Lieutenant-Colonel John German
&
Major Ian Liddell
1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment

Had it been our fate to have gone into battle together, I think there is no man that we would rather have had by us in a time of hardship and danger than John German. I am told that he was killed by a sniper’s bullet outside Le Havre, when standing in the open, encouraging his men. We can all picture him doing that.

(Quoted in Burton Observer and Chronicle, 26 Oct 1944, 2)

Born on 28 August 1908 in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, Raymond Johnston German was a long serving Territorial Officer and a land agent. He joined the 5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment in 1925—his father served as honorary colonel from 1927 to 1938. He mobilized as a company commander in the 1/5th Battalion commanded by his older brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Guy German. The unit deployed to Norway in April 1940. While John made it back to England, Guy would spend the rest of the war as a prisoner-of-war.

“We all know we had a fairly bad time,” German reflected of the Norwegian campaign on his return home. “There were moments of acute despair and disappointment. On account of lack of support we were unable to give adequate retaliation, and give as good a show as we should have liked.” German served as second-in-command of the 1/5th Battalion until 1942.

He then transferred to the 1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment also as second-in-command. The unit landed in Normandy at the beginning of July 1944 to replace the recently disbanded 6th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in the 49th Infantry Division. At the end of the month, Lieutenant-Colonel Tony Novis was wounded and German took temporary command until the arrival of Major I.D.M. Liddell from the 11th Battalion, Royal Scots.

Born on 13 January 1911, Ian Donald Macduff Liddell was a graduate of Edinburgh University and a banker in Pitlochry, Scotland. He joined the Home Forces in 1939 and mobilized with the 6th Battalion, Black Watch. He subsequently served as staff officer and brigade major for 12th Infantry Brigade from 1940 to 1942. After a posting with 49th Division as GSO 2, he was assigned to the 11th Royal Scots Fusiliers as second-in-command. He took over the 1st Leicesters in August but would be succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel F.W. Sandars the next month.

Liddell returned to 11th Royal Scots as second-in-command and ended the war with a mention in despatches. He died in a car accident on 15 November 1976.

After his brief tenure commanding the 1st Leicesters, German reverted to second-in-command. He was killed in action soon thereafter on 11 September 1944 near Le Havre. One friend eulogized him:

The winning this war will not be the end of all things, but rather the beginning. There is much still for us to do and we shall need in peace, as in war, the qualities of loyalty, courage, sympathy and kindliness, and I think we can all show more of these qualities for the example that we have known and loved in John German.