Alfred Wyles Medals WWII

UK: D-Day 81st Anniversary {6.6.1944-6.6.2025] – Remembering Private Alfred Wyles! (5.6.2025)

The infantry would assault the area from the periphery – and the Glider Troops would protect the centre (as if they had just dropped from the sky). As combat can be fluid and all kinds of emergencies can occur – Glider Troops would also train to assault the area from the periphery – and Infantry would defend the area from the centre. The reality on the ground might involve any contingency being used with flexibility being the key. I am told that this might explain how my grandfather came to possess an Airborne badge. When we were first researching this subject, die to the presence of this badge, we first thought Alfred Wyles had landed at Caen in a wooden Glider (this was in fact “D Company” of the 2nd Battalion [Professional] Ox & Bucks – but were later informed that in all likelihood (there is till a niggling doubt) my grandfather landed on Sword Beach as part of the supporting-infantry. Whatever the case, his official War Record is vague on this point.

Normandy: Remembering the Allied Sacrifices of D-Day (6.6.1944) – 79th Anniversary! (6.6.2023)

The British Glider Troops were tasked with seizing local landmarks (such as ‘Pegasus Bridge’) of tactical and strategic importance from the local Nazi German defenders – and hold these assets in the face of the expected Nazi German counter-attack. Meanwhile, Arthur Gibson (as a member of the Royal Navy) was busy protecting Northern Britain by preventing a Nazi German invasion – whilst keeping the sea lanes free of Nazi German ‘mines’ so that Allied Shipping could move (free of this risk) throughout the North Atlantic. This included the assisting of the Russian (Soviet) Arctic Convoys – although the presence of Nazi German U-Boats was an ever-present threat!