For decades, the UK has been the only allied country without a Normandy memorial.
Thanks to a dogged campaign by surviving veterans – supported by the Daily Mail and its generous readers – that was eventually put right.
The coronavirus pandemic hit. So when the British Normandy Memorial was officially opened on June 6 this year – 77 years to the day after D-Day – our old soldiers and sailors could not be there in person to see it because of travel restrictions.
Yesterday, however, was the first organized visit of veterans to the impressive memorial to the 22442 British troops that fell in the Battle of Normandy.
The eight survivors of the tragic journey spent a day at Ver-sur-Mer’s 50-acre site overlooking Gold Beach. They sought out names of their comrades among the 160 pillars that display the names of the deceased in chronological order.
Yesterday, finally, the first organised visit by veterans to the magnificent memorial to the 22,442 British troops who fell in the Battle of Normandy took place and the eight veterans who made the journey sought out the names of comrades they knew
Among the veterans was 96-year-old Harry Billinge, from St Austell, Cornwall, who single-handedly raised more than £40,000 for the memorial, partly with his collection tin in Par market, and inspired many others to donate tens of thousands more.
As he saw the completed monument for the first time, he said: ‘Words cannot explain it. I’ve never been overwhelmed like I am today. I thank God I’m able to be here to remember such great and wonderful men – may God bless them all.’
Harry was an 18 year old sapper with Royal Engineers. He landed at Gold Beach at 6.30 a.m. on June 6, 1944, as part the first wave of troops.
Yesterday he told how he had found on the monument the name of Joseph Neades, 22, a Lance Corporal in the Royal Engineers, who had ‘died in my arms in Caen’ during the Battle of Normandy.
‘He died, with me, and I think I died a bit that day,’ said Harry, who recalled saying a prayer for Joseph as he held him in his final moments.
‘My greatest wish has been to see this memorial built in my lifetime.’
Never forgotten: Harry Billinge, aged 96, of St Austell, Cornwall, found the name of Lance Corporal Joseph Neades (who died in battle of Normandy) yesterday
Pictured: Joseph Neades (22), a Lance Corporal in Royal Engineers with his wife and son Alan in 1944, just a few months prior to D-day
Joe Cattini, age 98, drove up Gold Beach in a three-ton truck with ammunition and 25-pound shells. There were also dozens of cans filled with petrol.
The great-grandfather of Southampton spent five days in hospital in August with Covid. After learning why he was feeling ill, such is his indomitable spirit that he told his daughter Fran Bradshaw: ‘Thank goodness I’m not getting old – it’s only Covid.’
Yesterday he said: ‘I’m very excited to see the memorial. I felt terrible for the young infantry that landed on the beaches of D-Day.
‘I think of the ones that didn’t come back – they are the heroes, the ones that gave their lives. I don’t class myself as a hero – I was lucky, I had a good guardian angel who saw me through the war.’
Frank Baugh, 97, is a former Royal Navy signalman whose landing craft took a direct hit at Sword Beach on the morning of D-Day, returned to Newhaven with wounded troops from the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry and then returned the next morning after being repaired overnight.
Yesterday at the monument Frank, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, said: ‘It’s terrific. The Americans had one, the Canadians had one… we’ve waited so long, for years and years, to have our own memorial and now we’ve got it.’
The monument, in Ver-sur-Mer overlooking Gold Beach, took six years to complete and cost a total of £30million to build. The project was in part made possible thanks to £1million in donations from thousands of generous Mail readers
The monument took six years to complete and cost a total of £30million to build. The project was in part made possible thanks to £1million in donations from thousands of generous Mail readers.
The Treasury’s Libor Fund, made up of penalty fines from errant banks, provided the lion’s share of the funding with a £20million grant. Philanthropist Michael Spencer also made an individual donation of £1million.
Yesterday Lord Dannatt, former head of Army and chairman of Normandy Memorial Trust, received seven veterans who had traveled to the site as part of a Spirit of Normandy Trust trip. The Normandy Memorial Trust arranged Harry Billinge’s visit.
A short, but powerful, service of remembrance was held at the memorial. Henry, Viscount Montgomery from Alamein, the great wartime Allied commander Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, was also present.
‘Grandfather would’ve been pleased that it’s been done and very impressed by the monument,’ he told the Mail earlier.
Another of the Normandy veterans, Mervyn Kersh, 96, from Cockfosters, London, who served with the Royal Ordnance Corps and was responsible for ensuring tank transporters were always serviceable, said: ‘It’s a relief that at last the memorial’s here after all these decades. I’m pleased to be able to see it. It’s taken a long time but it’s worth it.’
Alan Harris, 97, from Horncastle, Lincolnshire, who was in the Royal Navy and part of a shore party that landed on Gold Beach and was later moved to Sword Beach, said: ‘It makes me think of the friends who didn’t make it.’
Jack Quinn, 96, a former Royal Marine from Mapplethorpe, Lincolnshire, who was coxswain of a landing craft that crept in to the Normandy shore on the night of June 5, 1944, to take in frogmen who were to blow up obstacles ahead of D-Day, said: ‘It’s absolutely fantastic. It’s been a very long time coming.’
Len Hobbs, 97, from near Chelmsford, Essex, who was on HMS Fernie on D-Day escorting the first convoy, said: ‘I’m amazed by it. I’m pleased to see that at last it’s here. It was a bit hard that the British never had their own memorial before.’
Henry Rice, 95 years old, was from Guildford, Surrey. He was a signalman aboard HMS Eastway, which was a landing ship used to supply men, equipment, and supplies to the various beaches starting five days after D-Day.
‘It’s an emotional day,’ he said. ‘I’m very impressed by the monument.’
The Normandy monument costs £400,000 a year to maintain. The British Government does not provide funding for its long-term care.
By becoming a Guardian, you can help protect and maintain the memorial. Additional funds are needed to fund the next phase, which will include the construction of an education centre.
Visit www.britishnormandymemorial.org/guardian or phone 0800 4701002 for more information.