Laurence Roy Bradford

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Captain Laurence Roy Bradford
Life dates
27 Jul 1916 - 20 Jul 1944
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Roy Bradford
Biography

Roy Bradford was born in Barnstaple. His parents, Charles Horace and Mabel Dora Bradford (nee Palmer) had a younger son, Geoff, who would join his local Auxiliary Units Patrol as soon as he was old enough in 1944. Derrick, their other brother, would serve with the Devons as a Sergeant in the Far East. Before the war Roy trained as an architect. 

On 24 April 1939, he joined the Devon Regiment as a Territorial Army Private (5620500), five months before war was declared. He married Joan Gilbert in 1941, following their engagement in 1939. He was commissioned into the Devon Regiment and served with the 6th Battalion at Battle in Sussex, acting as Adjutant.

He was posted to HQ Auxiliary Units on 9 June 1942 as Scout Section Officer. Lieutenant Bradford initially served in Devon, leading the Devon Scout Section and under the command of Intelligence Officer Captain Edmundson. On the 6 August 1942, his daughter Faith was born, his batman Paddy Maguire taking the call at Thorverton that informed him of the news.

He was transferred to Sussex after April 1943, being present by June when he signed an order as Sussex Scout Section Officer. He was commanding the single Combined Scout Section, which included men from both the Royal Sussex and Queens Royal Regiment. Shortly after he took over as Sussex Intelligence Officer from Captain Ian Benson. On 6 July 1943 he was appointed Acting Captain and subsequently Temporary Captain whilst at Tottington Manor.

The SAS specifically recruited from Aux Units and it is likely that Roy Bradford was one of those at the Curzon Cinema in London to be invited to join by SAS Commander Paddy Mayne. Bradford's batman Maguire would also join. He was attached to 1 SAS on 1 February 1944. In common with all those joining the SAS, he dropped a rank, but regained his Temporary Captaincy on 2 June 1944, just before D Day.

Roy Bradford was a troop commander in A Squadron, dropping into the Morvan area of France on 21 June 1944 as part of Operation Houndsworth. According to the SAS Padre, Roy Bradford was first out of the door as the men jumped. This supported the local Maquis and was very successful overall.

On 19 July, Bradford set off in an SAS jeep, armed with twin Vickers K Guns, along with REME Craftsman William Devine, Trooper Maggie McGinn driving, a young Maquis Jacques Morvillier and desert veteran Sergeant Chalky White. As they entered the small village of Lucy-sur-Yonne they were challenged by a couple of German soldiers. The men made a snap decision to drive on and finding themselves passing a nine vehicle German convoy opened fire. In the final vehicle a gunner caught the jeep with a burst of fire. Bradford and Devine were killed and White was wounded, the jeep coasting to a halt a little further up the road, just out of sight of the Germans, McGinn helped Chalky White and the less seriously hurt Maquisard away while the enemy closed on the jeep. All three would escape with the help of Jules Vistel, another Maquisard who came across the men.

The spot where the jeep came to rest is now marked by a memorial and the road renamed Rue de 20th Juillet in memory of the men.  The online report suggests that Bradford and Devine were killed having been challenged by the Germans on the bridge at Lucy.  The memorial on the road (presumably the site where they were shot) stands at the top right of the Streetview image, just below the yellow marker 'D39', at the junction where the D39 meets the turn off to the stone quarry (itself showing as a large white gash on the satellite map, top right). To get there from Lucy, where there are two bridges, one across the canal (in the village itself), the other across the river Yonne (marked here as the Pont-de-Crain), they presumably veered right after the Pont-de-Crain and took the minor road that comes out onto the D39 at what is marked here as the 'Golf du Chateau'. From there they must have turned right again, heading through the hamlet of Le Paumier that you can see on the satellite as a grey splodge, the D39 through this hamlet and thereafter now renamed the 'Rue 20 Juillet 1944' (see detailed image of Le Paumier, with the memorial site marked as the gravel clearing at the junction between the D39 and the quarry, at the top right).  The topography round there has changed little in basics, save that there would have been fewer houses, and a lot more forest. Just after the memorial, heading along the road that they had taken, they would have had (large) forests either side of them, only the forest to the north still remaining (and still vast).  

