Life Story

Lieutenant Herbert Charles Noel Barnewall Radcliff, known as “Paddy,”

was a South African-born ofcer in the British Army’s 10th Battalion, The

Parachute Regiment. Born in 1923, he was the son of John Travers

Radcliff and the Honourable Ivy Esmay Myee Barnewall Radcliff of

Cape Town, South Africa.

Radcliff volunteered for airborne forces and was commissioned into

the British Army. After completing parachute training, he was appointed

Ofcer Commanding the Medium Machine Gun Platoon in the Support

Company of 10th Battalion.

With them, he participated in Operation Market Garden, the ambitious

Allied airborne operation aimed at securing key bridges in the

Netherlands in September 1944. On 19 September 1944, during the

Battle of Arnhem, Lieutenant Radcliff was killed in action at the age of

21. He was initially buried in a eld burial north of the railway crossing

along Wolfhezerweg, Oosterbeek. His remains were later re-interred

at the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery on 24 August 1945.

Radcliff’s sacrice is commemorated as part of the legacy of the British

airborne forces during World War II. His story is preserved by the

Airborne Assault Museum and ParaData, which document the history

and personal accounts of those who served in the airborne units.