Decades-long war mystery is finally solved
Revelations about the true fate of a SAS hero from Portadown who died in a mission into occupied France in 1944 have brought closure at last for his family. Linda Stewart talks to relatives of Lance Corporal Howard Lutton about the circumstances of his death
MORE than 70 years after the end of World War Two, an elderly man in Australia is still grieving over the loss of his big brother in an SAS mission into occupied France in July 1944.
But thanks to new research uncovered by author and journalist Damien Lewis, Portadown-born Ron Lutton — now aged 86 and living in Queensland — has finally discovered the circumstances surrounding the death of his brother Howard all those years ago.
In November, the Belfast Telegraph revealed the full story behind one of the most daring SAS raids of the war — as uncovered in the book SAS: Band of Brothers — and that story has led to closure for the surviving relatives of one of the team, who came from Northern Ireland.
Lance Corporal Howard Lutton was a member of SABU70, a 12-man team tasked with sabotaging transport routes in northern France to prevent the Panzer division from intercepting Allied troops. The team was parachuted into Northern France time and time again to carry out sabotage missions as part of Operation Gain in the run-up to the D-day landings, only to fall at last into an enemy trap, undergoing torture at the Gestapo’s Parisian headquarters and swept off under cover of darkness to face an illegal firing squad which only a few survived.
The story, as told by journalist Lewis, describes Lutton, from Portadown, as a ‘restless soul’ who had falsified his age in order to sign up for the Royal Ulster Rifles.
For years, his family feared that before his death, he had been tortured by the Gestapo like others in his squad, but it was only when they received a copy of the book in November 2020 that they discovered that he had been the first to die in the ambush, fatally wounded by gunfire.
Relieved to learn the truth, Howard’s brother Ron says: “We were officially told that Howard died of wounds while in hospital — that’s it, nothing more. “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.”
His son Howard — named after the war hero — says he was also relieved to know that Howard wasn’t tortured before his death.
“I would hate to think what Dad would have thought if he was tortured,” he says.
Howard was one of 12 siblings in the Lutton family from Portadown, 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 fleeing Poland. Years later, Ron visited Wesley in Australia and ended up making a life there 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. His niece Danielle says her dad was 10 at the time, the baby of the family, while Howard was 14 years older and had joined the army even before war broke out.
“His birthday was January and when he turned 17 he went in, lied about his age and joined up. He’d tried to join up even earlier, but my granny put a stop to that!” she says.
“Each time he would come home, he would be generous with his gifts and presents. My dad remembers the last visit was different because he left all his belongings behind.
“He’d bought extra things with him and my dad still has some of them, such as the original postcards that were sent to Howard that he kept with him. One had been a photograph of my dad, but this time he left all that at home, so clearly he knew. That’s how they knew he was involved in something that was a lot different from before.”
Ron says: “Howard was always good fun and children loved him, including the kids evacuated from Belfast to the country. I loved it when he was home on leave.”
Recalling that last day of leave, Ron says Howard bought all the kids on his street an ice cream, in those days delivered by bicycle. He also made changes to his will, leaving everything to his mother, Lizzie.
In an ominous portent, when Howard left the family home for the final time, a photo of three of the brothers in army uniform dropped from its place above the fireplace and smashed on the hearth.
Ron says that the family received news that Howard was missing in action, but was later advised incorrectly that he was still alive and injured in hospital, and to keep writing letters to him. In a cruel twist, it took six months of demanding information to discover that Howard was dead.
Ron is still unable to tell the story without breaking down in tears, saying: “I was standing on the top step when my mother answered the door to the postman. She read the telegram, then turned around to look up at me with tears in her eyes.”
It took a long time for any details to filter through, but over the years media reports and books on the SAS mission would sometimes give Howard a brief mention.
Danielle says that her dad kept all the old primary documents about his brother and would sometimes talk to his children about him.
“Sometimes he would go into his little box of treasures. He had an old battered suitcase that he kept all these treasures in — photos and things like that — and occasionally he would get things
‘For years, his family feared that before his death, he had been tortured by the Gestapo, but they discovered the truth in the end’
out of that and show the documents to us. He had the original letters that would have had details of Howard’s death.”
