Veteran of the     12th Devonshire Regiment

The following photographs are of Corporal Albert Sydney Pyne. Born in Dartmouth, in south Devon, Albert Pyne worked as a motor mechanic before the war. He joined the 12th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment and served in Europe. These pictures are being shared by Mr. Kevin Pyne, Cpl Pyne's son. In April 1943 the 6th Airborne Division was formed. Within its order of battle was the 6th Airlanding Brigade, whose troops were glider-borne infantry rather than parachutists. Two of the three battalions that formed this brigade were brought over from the 1st Airborne Division. The third battalion, however, was to be the 12th Battalion the Devonshire Regiment, who joined the brigade in May of that year. Prior to then the 12th Devons had been stationed in Southwest England serving coastal defense duties. Their commanding officer, Lt. Col. Dick Stevens, retained command of the battalion as they joined their new brigade, under Brigadier the Hon H.K.M. Kinderley MC. The Devons took part in the Normandy landings in June 1944, but in an unusual way for the 6th Airborne. Due to a lack of gliders, all but one company of the Devons landed by boat on the Normandy beaches on June 7th, D+1. Albert Pyne was among those of the battalion who landed in France at Sword Beach. The Devons then joined the division in the fighting east of the Orne River, and suffered heavy casualties along with their fellow battalions. They were withdrawn at the end of August 1944 after the Allied forces had broken through to the Seine River and Paris. During this time Albert Pyne nearly avoided a disastrous incident. While putting his mechanical skills to work in fixing a disabled truck he heard several men approaching. Taking cover and manning his Bren gun he was on the verge of firing when he recognized the Devon accent of the men, one of whom was a close friend. Incidents such as this were all too common in the close bocage countryside of France. In December 1944 the entire division was hastily recalled to Holland to stem the Germans' surprise advance against American troops in the Ardennes. The Devons participated in actions in France and Holland until February 1945. The picture above shows Cpl Pyne (to the left of the jeep, with hands in pockets) in the village of Hohen Veichlen, Holland, in 1944. He had a reputation for his ability for scrounging. On Christmas Eve during the winter fighting in '44 he appeared before his section with two bottles of whiskey and a fruitcake! The Devons' final operation of the war came in the massive airborne lift over the Rhine River in March 1945, named Operation Varsity. The battalion landed by glider near the town of Hamminkeln, which they were tasked with taking. Even though they landed virtually on top of enemy units they managed to capture the town after several hours of difficult fighting. This success was followed up by a rapid advance across Germany and to the Baltic Sea, where the war in Europe ended in May of '45.