Family’s relief as fate of SAS hero who died in WWII is revealed
Fears Portadown soldier suffered at hands of Gestapo finally laid to rest
THE mystery of how a SAS hero from Co Armagh died in a mission in France during World War Two has finally been solved — to the relief of his brother.
Lance Corporal Howard Lutton from Portadown was a member of SABU-70, a 12-man team tasked with sabotaging transport routes in northern France to prevent a Nazi panzer division intercepting Allied troops.
Last November the Belfast Telegraph revealed the story behind the daring special forces raid as detailed in the book SAS: Band Of Brothers by author and journalist Damien Lewis.
It has led to closure for Howard’s brother Ron Lutton (86), who lives in Queensland in Australia.
The team was parachuted into northern France to carry out harassing activities as part of Operation Gain in the run-up to D-day, only to eventually fall into an enemy trap.
They were subsequently tortured at Gestapo headquarters in Paris and taken under cover of darkness to face a firing squad.
For years Howard’s family feared that he had been tortured by the notorious Nazi secret police like others in his squad.
But it was only when they received a copy of the book that they discovered he had been the first to die from gunshots in the German ambush on the team.
Ron told the Belfast Telegraph that it was a “huge relief” to finally learn the full circumstances of his brother’s death.
“We were officially told that Howard died of wounds while in hospital. That’s it, nothing more,” he said.
“I’ve always worried that the Gestapo may have tortured an already injured man.
“It’s a huge relief to finally know that he died earlier.”
Ron’s son Howard, named after the war hero, said he was also relieved to learn that his uncle wasn’t tortured.
“I would hate to think what Dad would have thought if he was tortured,” he added.
Howard was one of 12 siblings in the Lutton family, including three girls and two boys who died in infancy.
William, George, Andrew and Howard would fight in WW2, but Sammy was unable to enlist due to asthma.
In 1939 their brother Wesley had left for Australia to train as a Methodist missionary and ended up teaching English to Jews who fled Poland.
Years later Ron visited Wesley and ended up making a life Down Under after meeting his wife-to-be Margaret.
The last time the family saw Howard was when he was home on leave ahead of his mission to France.
Just 17 when he enlisted, he had lied about his age in order to serve.
The family initially received news that Howard was missing in action.
They were later advised incorrectly that he was still alive and injured in hospital, and to keep writing letters to him.
It took six months of demanding information to finally discover that he was dead.
More than 70 years since the end of the war, the family say Howard still holds a special resonance for all of them.
‘I’ve always worried that the Gestapo may have tortured an already injured man’