David Walton in Normandy this week

THE secret code was known to just two people – and heralded a moment that would change history.

When Christopher Walton sent his childhood sweetheart Emily a letter that stated “Philip Noads is back in Hospital,” she knew D-Day was happening and her brave boyfriend, a paratrooper, was already in Occupied France.

Christopher lived in Harmood House, Harmood Street, and the family’s next door neighbours were the Noads family.

The Philip Noads referred to in the letter was the brother of Chris’s best friend – and both knew very well that he had died of tuberculosis three years earlier.

It was their pre-arranged coded message for Emily: the battle to liberate Europe was about to begin.

This week, on the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, a tree was planted and a plaque unveiled in his memory at the site of the battle he took part in Normandy.

His son, David told the New Journal: “My father never spoke about the war and I had no idea that he had taken part in the attack on the Merville Battery.

“In around 2003, I saw a documentary about the battle and I casually mentioned it to my dad – that is when he told me all about it. I contacted the producers and they put me in touch with the 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment Reunion Club. Through the club, I was able to take my dad back to Normandy in 2004. During that time, he was reunited with some of his wartime colleagues. Dad stood in a parade to march past the then Prince of Wales.

“By a strange coincidence, he happened to be standing next to his two comrades from the machine gun section. It was an incredible coincidence and an amazing moment of joy. Last year, while on a visit to the Museum at Merville, the director, Pascaline Dagorn kindly offered to dedicate a tree in memory of my dad. Obviously, I was delighted.”

Christopher, who was in the 9th Parachute Battalion, was born in Kentish Town on Christmas Day 1924.

He was the youngest of three Walton sons who would serve their country. His older brother, Nathan, had been a member of the Territorials and in 1939 joined the Royal Artillery. He was injured at Dunkirk but recovered to continue the fight. He was tragically killed in action in 1942.

The middle brother, Robert, also joined the Royal Artillery in 1939 and would serve in North Africa.

He would suffer life changing injuries during a battle that saw his unit attacked from the air.

Christopher signed up aged 17 in 1941 and was part of the Home Guard, before joining the Royal Fusiliers in 1943.

Christopher Walton

After basic training, he was selected as part of the crack Parachute Regiment.

He was part of a machine gun section and was involved in the assault in a gun battery at Merville on the June 6, 1944.

Christopher’s war saw him injured by mortars in July 1944 but after treatment he returned to serve alongside his comrades.

He fought at the River Seine in August and in operations at Bréville, Dozule, Pont L’Eveque and Beuzeville. He returned to the UK with the Battalion in September 1944, and was married to Emily in December that year.

But Christopher’s war was far from over: his unit was sent to the Ardennes for the Battle of the Bulge that winter and then fought in Holland, too.

On March 24, 1945, Christopher took part in Operation Varsity – and he was fortunate to survive: the aircraft he was in was shot down and destroyed.

As the plane fell to pieces, he dropped out of the sky, unconscious but with a parachute strapped to his back. He landed in a wood and hit his head on a railway track. Captured by German troops, he would spend weeks in a prisoner of war camp until it was liberated by the advancing Allies.

After the war, Christopher returned to Camden, working as a driver for the Alfred Dexter firm in Malden Road and later as a chauffeur for funeral directors Levertons.

Christopher died in February 2008.