Wonderful! D-Day heroes thank our generous readers
D- DAY heroes praised Daily Mail readers yesterday for their ‘wonderful’ efforts in raising £200,000 towards a memorial for their fallen comrades.
The Royal Navy veterans spoke as they received the Legion d’Honneur – the highest French order of military merit – for their bravery during the Normandy invasion 75 years ago.
John Nicholls, 93, who served on HMS Argonaut, destroyed German gun batteries and drove landing craft delivering troops and supplies. Speaking of the plans for a new memorial in Normandy, he said: ‘If you took part in it, you know how much it needs to be remembered.
‘The troops who didn’t come home need to be acknowledged. It’s wonderful to hear people are donating money towards something like that.’ Looking down at his medal, he said: ‘It’s beautiful. I’ll wear it with pride.’
His son Andrew, 54, who accompanied him to the medal ceremony on board the HMS Belfast on the Thames, added: ‘The memorial is something that is long overdue.
‘You’ve got to take your hat off that somebody is going to step up and do it. It’s nothing but a good thing.’ He added: ‘It’s important that when you go there is something for people to see.’ The Normandy Memorial Trust has received more than 3,000 online and postal donations since the Mail revealed plans for a monument in northern France to honour the 22,442 British service personnel who fell on D-Day in June 1944 and in the subsequent Battle of Normandy.
Mr Nicholls was one of four men, all in their 90s, presented with the Legion d’Honneur by Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and the French ambassador JeanPierre Jouyet.
Mr Williamson also commended Daily Mail readers for their generous contribution towards the memorial. He said: ‘I want to see everyone making a supreme effort. This amazing memorial commemorates the enormous sacrifice and the enormous courage of so many service personnel.’ He added: ‘It’s really important we all come together to make this happen.’
Other Allied nations involved in the invasion of France in 1944 already have national memorials in Normandy, but Britain does not. A 50-acre site for the memorial has already been acquired at Ver-sur-Mer, overlooking Gold Beach.
The Normandy Memorial Trust is seeking to raise £9million to complete the project, which will feature sculptures by David Williams-Ellis.