Page 207 - Bugle Autumn 2014

The Church at Lingeveres, used as a Dressing Station in June 1944
Adrian Hayton (age 13) Evan Hayton and Frank (aged 10) in the Spring of 1944
church for a new memorial to the DLI. This had been gifted, transported and erected by members of the Durham Fire Brigade. The monument, a large sandstone slab from the “Earth of County Durham”, is embedded in cement mixed with water and Newcastle Brown ale. It reads “To commemorate the warriors of the DLI who fought and died for your freedom” and “also remembers the sacrifices made by the local people”.
It is a memorial fit for heroes and will now stand as a permanent reminder both of the deaths of thirty six 6 DLI and forty one 9 DLI soldiers lost in the battle, many of whose bodies were carried to this church, as well as the help and support given by the local people.
4987501 Pte William Henry Barlow (aged 21) and 14617394 Pte Evan Hayton (aged 20) were both members of the 6 DLI. William, one of 12 children, was born into
a farming family, the son of Herbert and Phoebe. He was raised in East Retford but had moved to Worksop by the time he was
recruited into the 6 DLI (died 8/6/44, buried Hottot-les-Bagues War Cemetry). Evan was the eldest of the 4 sons of James and Marjorie Hayton and he grew up in Bescar, Lancashire and joined the 6 DLI at the same time (died 8/6/44, buried Ben-sur-Mere Canadian War Cemetry).
The day after D-Day Evan and William were part of a group of 6 DLI manning
a forward command post near Verrieres overlooking a country road junction with
a small bridge. With no marked front line they were caught unawares by elements
of an SS Panzer Reconnaisancer group, unexpectedly moving in from Caen to the south east rather than the south. Evan and William were taken prisoner, later joining 22 captive members of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles at Chateau d’Audrieu where the SS commander Standartenfuhrer Kurt Meyer had instructed his fanatical troops, drawn mainly from the ranks of the Hitler Youth,
to “deny quarter to surrendering Allied soldiers”.
THE RIFLES
Evan Hayton’s headstone in Beny-sur-Mere
The DLI Dedication Service and unveiling of a Plaque in Honour
XXX 205 of William Henry Barlow and
Evan Hayton both 6DLI