Danielle says that after the telegram came to say Howard was missing in action, the family received a letter from SAS headquarters to say he was alive but injured.
“That’s why it’s so interesting to read Damien’s book — all those dates match up. It explains how the SAS said he still was alive — because they had no idea he had died,” she says.
“That was good for Dad — he had always been confused and a little angry. He carried that little bit of bitterness always, surrounding the details.
“Nobody knew anything for a long while — all they knew was that he was shot by the Gestapo and was in hospital and died of his wounds while in hospital. Dad’s worry was that his brother had been injured and then tortured, whereas the book revealed that he had died first.”
Danielle describes her dad’s reaction on discovering the truth: “He cried and cried. I guess he was filled with pride and relief. He described it as a blessing.”
One of the lighter episodes that emerged was Howard’s part in the Around Britain challenge set by SAS commander Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne as he prepared his troops for deployment in northern France.
Each team was dropped off in a remote area with no money, a list of items they had to beg, borrow or steal, a series of check-in points leading to the final goal and a hunter force of police and Home Guard on their tail.
Lutton’s team SABU-70 set off from East Ayrshire on a 400-mile journey to Chelmsford, reaching their goal ahead of all the other SAS teams. Describing Lutton as “something of a poacher by choice” and a “restless soul”, the book describes how he rigged up asp it to roast two purloined geese in a woodland, only to draw the attention of the local constabulary who tried to arrest the team for poultry rustling. The police came off the worst when the squad tied them up and stole their police car.
Danielle says they laughed at that tale and had asked their dad if howard had taught them how to raid apples from the orchard, but he said no, the kids did that on their own.
The book also reveals that Howard served in India and Palestine prior to the war but had found home duties irksome, spending time in detention due to his high-spirited ways. He found his calling when he volunteered for airborne duties, and was judged ‘a good, average performer’ and to have ‘worked hard’ while training for 1 SAS in April 1944.
The most poignant moment was the description of the doomed landing and Howard’s death. Corporal Serge Vaculik described attempting to escape the gunfire and tripping over his team-mate’s body.
“His eyes were wide open and they looked astonished, as though he could not understand what was happening,” he would recall later.
Howard had jumped with four carrier pigeons strapped around his neck in special tubes designed for the purpose and they were lying close by his body.
Howard’s nephew describes reading that passage for the first time and says: “I imagine Dad would have found reading that very emotional, because I know I did.
“Dad knew Howard was locked up a few times, but only heard a few rumours as to what he’d done. He’d always thought of him as a hero and was happy when he was back home on leave.
“Like Dad, I’ve always thought Howard was a hero and after reading more about him, in my eyes, his legend status grows.
“I loved reading the different stories of all the individuals and how a bunch of men with different life stories came together to work as a great team.
“The best comment I read was that David Stirling sought out recruits that didn’t say “Yes Sir” without thinking — I think we can all learn a lot from that.”
Danielle says the poacher label may have been a bit of a misconception: “We find it funny but have no evidence of that being true. Both Dad and Betty Beggs, Howard’s niece who is in her late 80s and now lives in Melbourne, remember him as great fun, generous and loving.
“Howard is also described as being ‘restless’ and that is obviously true, due to just turning 17 then lying about his age to join the army and getting into a bit of trouble while in the army.
“It is possible that this ‘restlessness’ was due to a sometimes turbulent home life. Like many men who returned from the Somme, my granda, Charles Lutton, struggled and turned to alcohol and the family suffered.”
Danielle says the story of her heroic uncle still holds a resonance for all the family in different parts of the world. He’s even given his name to a four-year-old member of the family, young Noah Howard who lives in his home county of Armagh.
But the biggest impact was on her father and the memories he holds of the brother he admired.
“It was nice to see a dark veil lifted from my dad about the whole event. It just filled in some of those gaps for him,” she says.
‘Like dad, I’ve always thought that Howard was a hero, and after reading more about him, in my eyes his legend grows’