Letters: Honouring the courage and dedication of those who served the cause of freedom on D-Day
SIR – After my father died in 1990, I found an old tin with his war medals inside, as well as a scrap of paper that read: “I was on the first wave of rocket ships on D-Day.”
I think many Servicemen who crossed the Channel that day had been sworn to such a level of secrecy that they never subsequently spoke of their experience.
I doubt that we will ever see their like again.
David Nunn
West Malling, Kent
SIR – My father volunteered as a Royal Marine commando at the start of the Second World War, following his father, who served during the Boxer Rebellion.
On D-Day he was one of the marine frogmen whose job was to clear the underwater barriers to enable the Allied crafts to land. Due to injury he was returned to England and served until the end of the war.
He only spoke about the reality of his experiences after the release of Saving Private Ryan and after our mother’s death. We were pleased to be able to take him to Normandy to visit the graves of his comrades before he died in 2003.
We will always treasure the presence of a marine bugler playing the Last Post at his funeral.
Lesley Mayo
London N14
SIR – It is important to remember that neither D-Day, nor the remainder of the Normandy invasion, could have taken place without the enormous contribution and sacrifices made by the civilian seafarers of the merchant navy and other Allied merchant fleets.
On June 6 1944, merchant ships formed a large part of the invasion fleet carrying troops and supplies to the beaches, and subsequently continued to undertake these duties.
Trinity House tenders were used to mark safe channels through the minefields with buoys. Shortly after the beaches were secured, the Allies began constructing two Mulberry harbours. The breakwaters largely consisted of war-weary merchant ships, most sailing across under their own power, to be scuttled by their crews.
At the same time, other crews manned the tugs that were bringing across the huge sections of the harbours that provided a safe haven for the constant train of shipping arriving in the months that followed.
A total of 181 British merchant seafarers perished as part of the invasion. Many more lost their lives bringing vital supplies across the Atlantic before and during it.
Throughout the war, the merchant navy lost a higher proportion of personnel than any of the three Armed Services. For good reason, it is often known, with great pride, as the Fourth Service.
Captain David Parsons
National secretary, Merchant Navy Association
Yeovil, Somerset
SIR – Readers wanting to follow David Miller’s advice (Letters, June 4) to remember the D-Day amphibious ships and their crews might enjoy Hugh Hickling’s novel, The English Flotilla.
Hickling commanded a Mark IV Tank Landing Craft on Sword Beach. The story covers exercises in the build-up and the landings themselves.
Sadly it appears to be out of print, but second-hand copies are available online. Perhaps the Imperial War Museum might take the opportunity of the anniversary to reprint the book in its excellent Wartime Classics series.
Ewan McGregor
Cambridge
SIR – On D-Day my father, John, a 32-year-old conscripted chartered accountant, should have been running up a Normandy beach as a foot soldier in a tank regiment.
Prior to the invasion he was stationed in Kent when a V1 “doodlebug” hit his camp, killing and wounding many of the engineers, so departure was delayed until July when things were a lot quieter.
I have a letter from his boss in London suggesting that my father was having “a holiday at the taxpayers’ expense” – and asking for Camembert to be sent to him!
At the same time my mother went home to her parents in Glasgow as she was pregnant with my brother and wished to avoid the rockets. Their house in New Malden was destroyed by another V1. I was born after the war but my family was saved as a result of the bombing.
Life is strange.
Greig Bannerman
Frant, East Sussex
SIR – In 1954, my father purchased a woodland plot in Hiltingbury, Hampshire and built a family house. I was 10 at the time, and he sent me into the front garden armed with fork and spade to start digging in preparation for making a lawn.
I dug up a large piece of tarpaulin and opened it up to discover a cache of toothbrushes, tins of toothpaste, dozens of flannels and bars of soap. There was also a sprinkling of live bullets – and a live hand grenade. Everything was packed in an orderly fashion.
Research has shown that 539 Canadian soldiers of the Regina Rifle Regiment were camped here as part of a large force of Canadian and American troops gathered in the area prior to D-Day. There is still evidence of tank track damage to kerbstones in the road. The Rifles subsequently assaulted Juno Beach under heavy fire.
I later married and moved away, but 20 years ago moved back and replaced my parents’ house with a modern property. Every Remembrance Day, my wife and I stand on the exact spot of my buried find and remember those brave young men who had camped in our woodland, many of whom died within minutes of landing in the ferocious ensuing battle.
