WO2 Nathaniel Turton

WO2 Nathaniel Turton, Grenadier Guards

Copyright Mrs Katharina Miller

WO2 Nathaniel Turton, Grenadier Guards

Copyright Mrs Katharina Miller

Grenadier Guards

By Katharina Miller

My grandfather Nathaniel Turton, Warrant Officer 2nd class (WO2), Grenadier Guards, was one of 121 fatalities caused by the V1 attack on the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, on June 18th, 1944.

My own Dad was only 16 at the time. He had just left a children's home in Brimingham and had started work in a factory when he heard the news of his father's death.

Though they were not close, I feel that this tragic event affected him deeply.

I often wonder how the Bishop of Maidstone coped in the years after, and the guilt he may have felt for being left unharmed when half of his congregation perished in the attack on the Chapel (it must have been terrible for him).

My father later married a German girl (my Mum) which goes to show the futility of war. So many lives lost because of a minority who wished to impose their will on others, causing conflict after conflict.

My Dad has now sadly passed away but his memory, and the memory of my grandfather, continue to live on.

For details of the V1 attack on the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, on 18 June 1944, see Bomb Incidents page.