SD:AB Leader Howard

 is a British Infantry unit and ace. He is added to the 6th Airborne's roster after completing Operation Deadstick with a friend.

Overview
Born December 8, 1912, John Howard came from a working class background in London's West End. A Boy Scout and excellent pupil, Howard was forced to choose work over continuing his education at 14. Six years later, when the brokerage company he worked for went belly up, he enlisted with the British Army and served for six years as part of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. He applied for a commission, as he completed primary school and earned a scholarship in his early teens, but was rejected, with corporal stripes as a consolation prize.

Following his discharge in 1938, he briefly worked as a police officer before re-enlisting with the Army after the war broke out. He quickly became a Company sergeant major and then the Regimental sergeant major. He finally received a commission in 1940, eventually achieving the rank of Captain and command over a company. When his battalion was marked for conversion to airborne operations in 1942, he voluntarily accepted a demotion to 2nd Lieutenant to lead a platoon in the battalion. His subsequent promotions put him in command of D company of the 6th Airborne.

Howard made his mark on June 6, 1944, when his company took part in Operation Deadstick. Excellent piloting skills resulted in 90 men of D company landing practically on top of the Orne bridges they were supposed to secure. Howard's men encountered almost no opposition while seizing the bridges, as the defenders were taken entirely by surprise. The paratroopers repulsed German counter attacks over the course of the day, starting with a minor move by an engineering and Panzergrenadier companies a little over an hour after landing. The attacks intensified when German command realized the bridges were taken intact in advance of the Normandy landings, but by then, Howard's company was relieved by the 7th Parachute Batalion and a detachment of commandos from the 1st SSB, successfully defending against attacks by the 21. Panzer with artillery support. The Company continued to fight for three months in Normandy, before being returned to Bulford for R&R.

Howard himself did not fight on, as a car accident put him out of commission. He was invalided out of the Army in 1946, despite his desire to serve further. Instead, he pursued a career as a civil servant, working for the Ministry of Agriculture. For the rest of his life, he returned to Normandy each year to commemorate the taking of the Pegasus Bridges and even befriended Hans von Luck, a veteran of the 21. Panzer that failed to defend and then assist the Pegasus Bridge (named after 6th Divisions' emblem). Howard died in 1999, after a lifetime of service to the Crown, as a recognized airborne operator, accomplished civil servant, and family man.