Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Temporary Captain

Awarded on:

September 9th, 1942

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Temporary Major

Unit:

10th Parachute Battalion, 4th Parachute Brigade, 1st Airborne Division, British Army

Awarded on:

September 20th, 1945

Awarded for:

Operation Market Garden

Citation:
"At ARNHEM on 19th September 1944, during hard fighting in which his Commanding Officer was wounded and the Battalion Second-in-Command missing, Major WARR took over command. The next day, after heavy casualties, he personally led the depleted Battalion in a bayonet charge through strongly held woodland to open a way for the remnants of the Brigade into the Divisional perimeter. With his Battalion now about 50 strong he was then ordered to take and hold some houses in OOSTERBEEK on the critical North Eastern edge of the Divisional perimeter. He led the attack on each house in turn himself, and in stiff hand to hand fighting in which he was wounded in the face, drove the enemy out. During these attacks he surprised and captured intact a Mk IV tank, finding the crew outside of it and killing or wounding them all with his sten gun.
During the night 20th / 21st September he encouraged and grimly drove exhausted men in defensive preparations so that on the morning of 21st September he was able to meet and drive off strong attacks by tanks, self-propelled guns and infantry, with mortar and machine gun support during which he moved fearlessly from house to house and kept the men constantly inspired by his own magnificent example.
That afternoon a still stronger attack overran the Battalion position. Major Warr collected a handful of men and savagely counter-attacked, driving out the enemy and re-establishing the 20 men, who were now left out of the Battalion, in the same houses.
With his little band of weary men, some of them wounded, he held the position against repeated attack and continuous fire at close range, with neither food nor water, often cut off and with ammunition almost exhausted, until in the rush attack during the night 21st / 22nd September he was severely wounded and fell into the hands of the enemy.