My great-uncle (my grandfather's brother), Major "Bill" Grantham, was in 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Bn. On 3 Jan 1945 he was commanding B Company in the attempt to recapture the village of Bure. From a Lt Arthur Prestt:
"We moved out of the wood onto the snow covered hillside adopting an open formation as we did so. I was moving slightly to the rear of Major GRANTHAM and his Command Group. After we had advanced about 100 yards, he must have seen something suspicious and moved down the hill to the shelter of a hedge. He appeared to speak to his signaller who already was in contact with one of the other stations. There was a single shot and the O.C. fell dead at our feet. Then the shelling and the mortaring started. The hedge gave us no protection at all and very quickly the casualties mounted. ..."
It was only some years after I first became interested in the Battle of the Bulge that I learned I had a relative who had fought and died in it.
More on the Battle of Bure (the quote is from the first link):
http://www.pegasusarchive.org/varsity/repLuardsOwn1.htm
http://www.battleofthebulgememories.be/f...ennes.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bure
http://www.paradata.org.uk/people/george-k-grantham
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