Robert H Sprague
Hiltingbury, Hampshire
Skilful Sunak
SIR – Hopefully now, after Tuesday’s debate (report, June 5), those doubting Conservative MPs will realise what an asset they have in Rishi Sunak.
Anthony Haslam
Farnham, Surrey
SIR – I felt that Rishi Sunak seemed to have the better answers, but that he continually overrode the guidance of the host was not to his advantage.
I await round two with interest.
Malcolm Freeth
Bournemouth, Dorset
HQS Wellington’s fate
SIR – It is sad that HQS Wellington could be scrapped (report, June 4).
She is one of only five ships that saw active service for the whole of the Second World War, and has graced the bank of the Thames since 1948. My father was in command of her in 1942, and my parents’ wedding reception was held on her in the same year – as was his retirement party in 1978.
Dr Peter Toone
Winchester, Hampshire
McMuddle
SIR – On several occasions my husband and I have visited McDonald’s in European cities and, on asking for two teas, have received two cheeseburgers (Letters, June 5). I now mimic someone drinking a cup of tea when I order.
Olivia Copus
Bath, Somerset
Farage’s tactics
SIR – In 2013 Douglas Carswell asked me to be chairman of Clacton Conservative Association, a position I held until 2016. I enjoyed working with him until his defection to Ukip in 2014.
To his credit, he called a by-election and became Ukip’s first MP, with a majority of 12,404. It was thought this was because of Clacton’s Eurosceptic profile, but it had as much to do with the fact that Mr Carswell was a superb MP. His opponent was Giles Watling, a longstanding resident of the area.
In the 2015 general election, however, Mr Carswell’s majority fell to 3,437, and in the snap election of 2017 he didn’t stand. Mr Watling returned the seat to the Tories with a majority of 15,828. In 2019 this rose to 24,702.
I assume Nigel Farage thinks that many of those voters will switch to Reform UK. However, he should not underestimate Mr Watling, who has been a strong MP. I wonder why Mr Farage didn’t choose a seat with a smaller majority. Perhaps he knows he will now enjoy a much higher profile during the election campaign – but is he really bothered about the result?
Simon Martin-Redman
Frinton-on-Sea, Essex
Double or nothing
SIR – As an 11-year-old I was so excited about the double-decker train from the South East to London (Letters, June 5) that I missed earlier trains in order to board it – and was late for school.
Patrick McArdle
Welling, Kent
A small price to pay for swift pothole repair
SIR – The recent correspondence regarding the absence of potholes on French roads (Letters, June 4) prompts me to write of my experience here in rural Lincolnshire.
On Tuesday last week, via the website FixMyStreet, I reported a pothole, which, along with a few others, was mended on the Thursday.
It did necessitate closing the lane for a day, but that was a small price to pay.
Gabrielle Bliss
Sudbrooke, Lincolnshire
SIR – Potholes in Altrincham, as in many parts of the country, are appalling. I complained to Trafford Council, only to be told that I should measure the depth of the potholes and submit photographs of the offenders. I informed them that this was the council’s job.
I’m aware of the health and safety issues if I attempt to stand in the middle of the road with my tape measure and camera. I haven’t noticed the councillors taking their lives into their hands to prove that potholes are in urgent need of attention.
Marilyn Parrott
Altrincham, Cheshire
SIR – In France in the 1960s, road surfaces varied widely, the worst being the dreaded pavé. The warning signs for this read: “Route bombé”.
Michael Peck
Lyndon, Rutland
Cruising home from the Antarctic in style
SIR – In the early 1950s my brother, like Tony Keeley (Letters, June 4), served with the British Antarctic Survey. His return journey was also interrupted in Montevideo. MV John Biscoe had a mechanical fault and the passengers were destined for an eight-week stayover while repairs were carried out.
There was no need for lavatory paper made from War and Peace for my brother; he booked a first-class passage home on RMS Andes.
He arrived in Southampton, more or less penniless, having blown his entire accrued salary from his stint in the Antarctic on the fare.
Edward Weeks
Marple, Cheshire
SIR – In 1987, before we were married, we went backpacking around south-east Asia for six months. Travelling by boat up the Rajang River in Sarawak, Borneo, I remember with shame the moment when my husband-to-be cut his half-read paperback copy of War and Peace in two with his Swiss Army knife so that I had something to read.
I have always looked after books, so it was a painful but necessary moment.
Curiously, there was a television screen on this river taxi showing women wrestling, which seemed somewhat bizarre but was very popular with the locals.
Siân Webster
London SW6
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