We have added a number of local men to our research who were involved in the Normandy Landings, also known as D-Day which occurred on 6th June 1944 and the fight which began on that day continued for a long time afterward until the war was eventually won. It was a huge turning point in the war.
Our main D-Day page
Trooper John Henry Hird. Royal Armoured Corps, 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, Service number 7963386.
Early life:
John Henry Hird was born in Keighley on 16th January 1923, he was the only son of John Christopher Hird, a building contractor and Elizabeth Hird nee Wright. He had two older sisters, Nancy Elizabeth (born 1913) and Ruth Edmondson (born 1919).
The family lived at 99 Highfield Lane in Keighley. John Henry attended Keighley Grammar School before working as a joiner with the family firm, Hird Brothers & Co, Ltd at King Street in Keighley (now Timothy Hird & Son).
At the time of the 1939 Register John Henry lived with his parents at home. His oldest sister Nancy had married and lived in Wharfedale, and Ruth was working as a hospital nurse in Basingstoke, Hampshire.
War service:
Initially during the Second World War John Henry served with the Home Guard, but later enlisted with the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards. This regiment was formed in 1922 by amalgamating the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards and the 7th (Princess Royal’s) Dragoon Guards, before transferring to the Royal Armoured Corps in 1939.
The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards were involved in much of the Battle of France, equipped with ‘Beaverette’ cars (which were also used by the Home Guard, so John may have been familiar with them by then) before being evacuated from Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo.
They later joined the 79th Armoured Division and were equipped with amphibious Valentine tanks, then re-equipped with M4 Sherman DD tanks.
On D-Day, the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guard’s waterproofed Sherman tanks were the first ashore on Gold Beach. Their role in the Normandy breakout was significant, being among the first armoured units to cross the River Seine and contributed to the liberation of Lille.
Sadly, John Henry Hird did not survive. He was reported missing in Normandy, and by late September 1944 was officially presumed to have been killed on 6th June 1944.
Keighley News, 30th September 1944:
Trooper J. H. Hird, only son of Mr and Mrs J C. Hird, of 99. Highfield Lane. Keighley, who was reported missing in Normandy, is now officially presumed to have been killed in action Aged 21.
Trooper Hird was an old boy of the Keighley Grammar School. Before enlisting he was on the office staff of Hird Brothers and Co., Ltd builder contractors, King Street, Keighley.
He formerly served in the Home Guard, and since joining the Regular Service had been with the Royal Dragoon Guards.
John is commemorated on the Bayeux War Memorial in Normandy.
He is also named on Keighley’s WW2 War Memorial panel which is on the wall in the foyer area of Keighley Library.
Information sources:
England and Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2005.
1939 England and Wales Register.
England and Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995.
The Keighley News, 30 September 1944.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
UK, Army Roll of Honour, 1939-1945.
Normandy War guide 4-7-dragoon-guards.
