Courage AND SACRIFICE
QUEEN LEADS THE WORLD IN HONOURING THE VETERANS OF D-DAY, 75 YEARS LATER
Veterans of the Second World War stand on stage during D-Day Commemorations in Portsmouth, England, on Wednesday. World leaders, including Queen Elizabeth, were on hand to honour the veterans of D-Day, 75 years after the heroic operation.
The Queen described them as “my generation” — the “resilient” old men and women who had saved the world. On Wednesday, three-quarters of a century after the beginning of the D-Day operation, more than 300 veterans of that heroic effort gathered on a scrap of land outside Portsmouth to be thanked by the leaders of the great Western democracies.
It was a day for everyone to reflect. The men in their 90s remembered the friends and comrades they had lost, either at D-Day or in the 75 years since; while prime ministers and presidents, among them Justin Trudeau, British Prime Minister Theresa May, and U.S. President Donald Trump, praised, stood and applauded the veterans at the commemorative event staged on the south coast, a stone’s throw from the English Channel.
In France, a handful of old soldiers gave their thanks at a separate, deeply moving, memorial
ceremony at Pegasus Bridge. Reg Charles, 96, the last surviving member of the team that landed by glider ahead of the main assault, saluted his fallen comrades, while the daughter of the first soldier killed at D-Day shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, paid her own tribute at the same spot.
On Wednesday evening, Harry Read, 95, and Jock Hutton, 94, defied their years and parachuted into Normandy in time for Thursday’s big set piece commemoration on the French side of the Channel. Read had performed the same jump 75 years earlier, landing at 5 a.m. on June 6; on that occasion dodging the “tracer bullets that were flying around all over the place.”
In Portsmouth, the world’s heads of state, at the forefront the Queen, flanked by the Prince of Wales and Trump, gave standing ovations to 10 veterans, half of them with walking sticks to steady themselves, who made their way on to the giant stage, signalling the start of two days of commemorations.
The Queen, a teenager when Operation Overlord was launched, pointed out in her closing speech that nobody had thought the survivors of D-Day would make it this far; many had said the 60th anniversary would be their swansong.
“But the wartime generation — my generation — is resilient, and I am delighted to be with you in Portsmouth today,” said the Queen.
She quoted her own father, George VI, in a national broadcast at the time. “What is demanded from us all is something more than courage and endurance,” he had said.
“We need a revival of spirit, a new unconquerable resolve.”
It was, said the Queen, “exactly what those brave men brought to the battle... many of them would never return, and the heroism, courage and sacrifice of those who lost their lives will never be forgotten.”
Then it was the turn for the Queen to express her gratitude.
“It is with humility and pleasure, on behalf of the entire country — indeed the whole free world — that I say to you all, thank you.”
At that point the veterans — those who still could — rose to their feet.
During the ceremony, Trump read out Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous prayer to the U.S. troops heading for England in which he spoke of a “mighty endeavour” and “faith in our united crusade.”
Trudeau took the stage to recount the story of Lt.Col. Cecil Merritt, who was awarded a Victoria Cross, the military’s highest decoration, for his role in saving countless fellow Canadian soldiers during the disastrous raid on the French port of Dieppe in August 1942.
“Although twice wounded, Lt.-Col. Merritt continued to direct the unit’s operations with great vigour and determination,” Trudeau said, reading from a citation in the London Gazette from October 1942.
“He then coolly gave orders for the departure and announced his intention to hold off and ‘get even with’ the enemy. When last seen he was collecting Bren and Tommy guns and preparing a defensive position which successfully covered the withdrawal from the beach.”
Retired major-general Richard Rohmer, who flew two surveillance missions over the D-Day beaches as a young pilot on June 6, 1944, said it was important that Canada be represented during the ceremony and for young Canadians to understand the importance of what happened 75 years ago.
“From time to time they will run across issues that are worth fighting for in Canada, which I believe is the finest country in the world,” Rohmer said of future generations.
“I hope you will recognize the old people like myself made some contribution to what Canada is today ... We’re quite a different country, but it’s a good one and well worth fighting for if we have to.”
John Jenkins was a platoon sergeant in the Pioneer Corps, when he landed on Gold Beach on June 8, 1944, D-Day+2. Now, at 99 and walking with a stick, he took to the huge stage.
“I was terrified; I think everyone was,” he recalled.
Many veterans, who had gathered to share similar tales of bravery and distress, wept as they looked on.
He paid tribute — as they all did — to the soldiers who didn’t make it.
“You never forget your comrades because you’re all in it together. It’s right that the courage and sacrifice of so many is being honoured 75 years on. We must never forget. Thank you,” he said.