To remember D-Day
The 91-year-old widower and father-of-two, a retired light aircraft instructor at Newtownards airfield, had his 21st birthday just before D-Day.
“I was footloose and fancy-free at the time and not particularly frightened, but we did indeed realise the significance of what we were doing that day,” he said.
“We'd been training for it in secret for the past year. Nobody, in- been moved to the front line. His record does not show if he remained with HQ or was sent to another battalion.
The war diary of 30 Corps reveals a very different scene from the settled and reasonably peaceful place of Gold beach. On July 1 the diary recorded “during the day a series of attacks by enemy in- cluding my parents, knew about the operation.”
Bill added: “I'm very glad to be alive for this big anniversary. I just enjoy life as it comes and am very glad to have done my bit for D-Day.”
Tomorrow from 10am to 4.30pm, Belfast’s NI War Memorial — the museum in Talbot Street that stands as a permanent memorial to those who lost their lives in fantry and tanks — probably 2 SS and 9 Panzer divisions”. The enemy attacks were repelled but this remained an active front, on the edge of Caen. Over the next month the diary records tank battles, attacking enemy strongholds and frequent enemy mortaring, which was one of the main causes of British deaths and injuries. the First and Second World Wars — is hosting a free family living history event to mark the D-Day 70th anniversary.
Members of the Wartime Living History Society will wear US and British uniforms of the Normandy campaign, and will give informal presentations about the crucial preparations that took place in Northern Ireland in the lead-up to D-Day.
At this point I ended my study of the 30 Corps diary. I know that it was involved in a number of heavily fought battles, but in August the enemy was eventually pushed back. By September, the Allies had taken Brussels and Paris.
I have not been able to find out what happened to my father in this second half of Operation Overlord. Last week, however, the Press reported on the personal war diaries of another chaplain from this campaign, Capt Leslie Skinner.
His account of the life of a front line chaplain casts an invaluable insight into what my father probably experienced.
The role of the chaplain included not just comforting soldiers, holding services and conducting burials. It also involved identifying dead soldiers and seeing to the removal of the remains of often badly destroyed bodies.
The report on Capt Skinner showed an extraordinary picture of a chaplain helping to wrap the body of a British soldier in sack cloth. He was smoking a cigarette to mask the smell of death.
Our father chose never to talk of these months, so we will never know exactly what he experienced. The records tell us a little of what happened but it is unlikely that we will be able to fill in the full picture.
To some extent, I believe he did not recount these events because he went on to have a fulfilled and happy life after the war. At the same time, I believe that he chose not to talk of these terrible days to protect us from the sheer horror of what he went through. Today we will honour his memory on Gold beach. Brian M Walker is Emeritus Professor of Irish Studies at Queen's University, Belfast