COPLEY, David Flower


5774272, Lance Corporal, David Flower COPLEY
Aged 19


7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
Killed in Action on Tuesday, 11th June 1940

David Flower COPLEY was born in 1920 in Docking (DOCKING Q4-1920 4B:460), son of Francis Leslie and Florence COPLEY (née LEWIS). of King's Lynn.

David was a member of the 3rd Bury St.Edmunds Scout Troop (Culford School) In the 1939 register, at Hall Farm, Docking, were his father [22-4-1888] farm manager; his mother [29-9-1887] and brother Robert G. [17-10-1927] There are two closed records.


The Norfolk Regiment became the Royal Norfolk Regiment on the occasion of the King George V's Silver Jubilee (and their 250th anniversary) on 3rd June 1935.

The evacuation of the BEF at Dunkirk had left them in France, trapped just east of Dieppe.. The 7th Royal Norfolks suffered heavy casualties when the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was surrounded and had no choice but to surrender, on 12 June 1940, with only 31 members of the battalion managing to return to Britain.

The town of St. Valery was later awarded the Croix de Guerre in recognition of it's heroic resistance. The exact location of David's grave has been lost, hence his name on the special memorial in the cemetery.

The Bury Free Press of 31st August 1940 reported :-
OLD CULFORDIAN'S DEATH.

Lance Corporal David Flower Copley, 7th Bn., The Norfolk Regiment, is reported killed in action at St. Valery in June. A regimental comrade, who recently returned to England, has reported that Copley had been given a message to deliver and was killed some ten minutes later, while he was carrying out his orders. He is an Old Boy of Culford School and Dr. Skinner describes him as the perfect young soldier -fit, keen, self-reliant, eager; and his attachment to Culford was obviously warm. He was there from 1931 to 1937 and was a member of the first XI, Cricket, of the 2nd Hockey XI and the 2nd Rugger XV. He was a most promising young sportsman and an excellent fellow "all round". He died as all who knew him would expect -doing his duty.







David Copley is buried in St Valery-en-Caux Franco British Cemetery,France Spec.Mem. D56

click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details


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