D-Day

The 6th and 7th Battalions of the Green Howards were part of the D-Day landings, wading ashore on the morning of 6 June 1944.

By the evening of the first day they had fought their way seven miles inland, further than any other British or American unit.

By the close of the operation 180 Green Howards had lost their lives.

Middlesbrough born Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis (1912 to 1972) was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions on D-Day; the only VC to be awarded on 6th June. 

His actions with the 6th Battalion after landing on Gold Beach involved clearing a pillbox, engaging an enemy field gun and then creating a diversion so that two of his men could withdraw from a house where they had become isolated.

In 1996 The Green Howards Memorial was unveiled at Crepon, commemorating those who lost their lives during the fighting in Normandy, to those who fought and fell during the Second World War, and to Company Sergeant Major Hollis.

CSM Hollis’ Victoria Cross is on display in the museum, a memorial to Hollis was unveiled in 2015 in Middlesbrough, whilst the Hollis and Crepon Memorials in Normandy serve as a permanent reminder of the contribution of The Green Howards to the war in Europe.

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