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STV News
5 days ago
- General
- STV News
Veterans attend services in Normandy to mark 81 years since D-Day
Second World War Veterans have gathered in Normandy to mark the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings, ITV News Reporter Chloe Keedy is there Veterans and officials have attended memorial services in Normandy to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings. A remembrance service was held at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, which was attended by the ever-dwindling number of surviving veterans in their late 90s and older, remembering the thousands who died that day. D-Day veteran and ambassador for the British Normandy Memorial, Ken Hay, 99, and Royal Navy D-Day veteran Henry Rice, 99, laid wreaths at the memorial. Mervyn Kersh, 100, a D-Day veteran. / Credit: ITV News Mervyn Kersh was 19 on D-Day. Eight decades on, now 100 years old, his memories of being sent ashore on Gold Beach and towards German gunfire are as vivid as ever. 'In the early hours of the morning, I could see the coastline coming – it suddenly dawned on me what was happening,' he told ITV News. In Bayeux cemetery, among nearly 5,000 graves, there were just a handful of surviving Normandy veterans at Friday's remembrance service. Switchboard operator in the Women's Naval Service during World War Two, Marie Scott. / Credit: ITV News Among them was Marie Scott, who worked as a switchboard operator in the Women's Naval Service. Aged 17, she was posted to Fort Southwick in Hampshire, where she suddenly found herself sending and receiving messages from soldiers on the beaches. 'I could hear everything. Incessant machine gun fire, bombs dropping,' she said. 'I shall never forget the day they stormed the beaches because it's imprinted on my memory.' D-Day veterans Ken Hay, 99 (second left) and Henry Rice, 99 (far right) lay wreaths at the British Normany Memorial in France. / Credit: PA Hundreds of onlookers attended the commemorations across the region, which included parachute jumps, remembrance ceremonies, parades and historical re-enactments. British veterans also attended a service on Thursday in Coleville-Montgomery and visited nearby Sword Beach, where thousands of soldiers landed eight decades ago. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth attended the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, for a service commemorating American troops. A memorial service was held at Bayeux Cathedral on Thursday. / Credit: PA On June 6, 1944, known as D-Day, Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy in Nazi-occupied France and breached Hitler's defences in Western Europe by sending the largest ever fleet of ships, troops, planes and vehicles across the English Channel. A total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself. In the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. An estimated 20,000 French civilians also died. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
ITV News
6 days ago
- General
- ITV News
Veterans attend memorial services in Normandy to mark 81 years since D-Day
Veterans and officials have attended memorial services in Normandy to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings. A remembrance service was held at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, which was attended by the ever-dwindling number of surviving veterans in their late 90's and older, remembering the thousands who died that day. D-Day veteran and Ambassador for the British Normandy Memorial, Ken Hay, 99, and Royal Navy D-Day veteran Henry Rice, 99, laid wreaths at the memorial. Tens of thousands of onlookers were expected to attend the commemorations across the region, which include parachute jumps, remembrance ceremonies, parades and historical re-enactments. British veterans also attended a service on Thursday in Coleville-Montgomery and visited nearby Sword Beach, where thousands of soldiers landed eight decades ago. US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, attended the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France for a service commemorating American troops. On June 6, 1944, known as D-Day, Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy in Nazi-occupied France and breached Hitler's defences in Western Europe by sending the largest ever fleet of ships, troops, planes and vehicles across the English Channel. A total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself. In the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. An estimated 20,000 French civilians also died.
