Brave D-Day veterans were thanked for “saving the world” 80 years ago during the bloodiest battle in history.
On the anniversary of D-Day, the King and Queen arrived at the British Normandy Memorial on Thursday to stand side-by-side with the heroes.
For many of the 41 ageing veterans who crossed the English Channel, it will be the final time. After arriving King Charles immediately saluted the D-Day heroes who he said “did not flinch” when faced with the “supreme test”.
The veterans, the eldest having turned 103 the day before, struggled to their feet, some leaving their wheelchairs to show him their respect.
King Charles III speaks with veteran Peter Newton during the function (PA)But it was their stories that needed the respect and their stories that left the royals wiping away tears as they heard how the Allied armies had saved civilians from a life of “horror and terror”.
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The 2,000 who had attended the service of commemoration gave Arthur Oborne, 100, a standing ovation after hearing his horrifying experience. He bravely took centre stage at the Normandy memorial in France and had everyone in floods of tears.
The monarch wipes a tear from his eye at the service at the British Normandy Memorial (PA)With his voice trembling with age Arthur, 100, from Portishead in Somerset, told how his friend ‘Gummy’ had saved his life. He told how he’d landed at Gold Beach just 500 yards away from where everyone was sitting.
But back then, the beautiful surroundings of today, were hell. The sand was covered in blood and the sky black with planes and bombs.
Arthur survived the D-Day landings but three days later he was shot in the lung by a sniper and still has part of the bullet in his lung to this day.
Carrying a stick and clutching a white rose given to him by a French child he told how “not many people can say they survived a sniper shooting them in the chest”. But he said thanks to his “good friend” Walter Gummison, known as “Gummy” to the lads.
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg were present at the ceremony (AFP via Getty Images)“He drove me to a field hospital saving my life. The next day my unit was ambushed, shredded and every man was killed. I never saw Gummy again, that day I lost 27 comrades.
“It is all because of Gummy’s quick thinking and desire to help those around him that I can stand before you today. I wish I could tell him I have never taken his sacrifice for granted. And will always remember him as our friend. So Gummy, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
He later passed on his white rose to Camilla, as a mark of respect to the royal. The veterans sat in front of the King, some with their knees covered with red blankets for warmth, as they received thanks from the PM and French President Macron.
Some were having a private battle with their grief, fighting to keep back the tears and one with his head in his hands from the sheer effort not to cry.
King Charles III, President of France, Emmanuel Macron, Queen Camilla and Brigitte Macron are pictured (PA)The King, wearing his Colonel in Chief of the parachute regiment, told them: “As we stand alongside their remaining friends and comrades on this hallowed ground, let us affirm that we will strive to live by their example.
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“Let us pray such sacrifice need never be made again; and let us commit to carrying forward their resounding message of courage and resilience in the pursuit of freedom…. Our gratitude is unfailing and our admiration eternal.”
The King described D-Day as “The Supreme Test” adding: “How fortunate we were, and the entire free World, that a generation of men and women in the United Kingdom and other Allied nations did not flinch when the moment came to face that test.
“We recall the lesson that comes to us, again and again, across the decades: free Nations must stand together to oppose tyranny. As the years pass, the veterans of the Normandy campaign become ever-fewer in number. Over the past 40 years, I have had the great privilege of attending seven D-Day commemorations in Normandy and meeting so many distinguished veterans...But our obligation to remember them, what they stood for and what they achieved for us all can never diminish."
Veteran Victor Walker becomes emotional during a service of remembrance (PA)Joe Mines, 99, from Hornchurch served with the second battalion Hertfordshire regiment. His story was read out as he listened from his wheelchair nearby.
“I’ve never been back here in 80 years. I’ve often thought, what do I go back for? After all the terrible things I’ve seen. Like a picture book up there, I can visualise everything. I landed on June 6th 1944 at a place called Ver-sur-Mer. The Germans pulled back so it allowed us to clear the mines on the beaches.
“That was the first job I got, clearing mines. All over the place they were. Joe Mines, clearing mines. One of our fellas trod on one and blew his leg off.
“The whole leg went. War is brutal. Back when I signed up I met a fella on the train. I went to Normandy with him but he got killed within about an hour of landing here. He was only young.
“I was 19 when I landed but I was still a boy. I don’t get what people say. I wasn’t a man, I was a boy. And I didn’t have any idea of war and killing. I was lucky. Yeah, I had lots and lots of luck. So why would I come back?
“Well this is the last and only opportunity for me. The last there will ever be and it’s because of the lads. I want to pay my respects to those who didn’t make it. May they rest in peace.”
Ron Hendrey, 98, able seaman on HMS Ulster, from Clacton landed at 5.30am. He said: "I will never forget the captain’s words. You are about to go into France to begin the liberation of Europe. I want you to give one hundred and one per cent of your efforts in the next 24 hours. Do your best for everyone you serve. Take care. I wish you all the best.’
“We were terrified. I’ve never heard a ship go so quiet. It just went silent, because we were all thinking the same thing. ‘Is this my last day on Earth?’" He recalled giving lads on a passing landing craft the thumbs up.
“I think now, how many of them lived? I remember my first body, a U.S. airman, floating, fully clothed, he looked so damn smart. We wanted to pull his body from the water, but the bridge wouldn’t have it. It still makes me emotional, all that loss. See, I try to forget D-Day, but I can’t. And when I come here, especially today, the 6th of June, I have one purpose. It is to think of the boys.
“I’ve had 80 years on this Earth since that day. My friends have remained under the Earth for that time. And it is so important to me that we share the same Earth once more. “
Queen Camilla speaks with veteran Arthur Oborne during the lunch (Getty Images)The King wiped away a tear again as he heard how many French civilians had lost their lives with one woman recalling how she was a teenager when the invasion happened.
“The Allied soldiers saved me from a world of horror and terror and gifted me a future filled with hope,” she said. As the ceremony came to a close, the Red Arrows flew over the heads of British D-Day veterans.
The planes left behind their iconic red white and blue trails - aptly hovering above the ageing heroes. After the ceremony it was as if the joy was allowed to return with veterans laughing and joking with their King and Queen.
Ken Haye, 98, who served with the Dorset regiment and was captured by the German’s three months later, even kissed the Queen’s hand.
A former officer in the Women’s Royal Naval Service who helped draw D-Day maps has been awarded France’s highest honour by President Macron.
Christian Lamb, 103, from Battersea, South London, was given the Légion d’honneur in Ver-sur-Mer, Normandy. She said: “I’m just amazed, really.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer said the UK national commemorative event was “moving and powerful”. There were several ceremonies to pay respects to those who died from our allies including the US, Canada and France.
President Biden told 200 surviving US veterans: “What the allies did here 80 years ago, far surpassed anything we could have done on our own. Together, we won the war. The men who fought here became heroes - given an audacious mission, knowing the probability of dying was real,” he said.
“But they did it anyway, knowing without a doubt there are things worth fighting and dying for. Freedom, worth it. Democracy worth it. America worth it. Then, now and always.” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, told veterans at Colleville-sur-Mer they had “saved the world”.
Meanwhile, US Navy veteran Robert “Al” Persichitti, 102, died as he sailed to France to mark the D-Day anniversary. New Yorker Al was airlifted to a hospital in Germany on May 30 after a medical emergency. He saw the raising of the US flag at Iwo Jima in 1945.
At the international ceremony President Zelensky was introduced to veterans and one from the US turned round and shook his hand again when he was told it was Ukraine ’s leader.
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