John
Firstname
Morris Arthur
Middle Name
Tillett
Surname
Date of Birth
School Years:
Date of Death:
1933 - 36
Family
Father: Major A. R. Tillett who served with the Suffolk Hussars.
Married Joan Lawson in 1943 and had two sons and a daughter
School Record
Captain 2nd X1 Cricket in 1936.
Branch of Service:
Army Ox & Bucks Light Infantry
Service Number:
145422
Rank:
Decorations:
Service Record
Major:post war Colonel
MID and Campaign Medals
Post War Career
After attending a School hockey tour to Germany in 1936 and being made an honorary member of the Hitler Youth organisation, he witnessed army manoeuvres in the Harz Mountains and this convinced him that war was inevitable. After School, he enlisted in the Suffolk Regiment (T. A.) in 1937. He was commissioned in August 1940 and posted to the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (The 52nd.). In 1941 the 2nd Battalion, of which he was part, re-rolled as an airborne, specifically an Air Landing, unit, joining the 1st Airborne Division and, in 1943, the 6th Air Landing Airborne Division. He was appointed Adjutant of the 52nd in early 1944 and was closely involved in the Planning of Operation Tonga just before the "D" day landings. The Battalion's initial objectives were the vital Pegasus Bridge, the Caen Canal and the bridge over the Orme River (known as Horsa Bridge and east of Pegasus). Major John Howard was Commander of "D" Company. There were also Royal Engineers and 6 "Horsa" Gliders piloted by the Glider Pilot Regiment. There were a total of 181 men. The objective was to secure the Eastern Flank and prevent German Armour from reaching the British 3rd Infantry Division which was landing at Sword Beach.
The Battalion was the first allied unit to land in France. Major Tillett's glider landed near Ranville, Normandy at approximately 21.00hrs as part of Operation Mallard. After holding the line on the Breville Ridge and sustaining many casualties, he took part in the British break-out and advance to the Seine, known as operation "Paddle". The Battalion returned to Bulford Camp Wiltshire in early Septembet 1944.
In November 1944 Major Howard was involved in a road traffic accident and Tillett, now promoted to Major, replaced him as Company Commander of "D" Company. He led the Company in the Ardennes at the Battle of the Bulge, holding the lines, and in operation Varsity, the air assault landing over the river Rhine on 24th March 1945, the last major battle on the Western Front during WW2. The Gliders landed in daylight at Mamminkeln, east of the River and met ferocious fire in the air and on the ground. The Battalion lost 400 killed or wounded out of a total battalion strength of 800. His company was reduced to 3 officers and 58 men but, nevertheless, held all its objectives. He then led his Company in the advance across Germany to the Baltic Sea. During the advance, in the woods near Luneberg, he and his Company discovered Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They were ordered to continue to pursue the enemy rather than investigate further.
At the end of the War, He was present at Wismar for the meeting between Field Marshall Montgomery and his Russian counter-part Marshall Rokossovsky for which the 52nd provided the Guard of Honour. For his service in the North West Europe Campaign, he received a Mention in Despatches
He remained in the Army after the War and was posted to Palestine and attended Staff College Camberley in 1949. He then served with the 43rd and 52nd Oxs and Bucks Light Infantry from 1953 at Osnabruk, West Germany and then became an Instructor in the Nuclear Tactical Wing of the School of Infantry at Warminster. He witnessed the British atomic weapons tests at Maralinga in South Australia, the effects of which were, four years later, to cause him health problems and he developed asthma and emphysema for which he received a 75% disability pension.. In 1959 he became second in command of the 1st Green Jackets and was later posted to Uganda and became Commanding Officer of the 1st Ugandan Rifles. One of his junior officers was Idi Amin who was later to succeed him. Tillett, in the rank of Brigadier, subsequently commander the whole of the Ugandan Army. He then served in Ottawa, where he worked as Assistant Military Attache and at HQ SHAPE, where he ran the Establishments Inspection Team and took over from Lt Colonel E. T. Lummis O. I. (1930 - 38). He retired from the Army in 1969 but served as a Retired Officer mainly involved in officer recruitment for the Royal Green Jackets. One of his consuming interests lay in the Regimental Museum and he played a key part in the planning and setting up of the new Museum in Winchester.
Burial Information
Additional Information
Gazette notice for MID: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37521/supplement/1695
Books:
An Outline History of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (the 52nd) 1741 - 1992 by L. M. A. Tillett (1993)
The Pegasus Diaries:the private papers of Major John Howard DSO by John Howard and Penny Bates, published by Pen and Sword Military.
.
Gliderborne: The story of the 2nd Battalion, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (the 52nd) in World War 11 Michael Massy-Beresford (2007).
Note letter from Colonel Tillett in O. I. Journal issue 2 2010/11 at page24.
Obituaries in the Daily Telegraph for 27/01/2015, the Independent for 05/02/2105 and the Times for 27/03/2015.
Other Pictures
Beached gliders
Pegasus Bridge
Colonel Tillett in later years
