Thomas William Parsons

BAYEUX MEMORIAL Panel 10, Column 1.

Trooper Parsons was killed during the height of Operation Epsom, the massive and bloody British offensive designed to break German lines and capture Caen. Having landed in Normandy earlier in the month, the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry was thrown into its first major engagement.

On 28 June 1944, the regiment's Sherman tanks were locked in a ferocious, attritional battle attempting to push through the Odon River corridor. The armor faced a gauntlet of concealed 88mm anti-tank guns and elite Panzer divisions dug into the rolling terrain around villages like Cheux and Saint-Manvieu. His death occurred during this intense fighting, where the regiment sustained high casualties and tank losses.

n June 1944, the 2nd Battalion, Fife and Forfar Yeomanry (Royal Armoured Corps) marked its defining transition from years of home defense training to intense front-line combat during the Allied invasion of mainland Europe.

Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel A.B.J. Scott, M.C., the battalion operated M4 Sherman tanks and Sherman Fireflies. They served as a critical armored core of the 29th Armoured Brigade within the 11th Armoured Division (famously known as "The Black Bull").

Early to Mid-June: Gathering and Cross-Channel Transit

• 3–10 June: The battalion began loading its tanks and vehicles onto landing craft at southern English ports just before D-Day. Due to the massive scale of the channel crossing and logistics schedules, they experienced brief weather and ordering delays.
• 11–16 June: On the move across the English Channel. The regiment's tanks landed on the Normandy beaches shortly after D-Day, subsequently moving inland to a concentration area near Bayeux to prepare for deployment.

26–30 June: Operation Epsom & Baptism of Fire

• The Advance: On 26 June, the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry was committed to Operation Epsom—the major British offensive aimed at outflanking and capturing the city of Caen.
• The Reality of Tank Warfare: Advancing through the heavily contested Odon River sector, the regiment encountered devastating, fanatic German rearguard positions. On the slopes surrounding the village of Cheux, the unit was thrown into brutal, close-range combat against hidden anti-tank guns and German Panther tanks.