utley Cemetery in Keighley.
Information sources:
England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915
1921 England Census
1939 England and Wales Register
Keighley News WW2 scrapbook at Keighley Library.
Graces Guide – Rouse Bros. (Oakworth) Ltd. (worsted spinners, 1920s-60s)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
UK, Army Roll of Honour, 1939-1945
UK, World War II Army Casualty Lists, 1939-1945
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
Utley Cemetery information kindly provided by Paul Skinner.
Family headstone and Oakworth war memorial photos by Andy Wade.
Regimental information provided by The Green Howards Museum, Trinity Church Square, Richmond.
Photos of Norman and his Army service record details provided by Paul Andrew Smith in 2019.
The National Archives.
