Victor Scott was born on the 18th of August 1914 (registered in the October quarter). He lived in Sandy Lane, Allerton near Bradford, Yorkshire. He had two sisters – one older, one younger.

[See Regimental Badge – Duke of Wellington Regiment]

Scott enlisted in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment on the 17th of July 1933. We do not have access to his service record, so it is unclear as to whether he was in 1/7 throughout and where he served before Normandy.

1/7 Battalion were in Iceland 1940 to May 1942 (as were 1/6) before being withdrawn to Britain. The battalion became the 7th when 2/7 Battalion was disbanded (in effect it converted to amour and became the 115th Royal Armoured Corps).

On his returning PoW form Scott confusingly refers to a briefing regarding capture by the platoon commander of 7th Battalion as taking place at Yarmouth in July 1944 – should that be June? He also states he was interrogated re Burma – did the Germans make a mistake or is this evidence that he was previously with a different Battalion and joined the 7th in France as a reinforcement?

[See returning PoW Questionnaire – V Scott]

Time in Normandy

The 7th Duke of Wellington’s landed in Normandy on the 11th of June 1944. In the aftermath of Operation Martlet and subsequent German counterattack, the Battalion was holding the line around Rauray.

Scott was captured on the 15th of July 1944 during the holding operation and his loss is mentioned in the War Diary – this is highly unusual as, in general, only officers are mentioned by name. One could presume, therefore, that there was something particularly unusual about Scott, or, perhaps by that time he was leading a platoon – unlikely, but given losses in junior officers, not unknown.

“At 0200 hrs B Coy report Cpl Scott and one other rank not returning from a patrol. A further patrol on the same route came under fire but no trace of the previous patrol was found.”

There is a Pte George Wilson from 7th Battalion who is registered as dying on the 15th of July and is commemorated on the Bayeux Memorial panel 15 column 1 – is he the other person missing from the patrol? No-one is posted missing with Scott.

[See extract from the Battalion War Diary mentioning Scott]