Sergeant Charles Thomas Brackstone (2083005) served in 2nd Wing, The Glider Pilot Regiment, Army Air Corps during the Second World War. Born on 9th October 1920, he was the son of Rupert Brackstone and Lily Ada Lydia Brackstone (née Vaughan) of Dundonald, Co. Down. He was the husband of Winifred Ethine Brackstone of Dundonald, Co. Down.
He enlisted in the British Army in Eastleigh in 1939. He served with the Royal Engineers before training and transferring to The Glider Pilot Regiment.
He died on 17th September 1944 aged 23 years old during the airborne assault as part of Operation Market Garden. As part of No. 6 Flight, C Squadron, he was the Co-Pilot of Hamilcar GAL 319 that left R.A.F. Tarrant Rushton, Dorset, England.
The glider carried a 3-ton Morris lorry towing a 17-pounder anti-tank gun from D Troop, 1st Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery. On landing short of the railway embankment at LZ-Z, the glider overturned killing the Co-Pilot and injuring Pilot Jack Shaw.
Charles Thomas Brackstone’s grave is in Section 3, Row C, Grave 12 of Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery, Gelderland, Netherlands. His headstone bears the inscription:
He gave the greatest gift of all, the gift of his unfinished life.