Lieutenant-Colonel F.W.A. Butterworth
2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment

During the operation, his personal leadership was of a very high order and his presence on the battlefield at places where he was most … was an inspiration to all ranks. His personal attention to detail in the planning period and his drive, determination, and leadership during battle were responsible for the Bn seizing four important objectives almost entirely within the time laid down by Bde HQ.

(D.S.O. recommendation, 20 Sep 1944)

Born on 18 November 1906 in Headingley, Yorkshire, Francis Wyndham Arthur Butterworth was commissioned in the West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own) in 1925 after attending Royal Military College, Sandhurst. In 1936, he joined the Sudan Defence Force and served as second-in-command of the Equatorial Corps during the first phase of the Second World War. For his administrative and security work in Sudan, he awarded with Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1942.

On 14 August 1944, Butterworth joined the 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment replacing Lieutenant-Colonel D.W. Biddle who had been wounded by shrapnel days earlier. For his leadership during the battle of Le Havre a month later, superiors recommended Butterworth for the D.S.O.: “Many problems and difficulties arose, but at no time was he daunted and by his determination, tenacity, cheerfulness, and willpower, he was able to bring about a perfect co-operation of all arms—the keynote to the success of this operation.”

The presentation of the award would, however, be posthumous. After being badly wounded in the shelling of battalion headquarters on 2 November 1944, Butterworth’s condition deteriorated and he died four days later.