Sad News, Friends.

One of our last veterans who served at Tarrant Rushton in 1944 has passed on at the grand age of 102. Flight Sergeant, later Flight Lieutenant, Duncan Forrest was a Flight Engineer on the Halifax tugs of 298 squadron. His time at Tarrant must have been like many of the aircrew related as veterans, “the time of their lives”. Here he is, circled from that wonderful “school photo” of 298 Squadron, taken after D-Day in July 1944, the entire squadron proving just how durable was the Halifax.

Duncan’s time at Tarrant however was just that bit more demanding. As the operations’ logs here show, his crew, under Halifax captain Flying Officer Anderson, took part in Operation Tonga in the early hours of June 6th 1944. Towing the Horsa glider chalk number 124, carrying a jeep and trailer and 5 men from the Airborne division across to Normandy, their Halifax was the squadrons’s single casualty that morning. After releasing their glider at 1500 feet over landing zone N, north east of Caen, they had climbed to 2000 feet when their port wing fuel tank was hit by anti aircraft fire and ignited. As the fire spread the captain ordered his crew to bale out, he was the last to leave.

Or so he thought. In fact Duncan had been about to jump but was forced to the floor at the rear as his pilot leapt from the front, upsetting the aircraft’s balance. Somehow the spiralling Halifax managed to level itself before flopping onto the ground in fields near Escoville with Duncan still on board. With a fractured pelvis and the rest of his crew dispersed, he crawled from the wreckage but could not walk. He was found by a farmer whose daughter walked to the beachhead for assistance from the invasion force; Duncan was eventually evacuated to a field hospital then onto a landing craft returning to England but not before that came under fire. His rescuer was later shot for this act of assistance, Duncan would ensure his family received financial assistance after the war when he discovered their fate.

All the crew were recovered by the invasion force of British Airborne forces later that day, Flying Officer Anderson was back at Tarrant Rushton on June 9th to provide his story to the debriefing officer.

This astonishing tale for Duncan and his crew is a permanent reminder to us of the accomplishment by these brave young men. I will follow up with a more fitting tribute later this year.

Duncan’s funeral will be held at Perth crematorium on Tuesday July 29th 2025.

Duncan was one of the very few veterans from Tarrant still alive that we know about, or perhaps you know of anyone else out there? Do contact us if you do.