Young father at the front

“He was always furthest ahead, where the danger was greatest,” wrote Captain John A. Ford to widow Mary Swinley.

Tense faces everywhere, concentration. Andrew looks around the landing craft. For months they have been practising for this landing in Scotland, but now it comes down to it. Because this is no longer training, this is real! He sees the French coast getting closer and closer. How fierce will the opposition get from those Jerries? The adrenaline is rising.

The first objective is to capture the strategically important French city of Caen. But German opposition there is very fierce. So fierce, in fact, that it will take more than a month before the city can be taken, at the cost of thousands of casualties.

After Caen, Andrew’s regiment enters the Netherlands via northern France and Belgium.

Andrew Swinley, the brave and proud young father at the front. His memory will forever be honoured by his descendants. Read his biography here.