250390 Pte. William Ernest Morris British Army 9th Regiment Royal Tank Corps from:Greenwich, London (d.10th July 1944) William Morris was my father's older brother. He was 22 years old when he died during the Battle for Hill 112 at Maltot in Normandy, France.
Hill 112 was an unimpressive stretch of country covered with wheat two or three feet high, and with a few wooded copses and several villages on its slopes. From this elevation the entire valleys of the Odon and Orne could be seen, and the Germans said, "He who controls Hill 112 controls
Normandy." Certainly they clung to it desperately, and when they were driven off counter-attacked at once to regain possession. Between 29th June, (when the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions regained the hill), and 23 July, when they were driven from Maltot, the area around Hill 112 changed hands many times and thousands of Allied and German troops were killed or wounded on its bloody slopes. The 43rd Division alone lost more than 2,000 men in the first 36 hours of Operation Jupiter to regain Hill 112.
The losses for 9th RTR on 10th July 1944 were 16 Tanks knocked out, of which 6 were recoverable. There were 65 casualties of which 22 were killed, 34 wounded and 9 POWs.
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