Stories of D-Day Veterans

There have been many books, films and television programmes made about D-Day and each one of the hundreds of thousands of people involved in the overall operation has a story to tell.

The Legion has a select group - the D-Day Dozen - who epitomise the gallantry and bravery of those involved. Read their stories below.

The D-Day Dozen

	John Adlam Army, Coldstream Guards, Gold Beach – a fitter who readied tanks for action. Sergeant John Adlam of the Coldstream Guards survived the D-Day invasion through several strokes of luck and his own strength of character. Having been woken abruptly at 4.00 am on 6 June 1944 and told to mobilise at once, Adlam made the journey to Gosport to meet his regiment and travel across the Channel to Bayeux. A humble man, he says he was determined to just do his job and take it all in his stride. Adlam's luck may have had something to do with his positive and determined attitude. When talking about his fellow soldiers he says, "I met some rogues, but never met a bad man."
	Charles Allan Army, Royal Artillery, Gold Beach – anti-tank gunner who engaged with enemy tanks. During the war Charles Allen was a gun layer in the 17lb Anti-Tank Gun Crew. Coming off the boat he wondered what was going to happen when the front door went down. The noise on the beaches was deafening and it took them 20 minutes to get off the beach and get the waterproofing off the tank and gun. Arriving on the beaches, Mr Allen said they were presented with a chaotic scene: "The Navy were having a go, bombers were having a go… when I saw the bodies on the beach I wondered what I was doing there… but we did the job."
	Stan Blacker Royal Marines, Gold Beach – brought troops, supplies and ammunition across in landing craft. In the lead up to D-Day, Marine Stanley Blacker was aware of the seriousness of their mission, and the struggles they would face in their task of bringing troops, supplies and ammunition across. Shortly before the 6th of June, his ship, HMS Cricket, became a closed camp and the men were stripped of all identity and left with just a Bakelite Cap Badge in their berets. Displaying humility and wit Mr Blacker says "I was just a small cog in a big wheel… I am not hero, just a peasant of Shepton Mallet and a yokel of Somerset. It took our youth away and when I stand and look at the rows of graves I think that could have been me."
	Len Butt Army, Royal Engineers, Juno Beach – cleared mines and obstacles. Working as a minesweeper on Juno-Nan Beach, Captain Len G Butt of the 184 Field Company, Royal Engineers faced the enormous task of clearing German mines that the British soldiers were unfamiliar with. "So many people died unnecessarily because they didn't know what they were dealing with. We eventually worked out how to safely clear all the mines, but in the meantime, we watched comrades die, and we just had to keep on working. As a young and green sapper, I hoped I had played my part on an historical day," summarises Butt. I had been lucky and had seen the D-Day sunset. Some did not."
	Brian Carter Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, Pointe du Hoc – landed tanks and vehicles onto the beaches. Brian was posted to a landing craft on D-Day and despite struggling to reach land through the heavy smoke, the situation became gruesome when they saw the sea was a mass of floating bodies, making it impossible to land without running them over. Carter and his fellow sailors had no choice but to drive relentlessly ahead and land on the beach. Most of the crew were youngsters who had never been in action or seen a dead body. It was a sickening experience for every one of them. "So many men died before putting even one foot on the beach. I believe that more men drowned in the sea than actually died in combat."
	Raymond Daeche Army, Royal Army Medical Corps, Pegasus Bridge – treated dying and wounded soldiers. On D-Day Raymond Daeche landed in a glider at Pegasus Bridge in Normandy. It was his regiment's job to hold the Eastern flank for the period of the landing. He was also a medic, treating soldiers and civilians after the carnage at Normandy. On one occasion he spent one hour searching through blood drenched clothes for a cutting of the Tottenham Hotspurs, just to make a wounded soldier smile. The one memory that comes back to Daeche about D-Day is, "the Hell of it all".
	Alexander Heggie Royal Navy, Utah Beach – on minesweeping flotilla clearing a safe path to the beaches. Working aboard HMS Shippigan (Leaver 16th Minesweeper Flotilla), Alexander Heggie witnessed some harrowing sights following the D-Day invasion, as the ship was often called on to collect the dying and the dead. But the most frightening moment was coming up on deck one afternoon and walking the length of the ship not seeing a soul. When he eventually found the crew they told him they pulled up a mine and everyone on the ship was moved – everyone except him! "I couldn't believe I was left alone next to the mine! It was certainly a lucky escape".
	Charles Jackson Army, Lincolnshire Regiment, Sword Beach – a Bren gunner, one of the 3-inch mortar crew. D-Day veteran Mr C W Jackson will never forget the horrors of D-day. The shrapnel that has remained in his body since 1944 is a constant reminder of his participation in WW2. Private Jackson was part of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment on D-Day and as a Bren gunner, it was his job to cover the soldiers as they poured on to the Normandy beaches. "I try not to think about the D-Day landings too much," he goes on to say. "There were so many terrible sights; soldiers drowning and dying as they went up on to the beach."
	Dennis Kenwood Army, Royal Army Medical Corps, Sword Beach – attended casualties in an operating tent. Mr Dennis Kenward was trained as a nurse before the war and called up to the army at the age of 19. The 40th Field Surgical Unit set up medical camp near Hermanville after landing on Sword Beach. During the night of June 6, Kenwood and his team worked until the small hours dressing wounds, dosing with morphine, and reassuring the soldiers where they could. "I couldn’t believe it when, at about 4 am, the corporal shook my shoulder and told me that the lorry with the operating tent had arrived," he says. "We had to get up, pitch the tent and start operating on people straight away. We were all so tired, but knew we just had to keep going."
	John Kite Army, Special Forces, Juno Beach – attacked specially selected German targets. Sergeant John Kite, was a true D-Day hero, commanding thirty troops into battle to liberate France. Before the assault, Kite was briefed by the ship's commander and was tasked with asking his men to write their last will and testament. They were under no illusions that they would all come back alive. As the ramp lowered to allow the troops to wade through the blood-swamped sea onto the beach, Kite describes how he felt: "The butterflies began to wobble in my stomach. All the bones in my body were shaking. I told myself to keep calm to set an example for the men, come what may."
	Fred Matthews Royal Navy, (HMS Jude) 18th Flotilla Fleet Sweepers, Gold Beach – marked and cleared mines in the Channel. Mr Matthews was called up in 1943 to join the Royal Navy 18th Flotilla Fleet Sweepers, or 'Algerines', as they were commonly known. He vividly remembers the night of 5 June 1944. "As a minesweeper, my job was to drop buoys onto the mines," he recollects. "The buoys had flags on them so the troops could see where they were. The night before D-Day there were ten flotillas of sweepers that swept along Gold Beach and then formed outer perimeter defences between the beach head and Le Havre. I think of the soldiers who lost their lives going up onto the beaches. I think we were all proud to be there, doing our bit, no matter how big or small. We all had an important role to play."
	William Stoneman Royal Air Force, rear gunner – flew covert missions behind enemy lines. Squadron Leader W J Stoneman DFM, who enlisted in the RAF aged 18 in 1942, was involved with clandestine operations at the rear of the fighting zone during the D-Day Landings. He was a rear gunner and his mission on D-Day was to fly missions behind enemy lines dropping decoy parachutists as part of a strategy to confuse German troops. "The idea was to confuse the Germans," says Stoneman. The decoy men exploded on impact with the ground and left the enemy uncertain about what was happening."
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