War veterans give pupils a lesson as they share memories of the conflict
FOR THE younger generation, the Second World War is a often just a reference in the pages of a history book.
But for three veterans aged in their 90s, the memories of the conflict remain to this day. The pensioners visited Sandhurst Primary School in Lewisham in London yesterday to give pupils first-hand accounts of the war.
The event was part of a campaign involving four schools and veterans across the country to raise awareness of the 75th anniversary of VE Day and VJ day.
The visits are part of a call to action as The Royal British Legion opens a ballot to encourage members of the Second World War generation to attend special commemorations for VE Day and VJ Day taking place in May and August. At Sandhurst Primary School, the visitors included Mervyn Kersh, 95, who was involved in the D-Day Landings, Marzena Schejbal, 95, one of 5,000 women who took part in the Warsaw uprising and later became a prisoner of war, and Neil Flanigan MBE, 96, who was born in Jamaica and came to England in 1943 to join the Royal Air Force.
The Royal British Legion has opened ballots for members of the Second War World generation to be at the centre of VE Day 75 events in London from May 8 to 10, and for people involved in conflict in the
Far East to attend a VJ Day 75 event at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and to return on tours to India, Singapore and Thailand.
Mr Flanigan, a former president of the West Indian Association of Service Personnel, said: “Young people in this country would not have known that so many West Indians and Africans served in the two wars if not for history projects. Hence we need to keep history going by teaching it more accurately.”