Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), 9th Battalion, Service no. 3253990
Born: 1919. Killed in action: 26th June 1944, Haut Du Bosq, France, aged 25
Story
Fred Garlick was the son of Joseph Garlick (1893-1967) and Mary Booth (1895-1964), who married in Kippax on 11th April 1914. Joseph was a farmer, but before the outbreak of War, the family had moved to 36 The Cottages, Ledston Luck, and Joseph was working as a coal miner.
Fred enlisted with the Cameronians. On 28th December 1942, his division became attached to the 46th (Highland) Infantry Brigade and began their training.
Whilst on leave, Fred returned to Kippax and married Florence Mary Pinkerton on Christmas Day 1943 (below):
The D-Day Landings on the 6th June 1944 had secured the allies an entrance back into France, but before the Cameronians set sail for Normandy on 17th June 1944, Fred had a photo taken with (L-R) his mother, his youngest brother Edward (1927-1994), and his sister Mary (1924-2006):
On 23rd June 1944, Fred disembarked at the Arromanches Mulberry Harbour, and their first objective (Operation Epsom) was to capture the village of Haut Du Bosq from the grenadiers of the 12th SS Panzer Hitler Youth Division on 26th June 1944 (photo below). Although the operation was successful, and Haut Du Bosq was captured from the Germans, Fred was killed in the fighting. He is buried at the Bayeux War Cemetery, Location XII. B. 6.
In September 1945, his widow Florence (30/09/1925 – 17/07/2007) was among 13 passengers injured when the bus she was travelling in with her mother Linda burst a tyre along Station Road and plunged down the embankment. Linda was taken to St. James Hospital with lacerations to her head and face. Fred’s widow Florence remarried John Herbert Astbury in 1947, and they lived at 31 Birch Grove. Florence’s final wish was that her ashes be buried with Fred. Her sons Keith and Paul Astbury went over to France to fulfil those wishes.
Kippax Roll of Honour 