Gareth Fitzalan Howard Drayson is the second name on the list of WW2 dead on Lustleigh War Memorial. He was killed at Arnhem and lies buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission War Cemetery at Oosterbeek, just west of Arnhem in the Netherlands. Some parishioners may remember his sister, Vivian, known more usually as ‘Pope’, who died in 2001.
In the early years of the war the family home was Thorne, since renamed Robin Hill, on Knowle Road. Garry studied medicine at Edinburgh University and was commissioned in the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Lieutenant in March 1941, being promoted to Captain one year later. Volunteering for service as a parachutist, he won the coveted maroon beret and in due course posted as the Regimental Medical Officer to 10th (Sussex) Battalion, the Parachute Regiment where it seems he was nick-named Gremlin.
On 18th September 1944, his battalion joined Operation Market Garden, the biggest airborne operation of the Second World War, the aim of which was to capture a series of bridges over the Lower Rhine and facilitate the advance of ground forces across the river and into Germany.
Unfortunately for Garry, the area where he was deployed met fierce resistance from the enemy and more than once they were forced back, all the time with Captain Drayson close to the front line providing first-aid to the wounded. But the day after landing in Holland, he lost his own life, one of 92 killed out of 582 men of 10 Para who set out on the mission.
Chris Wilson
On Friday 19th September, Lustleigh Bell Ringers will sound a half-muffled peel in his honour.
A more detailed biography can be found in the Lustleigh Society’s new book “Home Front to Front Line” along with chapters detailing various other aspects of village life during WW2.