France honours Normandy veterans

Highest military decoration recognises three old soldiers who fought to liberate country

Three Normandy veterans who risked their lives to help liberate France during the Second World War have been presented with that country’s highest military decoration.

They are among hundreds of old soldiers who are now being recognised by the French government for the part they played in the campaign.

Last week at two ceremonies, Frank Gibbins, who is known to his friends as Tony, Frank Suttie and Roy Cockburn were each presented with the Order of the Legion d’honneur.

Mr Gibbins, 92, from Bridge, and Mr Suttie, 95, from Norman Road, Canterbury, both received their medals at Broome Park at Barham from honorary French consul James Ryeland.

Roy Cockburn, 92, also from Bridge, received his medal from the Lord Mayor of Canterbury at Tower House.

Mr Suttie was actually billeted at Broome Park in 1942 before the invasion. The widower and great- grandfather was a tank mechanic, working on recovered machines damaged in battle in Normandy.

He recalled: “I had quite a few close calls and was lucky to get out of it alive.”

Af ter being demobbed, he went from fixing tanks to mending typewriters and selling office equipment in Canterbury.

Mr Gibbins was just 18 in April 1942 when he volunteered for the war effort and joined the Royal Marines.

He was in Normandy for several months but ended up in Luneburg in Germany, guarding a mountain of weapons which had been taken from the surrendering soldiers.

After being demobbed in 1946, he joined the Royal Navy for another eight years and left when he met his future wife. He began a new trade as a brick layer and the cou couple had six children. He retired in 1988 and took up golf, joining the Broome Park Kitcheners. Roy Cock Cockburn joined the Gr e e n Howards in 1941 and trained as an officer at Sandhurst. He then joined the 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment and began training for the Normandy landings in June 1944. He fought throughout Europe and into Germany where he was awarded the Military Cross for his courage in helping a wounded colleague to safety across 200 yards of open country while under heavy fire.

Mr Cockburn remained in Germany after VE Day and in January 1946 he was promoted to captain and posted to India.

He returned to the UK in 1947 and served in the War Office until his retirement from the Army in 1950.

In 2014, the French government decided that it would honour all British Normandy veterans and Mr Cockburn’s medal followed a submission by the Canterbury branch of the Royal British Legion.

Lord Mayor Cllr George Met- calfe said: “It was a tremendous privilege to present the Legion d’honneur to such a distinguished military hero and to hear him speak of his time in service. We should never forget the sacrifices our soldiers make and I was very pleased to help ensure Roy receives the recognition he so deserves.”

The Legion d’honneur