‘D-Day memories of the horror and sacrifice that brought hope and a future’
Beneath towering chestnut trees with boughs of withering blossom, they sat in rows on white metal chairs around the Cross of Sacrifice.
Behind them, ranks of white Portland headstones bore the names of the friends they had come to remember or marked the spot where unknown soldiers were laid to rest.
Every one of the 4,600 gravestones had a long-stemmed red rose resting up against it – a tribute from an anonymous benefactor to heroes who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
On the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, 330 veterans, aged between 91 and 101, gathered in Bayeux Cemetery with Prince Charles, Camilla and Theresa May .
They were saying a final farewell to fallen comrades – and to ensure that future generations will honour them.
One little lad gave them hope that they will be remembered.
George Sayer, six, had wanted to be at the service with his hero great-uncle, also called George. But great-uncle George died 18 months ago aged 93.
So young George decided to take his place at the ceremony – proudly wearing the Normandy veteran’s beret and medals.
The tribute earned him the privilege of marching alongside the veterans as they made their way to the cemetery.
The boy travelled to France from his home in Chipping Ongar, Essex, with parents Jo, 46, and Adam, 49, and other relatives.
George said: “I’m very proud to be wearing the medals to represent great-uncle George.
“I’m very proud for all the veterans here and the ones who didn’t make it, who fought for us.”
His hero relative was a Royal Navy signalman on a landing craft at Sword Beach on June 6, 1944. He went on to help build the Mulberry harbour at Arromanches.
Little George’s gran, Pat Sayer, said: “We took him [the older George] back to Sword Beach once… I said to him, ‘Look at the sea – how lovely and blue’. He said, ‘All I can see is a red sea with arms and legs floating in it’. He didn’t speak much about the war otherwise.”
Young George got to know another war hero – former Royal Marine Jack Quinn, 95.
Mr Quinn won the Croix de Guerre with silver star for his bravery in the Normandy landings – including setting explosives on underwater defences to allow troops to land.
Young George’s mum Jo said: “George did his great uncle proud… He was named after him and loved him dearly. George knows why we were here today…
"It’s so important that we bring our children up to remember these things. If we don’t, Uncle George will be forgotten.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those who attended the Royal British Legion’s Service of Commemoration in Bayeux Cathedral.
He said: “It was a beautiful service in memory of people who ultimately helped to defeat the scourge of fascism.”
After the service little George and the proud veterans – including the 255 who travelled to France on the RBL cruise ship Boudicca – marched the half mile to Bayeux War Cemetery, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s largest Second World War site in France where 4,100 Allied troops and 500 Germans are buried.
Hundreds of locals waved them on – many had decked their homes with Allied flags and posters of Churchill and other wartime leaders.
En route, the column of heroes passed the Bayeux Memorial, bearing the names of more than 1,800 men and women of Commonwealth land forces who have no known grave. The cathedral bell tolled as they arrived at the beautiful cemetery. The service began with the playing of the original BBC announcement by broadcaster John Snagge that “D-Day has come”.
The guests then heard from Frank Baugh, 95, of Doncaster, South Yorks, who was a signalman on a landing craft that took 200 troops from 2nd Battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry from Newhaven to Sword Beach.
He said: “My most abiding memory of that day is seeing our boys… We had been talking to them minutes before they were cut down with machine gun fire.
"They would fall into the water, floating face down, and we couldn’t get them out.” Mrs May, in her last official address as Prime Minister, gave a reading from the Bible.
Her voice was suddenly drowned out in a mis-timed flypast by a US bomber and a Spitfire but she pressed on.
The service concluded with the remembrance exhortation: “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.”
After the sounding of Last Post there was a two-minute silence before Prince Charles led the laying of wreaths on the Cross of Sacrifice. It was an achingly poignant moment in a day of memories and high emotion.
The respect and affection between these old brothers in arms brought a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye. The fitter ones helped the frail to put their poppy tributes down, pushed the wheelchair-bound and led the blind.
After the service the veterans chatted with Charles, Camilla and Mrs May. Robert Yaxley, 94, from Chelmsford, Essex, gave the surprised PM a peck on the cheek. Mr Yaxley, who was a teenage Royal Marine commando on D-Day, said: “She came over and said ‘pleased to meet you – thank you for what you have done’.
“I took her by the arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Why not? It’s not everyone that can do that. She said, ‘Ooh, thank you’.”
Many veterans, including thrilled David Edwards, were treated to a kiss yesterday to say thanks.
Back in the cemetery some veterans spent time on their own among the graves.
One of them was John Gillespie, 99, a Royal Engineer who was at Gold Beach on D-Day, who said: “It’s very emotional.”
In the afternoon some veterans travelled into Arromanches where locals lined the streets to thank them and take part in a small service.
Lewis Trinder, 95, of Aldershot, Hants, was stationed on HMS Magpie anchoring off Gold Beach on D-Day. He said: “Arromanches is like a second home to me. I’ve got more friends here than anywhere else in the world.”
Sid Barnes, 93, of Norfolk, who served in the Royal Army Service Corps, said: “People keep saying ‘thank you’. I think ‘thank you for what?’
“We just did what we knew we must do. But it is nice to know we are valued.”
Source: Read Full Article