It is very important that people remember the young fellows
Great-grandfather John Mcowan, 98, from Peebles, was an instrument mechanic in the Second World War and served in North Africa with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers alongside Winston Churchill’s distinguished Seventh Armoured Division – The Desert Rats – at El Alamein. He was later attached to the 8th Army for the D-day landings on June 6, 1944. Widower John, returned with five fellow veterans to the beaches of Normandy this year for the 75th anniversary commemorations. He had this Remembrance Day message for Sunday Post readers and their young families: “When we veterans are gone, do not forget the sacrifices made in the war. On the 75th anniversary trip to Normandy I was introduced to President Macron of France. He shook me by the hand, looked me in the eye and said, ‘thank you’. He was so sincere. “The one thing we must be very careful of is that young people today are familiar with how many forces personnel and civilians died, because nobody in their right senses wants another war. We have to keep it very fresh in the minds of the younger generation who can forget so easily.
“It is very important that people remember the young fellas – boys of just 18 and 19 – whose lives were cut so short. It was tragic. I lost comrades in the Sahara desert. I was there from 1940-43, then, after the Germans were defeated, we went on the first landings in Italy, at Salerno, and then went out on the D-day Landings.
“We sailed from Felixstowe, inside our vehicles, on landing craft. We had to wait just off the beach until it was time to go into land. There were thousands of ships in that one channel. It was really an awe-inspiring sight. We must have been a sitting target for the Luftwaffe. A couple of ships had been hit, we could see the plumes of smoke. “Bodies were floating in the water; some of the fellows had drown trying to wade ashore because of the weight of their packs, others had been casualties. The lucky ones like myself got off on a vehicle without getting their feet wet.
“I collected memorabilia from Normandy and have made a scrap book with the title We Must Not Forget. My greatgrandsons are very small, but I hope that one day they and other young people will read it and remember.”