Birmingham veterans return to Normandy
SOME were too frail to walk unaided or stand to attention. But the same grim determination which helped them conquer the body-strewn beaches of northern France 65 years ago brought them back to remember those who never made it home.
Hundreds of veterans of one of the world’s most audacious operations in military history returned to the killing fields of Normandy where they became heroes.
The date of June 6, 1944 will be forever burned into the souls of the proud soldiers who risked life and limb in pursuit of liberty for Europe.
Many were only teenagers when the calling came to hurl themselves on to the beaches, stepping over the bodies of comrades as they dodged bullets.
As 18 members of Birmingham’s Normandy Veterans Association wandered among the lovingly tended war graves and along now-tranquil sands, it became clear that more than six decades have done little to dull the horrors.
At 84 years old, many would find it hard to picture Reg Gough, from Castle Bromwich, as a teenage infantryman ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for king and country.
But a steely glint of youth in his tear-filled eyes belies his age as he recounts the trepidation of landing at Gold Beach just after lunch on D-Day.
“We never knew quite what we were getting into but seeing the human debris on the beach in front of us made it clear it had been quite horrific,” said Mr Gough who served with Blackwatch’s 70th Brigade.
“We jumped out of the landing craft into two feet of water with 60lb of kit so if we’d stopped for a second we wouldn’t have made it and some of our lads didn’t.
“Coming through Bayeux, we didn’t meet much resistance, but when we made it further inland, it was murder.
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