Tex Banwell
Keith Deamer Banwell 10th Parachute Battalion | |
|---|---|
| Battles/wars | World War II • North African campaign • Operation Market Garden |
| Awards | British Empire Medal Resistance Memorial Cross (Netherlands) |
Auschwitz
.
Military service
Banwell was born in
No. 52 (Middle East) Commando, and then the Long Range Desert Group. He was captured in 1942 during a raid on Tobruk
, but he and a friend stole a German vehicle and escaped back to British lines.
He was captured a second time during a raid on
world heavyweight boxing champion. Banwell escaped again with some friends on a stolen assault landing craft
, but they ran out of fuel and drifted for nine days before reaching the coast of North Africa. Banwell's resemblance to General Montgomery was noticed while he was hospitalised for three months to recover. Banwell was dressed up in a similar uniform to Montgomery, and driven around North Africa as Montgomery's double to confuse German spies. He was taller than Montgomery, so was instructed to remain seated in a vehicle while out in public.
Bored with this role, Banwell joined the
Fallingbostel
, where he was liberated by the Red Army in March 1945, having lost half his body weight.
Post-war
Banwell rejoined the 10th Battalion, Parachute Regiment when it was reformed as a
Post Office, and also served as a special constable
. He continued parachuting as a hobby, and made his 1,000th jump at Arnhem in September 1984 (the 40th anniversary of the battle), and his 1,001st and final jump in Arnhem in 1994 for the 50th anniversary.
His wartime experiences were included in the book The Grey Goose of Arnhem, published in 1977 by Leo Heaps, the Canadian who also served at Arnhem with the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (and son of Canadian politician
Abraham Albert Heaps). He was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 1969 New Year Honours[1] and the Dutch Resistance Memorial Cross
in 1982 (one of very few members of the British Armed Forces to receive this award).
Personal life and death
Banwell died in London. He married his first wife, Winifred, on 4 March 1944; they had a son and two daughters. His survivors included the three children of his first marriage, and his second wife, Elsie. His ashes were buried in the
Hotel Hartenstein
also in Oosterbeek.
References
- ^ "No. 44740". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 December 1968. p. 25.
- Warner, Philip (May 2007). "Banwell, Keith Deamer (1918–1999)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/72648. Retrieved 31 January 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- van der Vat, Dan (30 August 1999). "Obituary: Keith Banwell, into battle with a hunting horn". The Guardian.
- Honanaug, William H. (24 August 1999). "Tex Banwell Dies at 80; British Wartime Daredevil". The New York Times.
- "Obituary: Keith Banwell". The Herald. Glasgow. 14 September 1999.
- ISBN 978-0-7146-3399-2.
External links
- "Sergeant Tex Banwell 10th Battalion, Funeral order of service". Market-garden.info.
- "Sergeant Keith Demer Banwell". Pegasusarchive.org.
- "Banwell, Keith Deamer "Tex"". TracesOfWar.com.
- "Keith Demer "Tex" Banwell, soldier, born October 8, 1917; died July 25, 1999". Pegasus Forces Lodge 9393.