Cyril Taylor didn't even make it off the boat; the 19-year-old Marine was dead before his landing craft had scraped on to the bomb-blasted, bloody beaches of Normandy on D-Day.
He died from shock, his family believed. A letter of condolence from their commanding officer would later explain he'd simply slumped down, as if he'd somehow fallen asleep amid the pandemonium of the biggest invasion ever staged.
Cyril's name is one of 12 men killed on June 6, 1944 in the Leicestershire Roll of Honour which was produced in 2005 in a ground-breaking collaboration between the Leicester Mercury and the Commonwealth War Grave Commission.
Their bodies lie in graveyards across Normandy, in the Netherlands too, and back home in England.
The list of names which follows is not a definitive portrait of Leicestershire's sacrifice on that historic day, and that's due to the way records were compiled in the war.
When a soldier, sailor or airman died, the Commission were informed of his name, rank, unit and service number, and given a next-of-kin address. They sent out a final verification form, asking for any further details, before the name was added to their records.
Not all the forms were returned. Sometimes they'd been sent to an old address. Some casualties had no families to answer. And some didn't want to add the extra information.
So if your Leicestershire brother, father or grandfather should be on the list that follows but isn't, it doesn't mean his name is not commemorated by the Commission. It's just the database has no record of his Leicestershire roots. ARMSTRONG, Private, ALROY JOHN, 9th Bn. Parachute Regiment, A.A.C. 06/06/1944, Son of John and Bronwyn Armstrong, of Leicester. RANVILLE WAR CEMETERY, FranceBIRCH, Trooper, LESLIE CLAUDE, 2nd County of London Yeomanry (Westminster Dragoons), Royal Armoured Corps, 06/06/1944, Son of Mr. and Mrs. William Henry Birch; husband of Gladys Birch, of Leicester. RYES WAR CEMETERY, BAZENVILLE, FranceCLAY, Signalman, HARRY, 3rd Div. Sigs. Royal Corps of Signals, 06/06/1944, Son of Alice Clay; husband of Eva Clay, of Hinckley, Leicestershire. HERMANVILLE WAR CEMETERY, FranceHAYTO, Sapper, GEORGE ARTHUR, 1018 Port Operating Coy. Royal Engineers, 06/06/1944, Son of John William and Florence Pretoria Hayto, of Leicester. DOVER (ST. JAMES'S) CEMETERY, United KingdomHUNTER, Marine, CALEY LOVELL, No. 41 R.M. Commando. Royal Marines, 06/06/1944, Son of Henry Lovell Hunter and Gladys Hunter, of Whetstone, Leicestershire. BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY, FranceILIFFE, Serjeant, JOHN ADRIAN, 8th Bn. Parachute Regiment, A.A.C. 06/06/1944, Son of Mr. and Mrs. John Kirkman Iliffe; husband of Lilian Iliffe, of Leicester. TROARN COMMUNAL CEMETERY, FranceJOHNSON, Sapper, JOHN ALBERT LEWIS, 91 Field Coy. Royal Engineers, 06/06/1944, Son of John Thomas Johnson and Sarah Ann Johnson, of South Wigston, Leicestershire. HERMANVILLE WAR CEMETERY, FranceNUGENT, Private, PERCY, 1st Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment, 06/06/1944, Son of Ernest and Elise Nugent, of Leicester; husband of Eunice Ellen Nugent, of Leicester. BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY, FranceREYNOLDS, Leading Seaman, RONALD JAMES, H.M.L.C.A. 815. Royal Navy, 06/06/1944, Son of Thomas and Rosa Reynolds, of Aylestone, Leicester; husband of Gertrude Lilian Reynolds, of Herne Hill, London. BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY, FranceSTANDLEY-SMITH, Sergeant, PHILIP, 615 Sqdn. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 06/06/1944, Son of Thomas Francis and Elizabeth Winifred Standley-Smith, of Leicester; husband of Sylvia Eugenia Standley-Smith, of Braunstone, Leicester. JONKERBOS WAR CEMETERY, NetherlandsTAYLOR, Marine, EDGAR CYRIL, H.M.L.C.S.(M) 103. Royal Marines, 06/06/1944, Son of William Henry and Florence Taylor, of Leicester. BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY, FranceVINES, Private, FREDERICK VALENTINE, 2nd Bn. East Yorkshire Regiment, 06/06/1944, Son of Herbert and Louise Vines, of Leicester; husband of Ethel Vines, of Leicester. HERMANVILLE WAR CEMETERY, France• 'I got home from school to hear my brother had been killed'. Read the moving story of Cyril Taylor's death and the devastating impact it had on his family, here.Click here for our D-Day channel.
