Lance Corporal Kenneth William Branston, son of William Pettifer Branston and Louie Branston of Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire England. He enlisted in the army on July 6, 1939 and trained at Fort Darland and in Chepstow. Kenneth served with 591 (Antrim) Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers and took part in the D-Day landings to Normandy, during Operation Overlord.
Kenneth's letter home before going to Normandy
Dear Mother, Dad & Family, just a few lines to let you know that in a few hours time I shall be on my way on my first operation overseas. By the time that you receive this I shall have been over there a few days so this will not be posted for a couple of days after we're gone. I will write as soon as things are arranged and when we are in a position to do so. I am very proud to be able to say that I will be amongst the first in the operation to land on French soil, anyway I expect that you will be reading and hearing it on the wireless tomorrow.
Don't worry about me as I will be O.K., we have no worries as we are very confident as to what the result is going to be. By the way if you go to the flicks this week you will see me in the news, as I have been photographed on my own cleaning my rifle just before we set off, as several shots were taken of three of us together so look out for it. I doubt if I will be able to write or send you a card before your birthday so Dear Mother I'll wish you the very best of everything.
None of us are sorry to be going as we have been couped up in the transit camp too long and actually it is quite a relief to us all. Well Dear Family time is short and I have a few preparations to do yet so much as I hate to do so I must close. So keep your chins up all of you and keep reading the good news as I can assure you there's going to be no messing this time. Jerry's really going to get his lot this time.
Well I'll end sending my love to you all especially you Mother, keep batting Dad, Cheerio for a while to you all,
Your loving son,
XXXXXXXX Ken
D-Day
In the early hours of June 6, 1944, Lance Corporal Branston flew to Normandy in a Short Stirling EF 295 plane with a stick of Airborne Royal Engineers. The aircraft crash landed near the Château de Grangues situated in the district of Calvados in the region Basse- Normandie in Normandy.
Massacre
Four men died as a result of the crash, but seven others survived before being disarmed and taken prisoner by German troops in the area. Although the circumstances are to this day a bit unclear, at some stage during the night Lance Corporal Branston, along with Corporal Kelly, Lance Corporal Fraser, Sapper Wolfe, Sapper Wheeler and Driver Thomson, all of 591 (Antrim) Parachute Squadron, were shot. Sapper Guard, part of the Royal Engineers contingent of HQ 6th Airborne Division, was also killed. They are believed to have been shot by Stabsfeldwebel Hermann Veiseler. But the name could have mispelled.
What happened next was told by French witness Rolland Bertier and confirmed by Captain Rankin did the autopsies on the bodies for the 1945 inquiry. The eight soldiers were led out of the stables were they were held. They had all been thoroughly searched when captured so they had no weapons on them. Outside they were made to lie on the ground face down. Stabsfeldwebel Veiseler executed each of the prisoners by shooting them above the waist in a vital area. They died instantaneously. Around the Chateau trenches had been dug for building work in which bodies were thrown.
The men who were killed
- Staff Sergeant 15090818 Duncan Frank Wright
aged 25 years, “A” Squadron, 1st Wing, Glider Pilot Regiment - Corporal 1944972 William Alexander Kelly
aged 28 years of 591 (Antrim Territorial Army) Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers - Lance Corporal 1878189 Kenneth William Branston
aged 20 years of 591 (Antrim Territorial Army) Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers - Lance Corporal 882124 Thomas Andrew Fraser
aged 24 years of 591 (Antrim Territorial Army) Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers - Sapper 14422902 Frank Wolfe
aged 22 years of 591 (Antrim Territorial Army) Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers - Sapper 14537569 David Henry Wheeler
aged 21 years of 591 (Antrim Territorial Army) Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers - Sapper 1876309 Peter Guard
aged 20 years of 591 (Antrim Territorial Army) Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers - Private/Driver 14283438 George Thomson
aged 22 years of 591 (Antrim Territorial Army) Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers
Kenneth Branston was given a field burial at Chateau de Grangues. After a war crimes investigation his body was reinterred in Ranville War Cemetery.
Herman Veiseler was never found. There is no record of his death in German army records and his name does not appear in lists of Allied prisoners of war. He never returned to his home town in Germany.
