Guardsman George Lascelles Sloan of Belfast died on 3rd August 1944 as 3rd Battalion, Irish Guards fought near St. Charles de Percy during Operation BLUECOAT.
Guardsman
2724138
Guardsman George Lascelles Sloan (2724138) served in 3rd Battalion, Irish Guards during the Second World War. He was the son of William J. Sloan and Bessie Sloan of 16 Isthmus Street, Belfast.
Guardsman Sloan died on 3rd August 1944 aged 19 years old while serving as part of Operation BLUECOAT. On 3rd August 1944, 3rd Battalion, Irish Guards received instructions to capture the French village of Montchamp. Contrary to the intelligence received, the village was a strong enemy point.
No. 1 Company led the battalion on the road between St. Charles de Percy and Montchamp. About a kilometre east of St. Charles de Percy, German machine gunners halted progress. No. 1 Company backed up by two troops of tanks overcame the opposition allowing No. 4 Company and their supporting troop of tanks to pass through with slight losses. Around 400 metres further east, a third company and supporting troop of tanks attempted to take the village of Courteil. They met strong resistance and sustained greater losses. In total nine officers died and eighteen were wounded.
Guardsman Sloan’s grave is in Section IX, Row G, Grave 1 of St. Charles de Percy War Cemetery, France. His headstone bears the inscription:
Greater love hath no man than this.