DOWNTON Wilfred

Appears on the Army casualties list for Worcestershire.

Wilfred Downton was born on 5th May 1918. He entered Foster House, Old Swinford Hospital on 16th June 1925.

Military records show that Gunner Wilfred Downton appears to have been killed, with a Sergeant and another Gunner from 122nd Regiment, in Burma in a plane crash caused by enemy action. They were reported missing on 8th August 1944. The Regiment was at Shillong, India for the whole of August 1944.

Source for additional information: Old Foleyans Remembered Casualties of WW II published by the Old Foleyans Association, October 1996.

The following information has been researched and transcribed by The Black Country Society:
Wilfred Downton was born in 1918 and was the son of Joseph and Sarah Downton. He attended Old Swinford Hospital from 1925 and left in 1933 after considerable success in a variety of sports. He enlisted in the Royal Artillery and joined the 402 (Royal Warwickshire) Battery. In 1943 this unit sailed for India where it was converted into the 122 Light Anti-Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment. They were stationed first at Kumbhargaon under the command of the 36th Indian Division and then moved in May 1944 to the Burma front at Shillong on the Ledo Road. This was an essential route for the Allied war effort against the Japanese, but the location was highly dangerous. Gunner Wilfred Downton appears to have been killed on the 7th August when the aircraft he was travelling in was brought down by enemy fire.