Shropshire soldier in team that captured Nazi SS boss Heinrich Himmler
A soldier from Shropshire was one of a team of five who arrested head of the SS Heinrich Himmler, new research has revealed.
Lance Sergeant William Morris, from Ludlow, was among a small team on a routine patrol that discovered Himmler on the run after the surrender of the German forces at the close of World War Two.
Details of the arrest of Hitler's right-hand man have come to light following some family research by the grandson of a soldier, from Manchester, who discovered the tall tales he heard about his late grandfather were in fact true.
Chris Mannion, a volunteer at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, said his grandfather, Lance Sergeant Patrick Mannion, died before he was born, but was a family hero.
He said: "Lots of stories were handed down about a top Nazi, about him landing on D-Day, about him fighting in Belgium and Holland."
The "top Nazi" was Himmler, who was arrested by British troops in Hamburg on May 21, 1945.
Mr Mannion said he confirmed his grandfather's involvement by tracking down the other four men on patrol with him at the time, to discover identical family stories from the men's descendants that had often been taken with a pinch of salt. William Morris was identified because his was the only name on Himmler's arrest documents.
Others on the same patrol included gunners Micheal Fahy, John Fletcher and George Snee.
The five are said to have come across Himmler by chance on a routine patrol and chased him into shop where he was found hiding under the counter.
Himmler committed suicide with a cyanide pill two days after his arrest.
His death followed that of Hitler and many other top-ranking Nazis about a month earlier when Russian soldiers arrived in Berlin ahead of British and US troops.
