Latest news with #GeoffRoberts
Daily Mirror
04-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
Heartbreaking moment WW2 veteran salutes graves of 'friends who didn't come back'
Geoff Roberts, 99, is one of the last few survivors of the Battle of Arnhem, which saw 1,754 Allied sailors and airmen killed, and has returned to his friend's graves every year for 60 years The daughters of a heroic World War II veteran soldier have shared a tearful plea after helping their dad place a cross on the graves of his two friends ahead of VE Day. 'Tell every child what my dad did and about his friends who didn't come back,' the daughters said. Geoff Roberts, 99, who saw unbearable horrors during World War II, tried to steady himself before he saluted his fallen comrades who died as he fought alongside them in the trenches at Arnhem. As he leaves the cemetery, with a tear streaming down his face, he points behind him and says: 'The heroes are here'. The dad-of-two is supported by daughters Claire Welburn, 58 and Nicola Roberts, 61, during the trip to the Airborne Cemetery Oosterbeek, in the Netherlands. He is one of the few remaining survivors of the disastrous Battle of Arnhem which saw 1,754 Allied sailors and airmen killed in September 1944. For 60 years Geoff has loyally returned to his pals' graves but every year it is getting harder. The veteran has to make a herculean effort to leave his wheelchair behind and walk the 20 yards to the graves of Lance Corporal Leonard Plummer, 24, and 25-year-old Private Robert Brown. He touches each grave for support and in love, then steps back five times, before placing his walking stick in his left hand and saluting each man individually. 'I was the lucky one I survived. That's where I'm going to die when I pop my clogs,' he adds, pointing behind him at his friends' graves. Claire explains: 'We knew he'd lost friends there but he only told us two years ago how they died. "He was in a trench next to them and he could hear them firing and he could then hear one of the guns had gone quiet and Brown shouted 'Plummer's had it!' Two minutes later Brown's gun stopped and dad was the only one left in the trench. He left his pack behind and ran, that always stays with me because his life was in that bag. " As Geoff heads for the London cab that brought him there with the Taxi Charity for military veterans, he is surrounded by Dutch families wanting to thank him for his service and shake his hand. His daughters have to carry cream round with them as their dad's hands are black with bruises. This week in the UK the country is being urged to remember all those who fought for freedom 80 years ago, just as Geoff did. Our VE Day, the end of the war in Europe, remembrance events begin with a magnificent military procession and a Red Arrows fly past over Buckingham Palace, where the King will then host a Tea Party for 30 veterans aged between 98 and 104. The Armed Forces of NATO nations will join the United Kingdom 's VE Day 80 procession in central London on Monday. Geoff was in the prisoner of war camp in Czechoslovakia on VE Day after being captured by the Germans on September 26 1944, nine days after landing in Arnhem. He was told by the Nazis: 'For you, the war is over." He had been just 19, when he was a private in the 7th Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers, and part of a crack team sent to help liberate the Netherlands, flown in by glider, towed by the RAF. They found themselves at the gruesome heart of the bloodiest battle of World War II, where things got so desperate they were ordered to take part in a suicidal bayonet charge. There were 765 men from the battalion dropped on to the Continent. By the end of the Battle of Arnhem, 112 were dead, 76 evacuated back to Britain and 577, including Geoff, reported missing. He had been put to work down the mines until suddenly all the machines stopped and they were marched back to the camp from the coal face. 'And when he got back to camp, all the German guards had left, they'd all when he realised the war was over," Claire said. The Russian forces were the first to reach the camp and 'weren't interested', telling them to 'wait for the Americans'. Geoff and two others were not prepared to wait and decided to leave and try and find their way home. 'They 'liberated' some bicycles and the word liberated is really important to Dad,' Clare laughs. Geoff ended up getting picked up by some Americans in the end and then got flown back to France then the UK. On his return home to Bishop's Stortford he found happiness and stability, only for his wife to then die, leaving him to look after two young daughters. His daughters talked to The Mirror about their father and how he brought them up with compassion and care. Claire can't hold back the tears as she explains: "He's just my hero.' It's hardly surprising she feels that way, the nation should too, as Geoff, who turns 100 next month, is an incredible man. Geoff always tells his family 'I'm home' when he arrives back in the Netherlands to pay his respects. He has left precise instructions that his remains be buried in a small box, placed behind the two headstones of his lost friends. Nicola said: 'Our mum died in 1972, so I would have been eight, Claire would have been five. It wasn't until we were a little bit older when we started going to Arnhem with him, we got to see what he'd done. He'd joined the Arnhem Fellowship and they put on a coach trip in September so dad went and obviously didn't have anyone to look after us so we went too and it became our summer holiday.' Clare jokes: 'Most kids go to Majorca and we were at Arnhem!' Nicola says over the years more details have slowly emerged about his ordeal during World War II. 'One thing that sticks in my mind, when he was fighting at the White House,' which was a hotel in Oosterbeek. 'They were out of ammunition and the Germans were approaching and they were told to fix bayonets and charge. To do that at 19! That's younger than my son! I think that was the last bayonet charge because they didn't really do that in the Second World War, that was a First World War thing, but their officer in charge was a First World War man and so he just sort of resorted back to that.' 