Sutton | Francis Paul
Biography
Francis Paul Sutton (service number 124248) was killed in action on 14 October 1944 at the age of 28. At the time of his death, he was a Lieutenant in the Lincolnshire Regiment, 2nd Battalion, attached from the Northamptonshire Regiment. He was initially buried at the Kleffen cemetery in Overloon and reburied on 15 July 1946 at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Overloon. The inscription on his grave reads: “In loving memory”.
Family background
Francis was born on 10 March 1916 in Towcester, Northamptonshire, England. His parents were Rupert Edward Sutton (1886–1960) and Edith Sutton (née Whiteman) (1893–1937).
He had two sisters: Molly Kathleen Sutton (1920–2008) and Charlotte Ruth Sutton (1921–1996).
Francis attended Oakham School between 1929 and 1933. He was in Wharflands, a boarding house at Oakham school. After school at Oakham he worked at the National Provincial Bank in Wellingborough and also in Southampton.
Military Career
Francis Paul Sutton enlisted in the Territorial Army (Hampshires) in 1938 and joined the Northamptonshire Regiment on March 9th 1940. In the years leading up to the Second World War, this regiment underwent several changes and mergers. A newspaper article indicates that he went to war with this battalion. In June 1944, he then joined the Lincolnshire Regiment.
NORTHAMPSHIRE REGIMENT
The Northamptonshire Regiment was mobilised on 1 September 1939 within the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division, along with the rest of the Territorial Army, following the German invasion of Poland. Two days later, Great Britain and France declared war and the Second World War began.
With the division, the battalion joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France on 5 January 1940. After the German attack on 10 May, the BEF invaded Belgium. The battalion fought from 26 to 28 May at the Ypres–Komen Canal, but the German breakthrough forced the BEF to retreat to Dunkirk. On 1 June 1940, it was evacuated to England, where it then carried out anti-invasion duties for two years.
The battalion left for North Africa on 16 October 1942 and took part in Operation Torch, landing in Algeria on 9 November. It fought at the Tebourba Gap (1–10 December 1942), Oued Zarga (7–15 April 1943), the Medjez Plain (23–30 April) and in the final battle for Tunis (5–12 May).
It then served with the Eighth Army during the invasion of Sicily, landing on 25 July 1943 and participating in the Battle of Adrano (29 July–3 August). On 22 September, it moved to the Italian mainland and, apart from a short rest period in Egypt, served on the Italian front for the rest of the war. It is not clear whether Francis Paul was also involved in the fighting in Italy. According to the information in the newspaper article, he was in North Africa in any case.
The War Diaries of the Lincolnshire Regiment 2nd Bn state that Francis Paul Sutton joined this regiment in northern France on 15 June 1944 and his role until his death was “Battalion Intelligence Officer”.
LINCOLNSHIRE REGIMENT 2ND BN
The 2nd Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment left for France in October 1939. They were part of the 9th Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division under the command of Major General Bernard Montgomery. They served with the British Expeditionary Force and managed to return from Dunkirk after the fighting in France and Belgium. They remained with the same brigade and division throughout the war and spent the next four years training in various parts of the United Kingdom.
The battalion took part in the D-Day landings in June 1944. Throughout the Normandy campaign, the battalion was involved in Operation Charnwood, Operation Goodwood and the rest of the campaign in north-western Europe until Victory in Europe Day in May 1945.
After failing to capture the bridge at Arnhem in Operation Market Garden in late September 1944, the Allies were left behind in a very precarious narrow salient through the Netherlands. The aim of Operation Aintree was to widen this salient by advancing south from Nijmegen to capture Overloon and then Venray before finally eliminating a German bridgehead on the River Meuse near Venlo.
On 9 October 1944, the battalion was in Haps, just south of Nijmegen. They were ordered to move south to St Anthonis on 11 October, but this was postponed until the following day due to bad weather. The move was completed on 12 October and the next day they moved a little further west, but with one casualty and three wounded.
On 14 October, the day Francis Paul died, the plan was for B Company to be led through a forest controlled by the Royal Ulster Rifles to the front, from where they would carry out a reconnaissance to check whether a stream was passable and whether the north-eastern corner of a forest to the south was in enemy hands. However, the guides were late and the journey through the forest took longer than expected, so the reconnaissance was cancelled. At 7.30 a.m., the company began to advance southwards out of the forest. But before the company had advanced 100 metres, the enemy opened fire from a track about 100 metres away. The advance continued, but came under such heavy fire with so many casualties that the company commander gave the order to retreat to the position of the Royal Ulster Rifles. At that point, one lieutenant and 34 other ranks had been killed or wounded.
After reconnaissance by the company commanders, it was decided to launch an attack at 3.30 p.m. with the D and A companies in the lead. The enemy had been seen moving in the area of the stream in front of the forest. It was thought that the enemy occupying the battalion’s objective was probably a company strong. As soon as the attacking troops entered the open field, they were exposed to intense artillery and mortar fire, but they continued steadily towards their objective. During this action, the battalion suffered very heavy losses, including four officers killed and another four wounded. A total of 27 men from the 2nd Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment who died that day are buried side by side in Overloon, including Francis Paul Sutton.
