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RGJ Association -> THIS BOARD IS NOW FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES ONLY. CLICK ON RGJ ASSOCIATION TO RETURN TO NEW IN MEMORIAM FORUM. -> The Royal Green Jackets In Memorium Board -> Death of Major David Taylor MC 1 OBLI
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Death of Major David Taylor MC 1 OBLI
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In July 1944 Taylor was serving with the 1st Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in Normandy. On July 15, in an operation to clear the flanks for the advance of British 12th Corps on Evrecy, the battalion received orders to make a night attack on the heavily defended hamlet of Cahier, near Mondrainville.

The attack began at three oclock the following morning. Taylor was ordered to occupy a position south-east of Cahier with two sections of his carrier platoon and engage the enemy frontally while their positions were outflanked from each side.

Taylor and his men spent 14 hours within 300 yards of four well-dug-in enemy machine guns and under frequent mortar fire. He engaged the Germans so effectively with his own machine guns that they were unable to interfere with the outflanking attacks.

Taylor then led his sections forward, clearing the dense hedgerows of opposition, before joining in the final assault. He rallied what was left of his company and fought off the German rearguard to enable the dead and wounded to be moved to a place of safety.

Cahier was taken, but the battalion lost about a third of its effective fighting force in casualties. The citation for the award to Taylor of an MC stated that he had played a vital part in the successful outcome of the engagement and that his conduct had been beyond praise.

David Charlton Taylor was born at Loose, near Maidstone, Kent, on November 13 1920 and educated at Epsom College. After three months with the Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment and a spell at Octu, in April 1941 he was commissioned and posted to the 1st Ox & Bucks.

He accompanied his battalion to Normandy in June 1944, landing a few weeks after D-Day. Shortly after the action at Cahier he assumed command of B Company, which had lost all its officers either killed or wounded.

In August the battalion took part in an attack on an enemy held crossroads east of Thury-Harcourt. Taylor was wounded and evacuated to England. In November he rejoined the battalion in Holland as second-in-command of D Company in time to take part in the move to the Ardennes to counter the German breakthrough.

The overcast weather grounded the Allied air forces. Densely planted pine forests were shrouded in mist, the slopes of hillsides icy and many of the roads barricaded with fallen trees or mined, the mines forming telltale hummocks in the snow. Attempts to clear them usually attracted a barrage of mortar or artillery shells.

In their first attack, into a wood, the company commander was killed and Taylor was wounded again. A few weeks later, however, he was able to rejoin the battalion as company commander.

In the battle of the Reichswald, Taylor was wounded for a third time. He was evacuated to the British general hospital at Louvain where he remained until shortly after V-E day. He rejoined his battalion in Hamburg, this time as A Company commander.

After being demobilised in 1946, he qualified as a solicitor. Seven years later he decided on a change of career and moved into personnel management in industry. Following his retirement, he served as a member of an industrial tribunal.

Settled at Barnes in south-west London, he was an active supporter of his parish church, a local childrens charity and the Conservative Party. Almost every year from 1946 to 2001 he attended the Old Comrades reunion at Oxford. He said that the great joy of his regimental service was the number of lifelong friends he made; his great sorrow, the number of friends and comrades killed in action.

David Taylor married, in 1977, Ruth Nuttall. There were no children.

 

Major David Taylor, born November 13 1920, died April 13 2013

RIP   Swift and Bold

DWM

Extracted from the Daily Telegraph, Many thanks to Macca for Information.


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Keith Kneller

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RIP Major Taylor!   Your Obituary speaks volumes as to the man you were - a true Ox & Bucks (Up n Atem) Officer!

A brave soldier and Commander who carried out his duties to the full!  

May you rest in peace in the knowledge you have carried out your duties in true Ox & Bucks style and it would be an honour to meet you at the final RV!



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