​Windermere lad who fought on D Day remembered.
Last autumn, the Town Council put out a request for pictures of family members who had fought on D Day eighty years ago. Kathleen Strickland of Windermere was kind enough to get in touch with the story of her brother-in-law Alan Strickland. It seems very appropriate that we think of him and our other brave soldiers as we light the beacon on the summit of Orrest Head so near where he grew up.
Alan Strickland was born in Christopher North’s Cottage at the foot of Orrest Head. He was the third child and oldest son of Arthur and Annie Strickland. By the start of the war the family had moved to 21, Havelock Road. Alan worked as a gardener at Mawson’s. By 1944 he had signed up and joined the 8th Battalion Kings Liverpool Irish. The battalion was chosen to be part of the 7th Beach Group to land with the 3rd Canadian Division on Juno Beach.
The conditions encountered by these young soldiers as they came ashore was one of almost indescribable horror. Alan was 19 years old.
The 8th Battalion suffered such losses that day that it was subsequently disbanded. Alan was posted to the East Lancashire Regiment. He was wounded while fighting in Normandy. After he recovered, he was then posted to the 9th Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). He crossed the Rhine with them, and Lance Corporal Alan Strickland was killed in Germany on 30th April 1945 just a few days before Germany’s surrender on May 8th.
Kathleen had never met her brother-in-law, as he died many years before she married his younger brother. But she, and the rest of his family never forgot the sacrifice he made. So, on the 80th Commemoration of the D Day landings we too remember the sacrifice made by Alan and all the others who served the cause of freedom then and now.
Everyone is welcome to join the Town Council at our D Day Commemoration on the summit of Orrest Head by 9pm on Thursday 6th June. The Mayor’s tribute is at 9pm followed by the lighting of the beacon at 9:15pm.
(Picture from the Westmorland Gazette 1945)