'Another horrifying tale he opened up about was how he had to hide during the day and then go out and night to bring in the wounded and dead, taking the dressings off those they'd lost to reuse. He was a stretcher bearer. I remember him telling me that when we went back to the White House having a coffee and dad just sat there and suddenly he pointed to the far wall at the end of the room and said that room was just full of bodies. 'And all this and he was just a baby aged 19. I can remember him saying he was cold, he was tired, he was hungry, and then he was scared. And when I look at my son at 19, I know he would just want his mum. ' Claire adds: 'It's heartbreaking because they were just all so young, I mean Dad was one of the youngest.' Nicola reflects: 'He's our dad and we've only ever known him as our dad and he's the person that looks after us and cares for us and it's just really hard to marry up those two different images of the same person. " Describing their dad, a grandad of three, Claire said: 'He's just my hero. He's shy, he's self-deprecating and he cares deeply and he loves his family.' Urging the nation to keep the memories of World War II alive, she says: 'I think it's shameful, the way our veterans are treated and how we don't educate our young people. I'd like parents to tell every child what my dad did and what my dad gave. And about his friends that didn't come back.' Claire says coming back to visit his lost friends has been 'his life'. She explained: 'It is so important to him because he lost so many good friends here. He loves coming back, he comes about twice a year, it's all he lives for. ' Geoff is one of only three veterans left who took part in the biggest airborne invasion ever, 60 miles behind enemy lines was called Operation Market Garden, and focused on the capture of three key Nazi-held bridges over the River Rhine, but it ended in heroic failure.
Daily Mirror
02-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
Brits who saved Netherlands from Nazis issue 'fragile peace' warning before big mission
Twenty veterans are heading overseas for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands ahead of VE Day and warn Brits to learn the lessons of war. Heroic veterans heading out to what could be their final mission are warning of a 'fragile peace' as they urge Brits to 'remember all those buried in cemeteries around the world '. Ahead of VE Day, a group of 20 veterans are this weekend joining the Taxi Charity For Military Veterans, to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands. On Saturday the Mirror joins them as they are to be given a police escort and a hero's welcome in the Netherlands, after leaving on an overnight ferry from Harwich on Friday. During the events to mark the end of a five-year occupation of the Netherlands, children will descend on the British veterans with bouquets of flowers to thank those who helped release them from Nazi rule. On May 4 each year, the Netherlands observes a Day of Remembrance, then a national celebration the next day, where the Dutch people express their love to those who saved them from a war and a famine. Among those returning heroes will be Geoff Roberts, who was 19 when thousands around him died. Geoff, who will be 100 in June, was at the Battle of Arnhem in 1944 when British and US troops took part in the biggest airborne invasion ever - an incredible 60 miles behind enemy lines. Two of his best friends are buried there and he has left instructions for his ashes to be buried between their graves. 'As someone who was there, I believe it's more important than ever that we continue to remember. Not for our sake, but for the generations that follow. The cost of freedom was enormous, lives were lost, futures were changed and it should never be taken for granted," he said. 'These anniversaries are a chance to honour those who didn't come home and to remind the world why peace must always be protected.' UK-based Taxi Charity Vice President Dick Godwin said: 'This trip means the world to the veterans. ' On May 5, Dutch Liberation Day, veterans will lead the military parade through Wageningen - where the German surrender was signed. 'Tens of thousands of people will line the streets, clapping, cheering, and thanking the men and women who helped free their country. The applause will be overwhelming. The atmosphere is electric, emotional, and unforgettable - and these veterans deserve every moment of it.' Another of the greatest generation going is veteran Marie Scott, who is 99 in June, from New Malden, who ended up as a teenager with 'the horror of war in my ears' as she received coded messages. The young wren listened to men screaming in agony during the Normandy Landings from a secret base in the tunnels of Fort Southwick in Hampshire, in cliffs overlooking Portsmouth Harbour. The mum-of-two and great gran to three told The Mirror how she joined up aged just 17 and it changed her forever. She recalls listening on her headset: 'First of all I was a little bemused but soon realised I was in the middle of the war. I was with the guys who were landing on the beaches of Normandy. 'Men were dying, they were being shot down by this incessant machine gun-fire, you could hear it. I was distant but yet near, because I could hear it so clearly. You suddenly thought 'this is a war' I really had the war in my ears. And it made me very much aware of what was at stake. I felt horror to begin with but then it hit me I'm there to do a job and better get on with it. 'It was the chaos of war. Men were shouting orders, men were shouting to themselves or to their friends, men were screaming. That was horrifying. It had an immediate impact on me. This is why 80 years on I can recall it now. It will stay with me until the end of my days. In many ways it was a salutary lesson about the horrendous nature of war and war is something that should be avoided at all costs. 