By Chris Elliott…
Born in August 1944, I developed a fascination for the history of WW2 and feel very grateful to all of those young men who fought for their countries in WW2 to bring freedom to the oppressed.
We recently were delighted to publish news of Bob Howard, a resident in the TRNC, who is a WW2 veteran and was involved in the D-Day Landings and a presentation was made to him on the 26th May by Royal British Legion, Kyrenia Branch to enable him to visit the UK for the 75th anniversary commemoration.
Following is RBL’s summary of the event.
“ On Sunday 26th May at 12.30pm there was a small presentation by Sir Michael Graydon to Mr Bob Howard at The Old British Cemetery, Girne. Thank you to all those who attended and helped make this occasion special.
The Royal British Legion, Kyrenia Branch, presented Bob with flight tickets to enable him to fly back to the UK. There he will be hosted by The Royal British Legion and attend the commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of the D Day landings in France, along with other veterans who helped liberate France during the Second World War.
He was also presented with a new cap which he said was much needed.”
So the big day arrived and Bob was back in the UK with his daughter Christine Brown and they attended the 75th anniversary commemoration and we are delighted to be able to share photos by Christine Brown of this wonderful experience.
Clearly, Bob had a wonderful experience as the photos show and he met other D-Day Landings veterans and so many people including British Prime Minister Teresa May and President Macron of France.
Having sailed from the UK on the MV Boudicca memorial cruise organised by the Royal British Legion which was carrying many D Day veterans and their families they arrived today 6th June for the memorial at the Bayeux Cemetery and this is what Christine Brown had to to say.
Today my dad met, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall at the Bayeux cemetery and after the service he laid a wreath on his friend Jack Parfitt’s grave.
“My dad was in the Norfolk Regiment along with his friend and after my dad was injured he was evacuated back to the UK for six weeks treatment and to recover from his injuries.
In Normandy, the Norfolk Regiment lost a lot of men and the remaining men of the regiment were transferred into the Suffolk Regiment.
When my dad was returned to active duty in Europe he was drafted into the Suffolk Regiment and went through with them into Holland and on into Germany where they met the Russians in Bremen, and fought alongside them, until the war in Europe ended.
They celebrated the end of the war when they found an abandoned brewery, opened it up and had two days drinking with the Russians.”
For more information about the Royal British Legion, Kyrenia Branch visit their website and Facebook pages
