Maurice was born in
East Ham, London on 9th June 1922. He joined the Army in November 1941 in
the 10th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, with whom he served until
1943, when he volunteered for the Parachute Regiment and was posted to the
7th (Light Infantry) Battalion in 6th Airborne Division.
The role of the 7th
on 'D' Day in Normandy was to hasten to Pegasus Bridge to take over from 'D
Company ' of the Ox and Bucks, who, it was hoped would have seized it. In
case they had not been successful, the 7th were required to make a further
attempt, and, to help in this, some inflatable dinghies were provided to
cross the canal.
When Maurice jumped
he was burdened with such a dinghy, in addition to his weapon kit bag. The
aircraft, like so many others, was forced by flak to take evasive action
and Maurice landed far from his correct position, and alone. He soon
contacted others and they began to make their way towards the bridge,
but encountered an enemy patrol and were overwhelmed and captured.
Maurice was taken to
Germany and confined to Stalag 4B in Eastern Germany.
As the end of the War
drew near, the prisoners were first marched to the Czech border, then back
to Dresden, where they were liberated and flown back by the RAF.
He was finally
discharged in 1946.
