D-Day action in 1944 included a real-life local wartime hero – soldier and actor Richard Todd, who is buried at Little Ponton near Grantham.
When the Allied assault on Nazi-held Europe, unfolded in the early hours of 6th June, Lt Todd was in the thick of British Airborne action in Normandy.
An officer in the 7th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, he was the first member of his Battalion to land in France, charged with relieving Major John Howard’s Horsa glider-borne troops who had seized the Caen Canal bridge. It was later re-named Pegasus Bridge in tribute to the Airborne troops’ mythical winged horse divisional insignia. The bridge was vital to stop German troops from attacking Allied troops on the beaches, and in helping secure their advance inland.
Todd was one of 600 men of his Battalion who jumped from Stirling aircraft at around 12.40am on the 6th. He set off for the bridges at 1.30am with only 150 men. Intense fighting followed as they successfully battled to secure the area.
Eighteen years later, by then a Hollywood heartthrob, Richard Todd was in the star-studded feature film, The Longest Day, which told the story of the D-Day landings. He chose to take on the larger role of Major Howard, with Patrick Jordan playing the role of Lt Todd.
One of his most iconic film roles was that of Wing Commander Guy Gibson in the 1955 film, The Dambusters. Flown from RAF Scampton, the attack on the German dams in 1943 became one of the most well-known aspects of Lincolnshire’s rich aviation heritage.
Richard Todd moved to Little Ponton in 1976 and is buried at St Guthlac’s Church in the village.
His story is one of many recorded on South Kesteven District Council’s National Heritage Lottery funded Soldiers From The Sky project website – www.soldiersfromthesky.co.uk – telling the backstories of Allied Airborne forces in South Kesteven in 1944.
Cllr Bridget Ley, SKDC Armed Forces Champion, said: “We are very fortunate to have the Soldiers from the Sky project website to tell the stories of men like Richard Todd. It’s an incredibly detailed and inspirational illustration of military achievements relating to South Kesteven in 1944 and the men who gave so much to the fight for freedom as they collectively changed the course of the war.”
Richard Todd’s story can be found here: https://www.soldiersfromthesky.co.uk/stories/richard-todd-theatre-war-big-screen
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