Daily Mirror
08-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
Vladimir Putin asked brutal question by 99-year-old World War II Veteran
Henry Rice served in World War II but he is now scared we are heading for a repeat of history A war veteran whose ship was missed by a torpedo by feet just days before VE Day says he is 'frightened' as he can see a World War erupting once again. Vladimir Putin asked brutal question by 99-year-old World War II Veteran, 99, from Cranleigh in Surrey, was a Royal Navy signalman who very nearly didn't see VE Day. He was on lookout patrol on HMS Eastway two weeks before Germany surrendered, when he spotted the wake of a Torpedo heading towards them in the Bristol Channel. Luckily their bow of the ship was flat bottomed and they survived unscathed. Nothing much shakes the veteran after all his wartime exploits, but he told The Mirror: 'I'm frightened. It could happen again. 'What really worries me is in our living times, we've had these wars, we've had thousands of people killed. Mr Putin lost millions of people. What does he want? Haven't they learnt their lesson from this? 'I am lucky because of my age, I am not going to live long enough to see any future problem with the world but my sons and grandsons - as with every other family in the world - are going to grow up and possibly at the age of 18, 19 and 20, get called up and we will go through this once again. 'Please, won't somebody really learn? Somebody has got to learn. I can remember the war years, I don't want them, they frighten me. 'I can't see it not what worries me, frightens me. 'In living memory we have been through this, surely someone must learn from this?' In June 2023, Henry was presented with the Legion of Honour by President Emmanuel Macron, France's highest decoration. Henry from Guildford, Surrey, volunteered to serve with the Royal Navy on his 17th birthday and got his papers within six months. On his third day of his training he was in the classroom learning about anchors and cables. 'I was in there half an hour when the door opened and a naval officer walked in said the magic words '12 volunteers' please. Nobody moved obviously. 'He then indicated you six, you six. He said at midday there's a lorry outside 'get on it'. The next day I found myself in Liverpool on a boat to the Isle of Man, where for three months I did a training course on semaphore and lights morse. 'I can still remember it now. I can do 'I love you'. They were very slow flashes at the beginning but as the time went on I realised you ignored some of the words and only used the big ones.' VE Day: 80th Anniversary Magazine Specials To commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, we bring you two special special collector's magazines that look back at events that led to the end of World War II in Europe and marked a new era. In the VE Day 80: Anniversary Collector's Edition we share photographs from the street parties that were held all over Britain, while esteemed author and journalist Paul Routledge paints a picture of how the day was bittersweet, mixed with jubilation and hope for the future, as well as sadness and regret for the past. Routledge also recounts the key events of the Second World War, including Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and Pearl Harbour. The magazine costs £9.99. Also available is World War Two - A History in 50 Photographs, a definitive pictorial account of the war. Carefully chosen from hundreds of thousands of images, this commemorative magazine shares 50 exceptional photographs - including many rarely seen shots - that capture the devastating moments, horror, hope and eventual triumph of World War Two. The magazine costs £6.99. You can buy your copies here! Henry says he had a 'lucky' war: 'I only had two close calls. We had a problem in the Mediterranean with aircraft and coming up the British Channel at the end of the war. 'I saw HMS Bulldog, a famous destroyer, with a big black flag flying. That big black flag said; 'I'm in contact with enemy submarine.' 'Then I saw a white plume of water coming towards us and realised it was a torpedo. It went under the bows and missed us by feet and that was the end of my war. 'I was dozing merrily I suppose and I never did report this plume of water a few feet away, that went straight under our bows. That submarine was sunk by HMS Bulldog. The secret may have been we were basically flat bottomed. ' Henry said their close call in Bristol, everyone on board HMS Eastway was on high alert as they headed for Newcastle, arriving the day before VE Day. He heard the news Germany had surrendered when a booming voice came over the ship's loud speaker: 'Do you hear there? Do you hear there? Germany has surrendered.' 'I just carried on as normal. I was a signalman and all my duties were carried out on the bridge with a pair of binoculars scanning the horizon. It does bother me a tiny bit now because I've tried to contact anyone who was crew then, because I never really met them. 'When we got into Newcastle there was a flurry of activity with members of the crew putting on their best dress but the order came 'no shore leave'. 'I stood on the bridge in the docks and could only see a few people being happy. I never viewed the streets, people laughing, kissing and dancing.' They were given cold weather gear and they set sail, ending up in Singapore where they arrived in time to hear the Japanese had surrendered too. Eventually Henry boarded the HMS Formidable and arrived back in Portsmouth in October 1946. He worked on liners before joining the fire brigade where he did 26 and a half years. 'I went on to have a fantastic life. I got married, had two sons, three grandsons and five great grandsons. The Royal Navy made me a man, made me proud of myself and proud of the Royal Navy. I feel grateful for the Royal Navy and the war for making me what I am today. I am comfortable and happy and confident and I am not a hero. I just did the job just like the rest of the crew. I was lucky some of the guys I knew were torpedoed.'
