The few: How last of surviving D-Day veterans are heading to Normandy for 80th anniversary but dwindling numbers mean this year is final major milestone for those who fought in 1944
The last surviving D-Day veterans are heading to Normandy for the 80th anniversary commemoration, but dwindling numbers mean this year marks the last major milestone for those who fought in 1944.
King Charles And Queen Camille will be among those attending to commemorate the more than 150,000 British, Canadian and American troops who landed in a combined naval, air and ground assault on Nazi-occupied territory. France on June 6.
But the number of people who will travel to Normandy has decreased as many are now too old to make the journey.
Just over 30 veterans made the ferry trip this year – compared to more than 200 in 2019.
Victor Walker, 98, is among a number of veterans who will not be able to travel to France this year, as he said The Telegraph: ‘Age has finally caught up with me.’
Mr Walker worked aboard a destroyer transporting troops to the coast of France.
He traveled to Normandy for the 65th, 70th and 75th commemorations, but due to his declining health he was unable to make the trip for this anniversary.
D-Day veteran Albert Keir (right), 98, from Bakewell, Derbyshire, watches from the deck of the Brittany Ferries ship Mont St Michel as it sails from the port of Portsmouth in Britain to Ouistreham, in Caen, France speed
Normandy veteran Jimmy Justice waves from the deck of the Brittany Ferries ship Mont St Michel
D-Day veteran Harry Birdsall, 98, from Wakefield, becomes emotional while traveling on ship
Royal Navy Commander Glen Hickson, D-Day veteran Jim Grant, Royal Navy Commodore John Voyce and D-Day veteran Charles Horne, aboard the ship Brittany Ferries
D-Day veteran Richard Aldred (center) salutes from the deck of the ship
Royal Navy Commander Glen Hickson, D-Day veteran Jim Grant and Royal Navy Commodore John Voyce, on board the ship Brittany Ferries
World War II veterans are seen on the deck of the Mont St Michel cross-Channel ferry
The Brittany Ferries ship Mont St Michel passes the Round Tower as it departs from Portsmouth Harbour
Victor Walker, 98, is among a number of veterans who cannot travel to France this year due to his declining health
‘I have been fortunate enough to have visited Normandy several times in recent years that I will never forget. However, this year I cannot make the trip due to mobility and other health issues,” he said.
Mr Walker was 17 when he joined the Royal Navy as a seaman in June 1943.
He joined the crew of HMS Versatile and began his career escorting Arctic convoys – before the ship was transferred to the Solent to escort convoys to Normandy.
This year just 12 veterans of the Battle of Normandy attended afternoon tea at Southwick House, near Portsmouth, compared to 75 five years ago.
Les Underwood, 98, who was a gunner in the Royal Navy, is one of the youngest surviving veterans as he lied about his age to join up.
“All the memories come back,” Underwood said The times. “Guns went everywhere, the men shouted, some got off the landing craft and some even drowned.”
He added: “My father always said men and boys don’t cry, but they do,” he said. “I cried at the thought of the men not coming back.”
Veteran Ken Cooke, 98, said this week’s 80th anniversary commemoration will be the last time he revisits Gold Beach, where he landed as an 18-year-old on June 6, 1944.
Appearing on Antiques Roadshow’s D-Day special this week, Mr Cooke recalled how he stepped onto the beach and went straight into battle.
‘We set out [Gold] Beach. I can’t describe the sound. You can’t describe the sound. It was so horrible,” he said.
D-Day veteran Jim Grant (center) on board the ship today
D-Day veteran Albert Keir (right), 98, from Bakewell, Derbyshire, smiles from the deck
D-Day veteran Jim Kelly, from Sutton Coldfield, looks out over the water
100-year-old D-Day veteran Bernard Morgan from Crewe salutes on board the ship
D-Day veteran Bernard Morgan, now 100, photographed during World War II
D-Day veteran Bernard Morgan (left), 100, from Crewe, salutes as veteran Harry Birdsall, 98, from Wakefield, becomes emotional
D-Day veteran Albert Keir (left), 98, from Bakewell, Derbyshire, and Charlie Horne, 98, wave as they take a group photo
D-Day veteran Harry Birdsall, 98, from Wakefield, looks emotional on the ship
D-Day veteran Arnie Salter, 98, from Warwickshire, on board the Brittany Ferry ship Mont St Michel
D-Day veteran Ronald Hendrey, 98, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, speaks on board the Brittany Ferry ship
Veteran Ken Cooke, 98, (pictured aged 18) said this week’s 80th anniversary commemoration will be the last time he revisits Gold Beach, where he landed as an 18-year-old on June 6, 1944.
“I stepped into six inches of water. There were explosions and whatever, but the only thing I was worried about was my wet socks.”
He added: “There were bodies rolling around in the water. But we didn’t have time to look around or anything. The sergeants and the officers [said] ‘Right guys, get off the beach as quickly as possible. If someone gets hit, don’t stop.”
‘And that’s what we did. We left the beach as quickly as possible.
‘It was the next day that it all became clear what was happening. And while you were eating breakfast, you looked around and said, ‘Where’s blondie? Where’s Harry?” And someone would say, ‘Remember that tank that blew up on the beach? They were standing next to it.”
“That’s when it dawned on me that these bullets coming your way were real.”
Albert Keir, 98, who traveled to Normandy by ship today, toured the maritime area around the beaches before the army landed in the months leading up to D-Day.
On D-Day, Mr. Keir was part of the crew that brought American troops to Utah beach.
“When it was dark at night, the sky would be lit up with all different colors, tracer bullets and other things. And the noise was colossal… And the shooting from the sea above our heads, shooting over the beaches, was very bad. It took some effort to do that.
‘It’s very difficult to get it out of your head. It took some time to kind of get it out of my head,” he said.
