Private Jack Brierley, one of the first Allied troops on the ground in Overlord's main force

Our para family member was my dad's and my aunt's first cousin, Private John Thomas (Jack) Brierley, K655393, of C Company (probably 8 Platoon), 1st Canadian Parachute Bn.

Jack was the son of Thomas and Alice Brierley of Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada. Jack was his mother's only remaining child. Tom, her husband, had died in 1927 of the effects of mustard gas. He had been in the Canadian army during WWI - and her older son had died as an infant.

C Coy were the first Allied troops on the ground in Overlord's main force, taking off from RAF Harwell in Albemarle aircraft and landing at 2330 on June 5, 1944. Their primary objective was to secure Drop Zone V just west of Varaville for the Pathfinders of their brigade (3 Para Bde) coming in 30 minutes later and the various airborne and glider-borne forces to follow.

Another of C Coy's objectives was to neutralize the German garrison at the Chateau de Varaville. We know that Jack fought at the Varaville chateau, including the guardhouse, where his close friend, Private Leslie Abram Nuefeld, of Nipiwin, Saskatchewan, Canada, was killed fighting beside him. Les was 22 years old.

The battalion remained in the vicinity for weeks to come, patrolling between the Bois de Bevent and Les Mesnil crossroads and exchanging mortar and small arms fire with the enemy daily. Jack was killed by a mortar round on August 2, 1944 at the age of 22. He is buried with the rest of the paras at the Ranville cemetery, just a couple of miles from where he'd landed on June 5th.

I'm not sure my father and his four siblings ever got over their older cousin Jack's death - he was their dear friend and hero. He was the only cousin that my father and my aunt and their siblings knew personally (all of the others lived in England) and he was more like a big brother to his five younger cousins and so the loss to them was even greater.

He is fondly and often remembered by his family, both in Canada and in England as is witnessed by an oil painting that was made of Jack in his uniform and the shadow box that contains Jack's medals, a photo of his grave, a photo of his mother, the medal she received after his death, and the record of his being killed in action, among other items. We, as a family, are duty bound to keep his memory alive.