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4270362 Private William Charles Freeman "Bunty"

Private William Freeman's Obituary
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4270362 Pte William Charles Freeman was born on 13th March 1914 in Hebburn, Durham; the son of Walter George Freeman and Beatrice Freeman (née Holtham).

In the 1921 census of England and Wales he is shown as living at 69 1/2 Glen Street, Bank, Hebburn with his parents and 4 older siblings. Walter, his father is shown as being employed as a General Labourer.

He succesfully completed Parachute Course No. 69 at Ramat David in Palestine from September 28 to October 05 1943.

After qualifying as a parachutist he was assigned to Medium Machine Gun platoon of Support Company, 11th Parachute Battalion.

Collage Produced By Braxby, ancestry.co.uk
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Bunty fought alongside the other members of the 11th Parachute Battalion in the Battle of Arnhem. Although he was wounded in action he was lucky to have returned across the river Rhine into allied territory.

William died on 1st May 1985, at the age of 71 in South Shields, Durham.




We are still researching the life of Private Freeman. If you are a relative or have any information about him, please contact us.




It would not have been possible to show the information contained on this page without the work of the following: Mr R.P “Bob” Hilton; Diana Andrews; Allan Brown; Andrew Blacklock: all of the staff at The Parachute Regiment & Airborne Forces Museum Aldershot; Gerrit Pijpers OBE; John Howes; and Graham Francis.
Additional genealogical data have been researched and provided by Doctor Jan Larder-Davis, primarily using the following sources: www.ancestry.co.uk and; www.findmypast.com