Boy soldier who fought as a Commando on D-Day receives France’s highest honour at the age of 91
A BRITISH D-Day veteran who went to war when he was just 16 has been awarded France’s highest honour for his role in liberating the country.
Roy Bennett, now 91, was presented with the Légion d’Honneur for his service as a Royal Marine Commando. He landed on Juno beach in Normandy on D-Day – June 6, 1944 – aged 18.
Mr Bennett, a retired bookkeeper, said that he managed to enlist despite being underage.
“I was 16 and working in Birmingham and one lunchtime I walked into the local recruiting office.
“The sergeant said: ‘Why do you want to be a Marine, son?’ I replied: ‘Because they are the best, Sir’.
“Fortunately for me, they forgot to ask for my birth certificate and I became a Royal Marine.”
Mr Bennett was a member of 48 Commando, the first Royal Marine unit to land near Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, in Normandy.
He fought in the notoriously bloody assault on Langrune-sur-Mer, in which the commandos suffered severe losses.
About a third of the Royal Marines’ landing craft were damaged or destroyed by German sea defences, spiked metal stakes with mines attached. Some Commandos decided to wade ashore from their stricken landing craft but, weighed down with 100lb packs, many were swept away and drowned.
Securing Juno Beach allowed 22,000 troops and their equipment to come ashore on D-Day, but at a cost of 340 Allied dead and 574 wounded.
Mr Bennett said: “The crossing was terrible, the weather was awful and people were being sick everywhere. I will never forget the noise on the beach.”
Originally from Wales, Mr Bennett has lived in Poynton, Cheshire, for much of his life, with his wife, Florence.
Mr Bennett received the honour at a ceremony organised by the Bollington branch of the Royal British Legion in Cheshire.
Fifteen British veterans were awarded the Légion d’Honneur in 2015.
Many had also taken part in the D-Day landings.