The Independent
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Veterans join countdown to VE Day anniversary with full-size Spitfire replica
Veterans joined an armed forces charity as it launched a countdown to the 80th anniversary of VE Day with a full-size Spitfire replica outside the Royal Albert Hall. VE Day, short for Victory in Europe Day, is celebrated every year on May 8 to mark the day the Allies formally accepted Germany's surrender in 1945. This year's landmark anniversary will be celebrated on the Royal Albert Hall stage with personal accounts of the Second World War and performances from around 100 musicians. With 80 days to go, armed forces charity SSAFA launched a countdown to the event, with 100-year-old Royal Navy Wren Ruth Barnwell, from London, and 98-year-old Normandy veteran Henry Rice, from Surrey, posing alongside a full-size Spitfire replica outside the famous venue. They were joined by 87-year-old Doreen Simson, from Sussex, who was evacuated from her home in White City, west London, at the age of four and separated from her brother when they arrived in Wales, where she was taken in by a lady called Mrs Sharpe. 'Thinking about my evacuation sometimes brings tears to my eyes, but as I wrote on Mrs Sharpe's funeral flowers, if it hadn't been for the war I wouldn't have had a second family,' she said. Also at the launch was Harry Clark, who was serving with the 47 Regiment Royal Artillery when he won the second series of the BBC's The Traitors. The May 8 concert will include performances by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and The RAF Squadronaires, part of the Central Band of the Royal Air Force. Lady Walmsley, national vice chairwoman at SSAFA, said: 'Each anniversary of VE Day serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made by the armed forces to ensure our safety and freedom. 'Eighty years on, there are few who will remember VE Day first hand. 'This makes it even more important to celebrate veterans of the Second World War, publicly recognising the significance of what they achieved.'
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Veterans join countdown to VE Day anniversary with full-size Spitfire replica
Veterans joined an armed forces charity as it launched a countdown to the 80th anniversary of VE Day with a full-size Spitfire replica outside the Royal Albert Hall. VE Day, short for Victory in Europe Day, is celebrated every year on May 8 to mark the day the Allies formally accepted Germany's surrender in 1945. This year's landmark anniversary will be celebrated on the Royal Albert Hall stage with personal accounts of the Second World War and performances from around 100 musicians. With 80 days to go, armed forces charity SSAFA launched a countdown to the event, with 100-year-old Royal Navy Wren Ruth Barnwell, from London, and 98-year-old Normandy veteran Henry Rice, from Surrey, posing alongside a full-size Spitfire replica outside the famous venue. They were joined by 87-year-old Doreen Simson, from Sussex, who was evacuated from her home in White City, west London, at the age of four and separated from her brother when they arrived in Wales, where she was taken in by a lady called Mrs Sharpe. 'Thinking about my evacuation sometimes brings tears to my eyes, but as I wrote on Mrs Sharpe's funeral flowers, if it hadn't been for the war I wouldn't have had a second family,' she said. Also at the launch was Harry Clark, who was serving with the 47 Regiment Royal Artillery when he won the second series of the BBC's The Traitors. The May 8 concert will include performances by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and The RAF Squadronaires, part of the Central Band of the Royal Air Force. Lady Walmsley, national vice chairwoman at SSAFA, said: 'Each anniversary of VE Day serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made by the armed forces to ensure our safety and freedom. 'Eighty years on, there are few who will remember VE Day first hand. 'This makes it even more important to celebrate veterans of the Second World War, publicly recognising the significance of what they achieved.'
