The Chronicle, Summer 2019

32 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

The D-Day Landings Former pupils and staff of the School have played their full part in all major conflicts of the past 150 years dating right back to the Ashanti and Zulu Wars, the Boer War, British Empire disputes, the two World Wars, Japan and Korea, and right through to those in Northern Ireland and the Middle East more recently. June 6th marked the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, the largest seaborne invasion in history, in which a number of OSE took part. We were very sad to learn recently of the deaths of Michael Parker and Edward Burn OSE, who both survived the landings. Michael was a gunnery officer on HMS Warspite (below), the battleship that fired the first shots of the entire operation, and Edward landed on the British beaches with the Buckinghamshire Regiment. To honour Michael and Edward, and all OSE who contributed, Archivist Chris Nathan recounts the experiences of former pupils on Sword Beach on that fateful day 75 years ago.

Sword was the easternmost of the D-Day landing beaches, the responsibility of the British 3rd Division, and it was here that many OSE saw action, amongst them Peter Coop, Edward Burn, Tony Lewis and Nevill Lawton Smith. Peter Coop, a lieutenant with the Rifle Brigade, was sadly killed in action a week after D-Day. Edward Burn arrived on French soil determinedly wrapped around the gun barrel of a tank to ensure that he wouldn’t be fighting in wet socks and boots. In later years he became Tutor in Law at Christ Church and was known to justify not wearing a helmet when riding his bicycle by saying ‘I did not wear a helmet on Sword Beach so why should I wear one on the Woodstock Road?’. Tony Lewis and Nevill Lawton Smith also survived and both went on to distinguish themselves in the remaining months of the war.

The stamp above was issued in June 2019 to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day; Michael Parker OSE would have been on board HMS Warspite when this photo was taken. Right: a stamp issued to mark the 50th anniversary in 1994.