'I do worry about it happening again because we have lunatics in charge of the world today, lunatics. We are closer to war than ever and violence continues today. There goes the insanity of war. Trump is a travesty, as is Putin but Putin is far more dangerous and he is playing with Trump and Trump has no idea. I feel we are very close to another war, it is a volatile situation. This peace is fragile, very fragile and we have lunatics in charge. 'The most important thing we can all do is make sure it doesn't happen again... We have to do everything to prolong that peace otherwise it makes a mockery of a war like that, if you learn nothing from that. It's a travesty.' This year Marie, from London, will be spending VE Day at Westminster Abbey for a service with the King and Queen. But 80 years ago the huge crowds in London stopped her from seeing the Royal Family in Buckingham Palace on the balcony. 'My friend very sensibly changed into civvies but I couldn't be bothered and went in uniform which I immediately regretted as soon as I came out of the tube and into the masses," she said. 'The sight of a woman in uniform was a signal for any man to come up and plant kisses on you and some were bearable but others were totally repellent. But the atmosphere was joyous. It was an immense occasion. The war was over, the killing would stop, it was a mixed bag of emotions. ' Robbie Hall, 102, who joined Marie for their trip, lied about her age to become a WAAF when she was just 17. At the time of D-Day she was with Fighter Command but her joy and hope at the news of the invasion was mixed with heartbreak as her fiancé had just been killed when his Lancaster was shot down. Of her concerns about world peace, she said: ' Russia just grabbed the land without provocation and they did that in the Crimea. And if they did that once they can do it twice. Poland is frightened to death it'll be them next. Where will it stop? We walk a very tight line, things have got so much more dangerous these days. You'd only need a couple of nuclear bombs, and that'll be it for the most of us.' One of the oldest poppy sellers in the country, John Dennett, 99, who lives in Merseyside, joined the Royal Navy against his mum's wishes at the age of 17 in 1942. He was awarded the Legion of D'Honneur medal for his valour and given an MBE in the 2023 New Years Honours list. But he sheds a tear as he says that the 'real heroes' died so young. John served as a gunner in the navy and described D-Day as not the worst of his war-time experiences; that title goes to Salerno, Italy when the Nazis were waiting for them and bombs exploded all around him. He said: 'I've had a wonderful life and I am looking forward to celebrating VE Day because of those who died.' He urges Brits to remember what others did to give the nation freedom. 'I don't want to die but I've got to die. My memory is beginning to leave me… I hope we all remember all those lying in cemeteries all round the world. We must remember the heroes who didn't come back. We've got to try and prevent the war. And remember those who got us where we are today. 'These modern nuclear bombs would wipe out everything. You'd get Armageddon. You don't want to be part of that. I've enjoyed the freedom. I'm a lucky one. I've got 80 years of bloody freedom. I am lucky. I've survived. I am one of the survivors.' Another survivor, Jamaican Second World War veteran Gilbert Clarke, also feels lucky, as he had several near misses during the war. He joined the Royal Air Force at 16 after reading newspaper reports of German ships being sighted in the Caribbean. The 98-year-old, who was born in Montego Bay, joined the RAF as a mechanic and was then posted to South Virginia in the United States. Mr Clarke recalled feeling a sense of duty to help stop Hitler. Talking about the journey from the US to the UK with the new recruits, he said: "In the Atlantic, many, many ships joined us and every now and again, the ships were torpedoed." Gilbert, who now lives in London, went on: 'We were in a convoy of many ships moving towards Europe and then boom one goes down, of course you feel the blast. The first one was two miles from America. 'We felt the blast and all ran down below deck, I was scared. We got ourselves together. I suppose we are servicemen and went back on deck to watch what's going on and count how many ships were remaining. We were not the only ones running up and down the deck. ' He says he hopes youngsters in the UK will 'needle' the Government to find more ways to keep the peace. 'The grownups make a mess of it and it's the youngsters who have to clean it up,' he said. Of the threat of war, he added: 'It's getting warmer and warmer because of the threat of war. We are building up to World War III.' He told of several close calls throughout the war including one occasion as he went to the YMCA at Westminster, a few yards from Parliament. 'I was crossing over Westminster bridge and there were the men with canes and top hats. There was an explosion and a building was demolished and a sheet of glass chopped one of their heads off. 'I was just a few yards away. The man hit was wearing a top hat on and was a parliamentarian. In those days man, woman and child - anything could happen to you. I thought one day it could be me.' Gilbert said of VE Day: 'I was relieved the whole thing was over. All the bombs and planes would stop. I do feel lucky. Tried to help rescue people from the rubble. There was always something happening, there was never a peaceful day.' John King, aged 100, served with the Royal Navy during bombardments of both coasts of Italy including landings at Anzio where his ship was sunk. Tragically 160 of John's shipmates were killed and only 52 survived. John said: ' The Taxi Charity is a lifeline for so many of us veterans…They never forget us. The volunteers, especially the London cabbies, giving their time and their hearts to make sure we're cared for. It's more than a charity - it's a family.'
