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Major Jeffrey Charles Beadle

MBE MC RM

An ordinary man who did extraordinary things when called to do so

This website is a project by Jon Gooding and Steve Woodward .
It documents the recordings that we were honoured and privileged to have had with our father-in-law Jeff Beadle, and the amazing life he had.
We have over seven hours of material that we are still editing and new videos will be added in time.

We hope that the website will also include memories and photos of Jeff from his family, many friends, and comrades.

Video Library

Italy 1943 -1944


The invasion of Sicily, was the first part of the ambitious plan to invade Italy. It was a massive logistical effort, second only to the D-Day landings. The plan included two armies, the US Seventh, and the British Eighth Army. The Germans, under the command of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, used the mountainous terrain of both Sicily and Italy to make life as difficult as possible for the two armies. Hitler had ordered that Sicily be kept at all costs. However, Keselring soon realised that this was not viable if the Germans wanted to protect their valuable weapons and equipment. In August, 1943, they withdrew 40,000 troops and 60,000 Italin troops back across the Straits of Messina to the Italian mainland.

Jeff goes into combat for the first time at Pachino in Sicily