Sgt Sid Capon

Sergeant Sidney Capon, who has died aged 82, was one of the first to reach the guns of the Merville battery in Normandy on D-Day.

The coastal battery was equipped with four 100mm guns capable of laying down fire on Sword Beach, where the British 3rd Infantry Division was to land.

It was manned by a strong garrison and protected by weapons pits, mines and a thick barbed-wire fence. The 9th Battalion, Parachute Regiment, which was part of 3rd Parachute Brigade, was given the task of destroying the guns before the seaborne invasion began at dawn on June 6.

Shortly before midnight the previous day, the aircraft bearing Capon and his platoon took off. As it approached the coast of France, it came under heavy AA fire. Capon jumped and dropped into a field, he said, "like a sack of coal".

At the rendezvous of the 600 men on the operation, only about 150 arrived. A combination of enemy action, bad weather and ill fortune resulted in half the force coming down in flooded fields around the River Dives. Many drowned.

The depleted battalion advanced about a mile to the perimeter of the battery and took cover. Three gliders that should have crash-landed directly on the battery missed the target. Gaps were blown in the wire and the battalion's CO, Lt-Col Terence Otway, ordered the attack to go in.

Four assault groups led by Major Allen Parry stormed the gun positions. Capon's platoon, originally 32 strong but by then reduced to seven, had the task of destroying Number One gun. He charged over the uneven ground, zig-zagging as he went, in the hope of avoiding the crossfire. There were screams and explosions and shouts of "Mines!"

Capon and his comrades threw grenades down the corridor to the rear of the emplacement and took part in fierce hand-to-hand fighting. Otway sent the success signal 15 minutes before the naval bombardment was due to begin.

Sidney Capon, the youngest of seven children, was born at Mortlake, south-west London, on May 15 1924 and educated at Mortlake School before attending the School of Building, Brixton. He was called up in 1942 and applied to join the RAF, but was turned down because he was colour-blind.

He did his basic training with the King's Royal Rifle Corps and the East Surreys, but the life did not suit him and he volunteered for the Parachute Regiment.

Having received his wings and his red beret he was posted to "C" Company, 9th Battalion the Parachute Regiment, at Bulford, on Salisbury Plain.

At the end of the action at Merville, only about 65 men were still on their feet. Capon moved with the severely weakened battalion to Le Mesnil and then to the Château St Côme; both features were held against repeated enemy attacks.

In July he was severely wounded by a shell and was rushed to a hospital ship which evacuated him to England. He was operated on, but rejoined his battalion at Bulford two months later.

In 1944 he was erroneously called up for the Home Guard. The papers asked him to state his present job, his department and the name of his employer. He replied: "Jumping and hoping. Suicide Department. His Majesty the King."

Capon saw further action in north-west Europe during the battles of the Ardennes and the Rhine Crossing.

In 1946, after a spell in India and Palestine, he retired from the Army having turned down the offer of a commission. He built a house for his family at Mortlake and ran his own building firm; much of his work was for Watneys, the brewers.

As a young man Capon was a gifted footballer, and in retirement he was a keen supporter of Brentford FC. He also enjoyed horse-racing.

In 2005 he was appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur.

Sid Capon died on September 9. His first marriage was dissolved, and his second wife predeceased him. He married thirdly, in 1977, Joan Hobart (née Bond), who survives him with a stepson.