Flying Officer John Clifford.

It seems entirely fitting that on this weekend we should honour the memory of Flying Officer John Clifford who is buried here in this cemetery in Reguiny, Brittany.
This area was particularly busy with resistance activity in 1944. Their chief aim was to harass the German support lines to prevent the easy reinforcement of the German beach positions following the D-Day landings. The RAF was also involved in a supporting capacity. John Clifford, a Spitfire pilot, was on just such a mission when his plane clipped a tree top. He crashed and was killed. The local French have, since then, commemorated his sacrifice with this memorial and by naming a nearby street after him. The Union Jack always flies above his grave.