Glasgow Highlanders, 1st Battalion
Born: 29th March 1919
Story
Denis was the son of George Prince and Ellen White of 51 Westfield Grove, Allerton Bywater. Before the War, Denis worked as a goods porter on the L.N.E. railway at Tadcaster. Denis was called up with the Militia. On 4 June, 1940, the day after the evacuation from Dunkirk was completed, the Glasgow Highlanders launched an attack on the Germans in Normandy. The offensive by the 51st Highland Division on the Somme was only partially successful. The next day, the Germans countered, and the Argyll and Sutherland battalions in particular suffered heavy casualties. It was said to have been the darkest day in the history of that famous regiment.
The Highland Division retreated over the River Bresle and re-grouped, but the Division was outnumbered. The sensible military option for the Highland Division was to evacuate back to Britain. General Fortune recommended an immediate retreat to Le Havre, and the evacuation would have been a relatively simple matter. However, Churchill refused Fortune’s request and ordered the Highlanders to continue to fight. After a week of further retreat, with the French close to surrender, General Fortune was finally given permission to evacuate his Division. By this time, Le Havre had been cut off by Rommel and his Panzers, and a desperate, last-minute plan to evacuate the Highlanders from St. Valery, a small fishing port, bound on either side by high cliffs, proved to be forlorn. General Fortune surrendered and 10,000 men from the Glasgow Highlanders ended up as prisoners of war. Denis was posted missing on 2nd August 1940, and his parents stated they would be glad to hear from anyone who could give them any information about his whereabouts. On 30th August 1940, Denis was reported to have written home to state that he was being held as a prisoner of war in France, but he was quite well and was being well treated.
Denis returned to Kippax and married Elizabeth Adams on 13th June 1945. Elizabeth’s brother Edgar Jackson Adams also served in the Second World War, and was similarly a prisoner of War. They lived on Station Road after their marriage, and then moved to 5 Glencoe Terrace in the 1960s. Denis passed away on 24th October 1986.
Kippax Roll of Honour 