John Butler joined the KRRC during the Second World War and following initial training volunteered for service with the 7th Battalion the Parachute Regiment (Light Infantry). Formed around a core element from the 10th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, in the main the 7th Battalion was composed of volunteers from Light Infantry and Rifle Regiments. During the early hours of D-Day (6 June 1944) the battalion landed in Normandy and following desperate fighting managed to stop German Panzer reinforcements crossing the River Orne to destroy Allied troops on the Normandy beaches. John Butler returned to the Regiment in 1945 and thereafter served world-wide, not only with the KRRC/Green Jackets but on attachments to the Kings African Rifles and the Brigade of Gurkhas. The photograph shows him in 1963 when he was serving in the Far East as the Brigade Serjeant Major of 99 Gurkha Infantry Brigade.