Captain Roy Bradford is buried in the Crain Communal cemetery in France. It took a little time for the news to reach the family, with death notices appearing in the Western Morning News and North Devon Journal on  9 August and 10 August, the family having been informed on the 8th.

Postings
Unit or location Role Posted from until
Tottington Manor, Small Dole, West Sussex Intelligence Officer 16 Aug 1943 07 Jan 1944
Sussex Intelligence Officer 16 Aug 1943 07 Jan 1944
Devon Scout Section Scout Section Commander 09 Jun 1942 20 Jun 1943
Combined Sussex Scout Section Scout Section Commander 21 Jun 1943 16 Aug 1943
Operation Houndsworth SAS combatant 21 Jun 1944 20 Jul 1944
Regiment
The Devonshire Regiment
Military number
124886
Commissioned or Enlisted
9 Mar 1940
Occupation

Architect

Career

Enlisted Devonshire Regiment Territorial Army April 1939 Army No 5620500

Commissioned March 1940 

Scout Section Officer, Devon,  Lieutenant, June 1942

Scout Section Sussex, Sussex, Lieutenant, Feb 1943

Intelligence Officer Sussex, Captain, 16 Aug 1943

A Squadron 1 SAS, Captain, 8 Feb 1944

Operation Houndsworth June - 20 July 1944 

Killed at Coulange-sur-Yonne, 20 July 1944

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Roy Bradford Barnstable area map held at The British Resistance Organisation Museum at Parham, Suffolk
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Roy Bradford insignia (from Faith Davis)
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Roy Bradford-wedding photo (from Faith Davis)
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Roy Bradford - daughter Faith christening (from Faith Davis)
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Roy Bradford with daughter Faith and Smut the dog (from Faith Davis)
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Roy Bradford piece of parachute (from Faith Davis)
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Roy Bradford internment (from Faith Davis)
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Roy Bradford Memorial (from Faith Davis)
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Roy Bradford Grave (from Faith Davis)
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Roy Bradford internment with Curate Nievre (from Faith Davis)
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Roy Bradford Obituary (from North Devon Journal)
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Letter from Priest of Crain on Roy Bradford death (from Faith Davis)
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Roy Bradford last letter home page 1
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Roy Bradford last letter home page 2
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Roy Bradford last letter home page 3
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Roy Bradford Memorial (from Geoff Bradford)
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Roy Bradford memorial stone
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Crain cemetery gates (from Nicholas Vincent)
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View of Crain from the graves (from Nicholas Vincent)
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The two British War Graves (from Nicholas Vincent)
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Bradford grave (from Nicholas Vincent)
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French notice (from Nicholas Vincent)
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Bradford memorial just outside Le Paumier (from Nicholas Vincent)
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Bradford memorial looking towards the road and the prospect of Crain (from Nicholas Vincent)
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From Crain looking back towards Lucy-sur-Yonne (from Nicholas Vincent)
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Looking back from Crain across Le Paumier to the memorial with Chatel Censoir in the background (from Nicholas Vincent)
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Le Paumier and the memorial site far top right (from Nicholas Vincent)
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Lucy-sur-Yonne and Crain (from Nicholas Vincent)
References

AuxUnit and Roy Bradford

CWGC

With Britain in Mortal Danger, John Warwicker

Findagrave

London Gazette

Geoff Bradford personal communication

Daughter Faith Davis (nee Bradford)

North Devon Journal 10th August 1944

Western Morning News 9th August 1944

North Devon Journal 28th September 1944

Special Forces Roll of Honour

Nicholas Vincent