Following D-Day from afar

I was most impressed with the D-Day supplement in your June issue. It took me back to 1944, when I was in secondary school in Edinburgh.

On 6 June, I was in classes at school; the period before lunch was our swimming lesson. We were at the side of the pool when some boy overheard staff saying that the Allies had landed that morning in France. There were no further details until we went home and listened on the wireless – no radios then! – to General Eisenhower announcing that the landings had started and were continuing.

Restrictions of entry to a large area around the Firth of Forth had been imposed around Easter to make the enemy suspect an invasion of Norway or Denmark from Scotland. It was not until late July that these restrictions were lifted, and our family was able to go to North Berwick for our annual holiday by the sea. Douglas N Currie, Edinburgh