‘Cacophony of war’ and ‘don’t make the same mistakes’ – D-Day veterans’ quotes

Major commemorative events in Portsmouth and Normandy on Wednesday and Thursday will mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, including a large-scale parachute re-enactment of the French region’s airborne liberation and flypasts by the Red Arrows.

In the lead-up to the anniversary, surviving veterans of the conflict have spoken of their harrowing experiences, lighter-hearted moments and hopes for the future.

The invasion of June 6 1944 brought together the land, air and sea forces of the Allied nations in the largest amphibious invasion in military history and began the process of ending the war in Europe.

Here the PA news agency looks at some of the best quotes from D-Day veterans ahead of the anniversary.

“There was a lot of noise, gunfire, lots of German aircraft strafing us all the time. But I wasn’t frightened, it just didn’t register, to be honest, we didn’t know what we were getting into and just had to get on with our jobs” – Former Royals Corps of Signals Lance Corporal Eric Suchland, 100, who landed on Sword Beach on D-Day.

“To my great astonishment, I realised the signaller was on the beaches of Normandy because then I really heard the sounds of war. I could hear rapid machine gun fire, cannon fire, bombs, aircraft, men shouting orders, men screaming. It was the cacophony of war and it really was terrifying” – Marie Scott, 97, recalls tuning into the radio system as a 17-year-old switchboard operator.

“Let me tell you something about war: nobody ever wins a war – one side gives in and that doesn’t mean to say you’ve won a war if the other side has decided they’ve had enough. So let me ask you sincerely to make sure that you, all of you, don’t make the same mistakes that we made in going to war because there’s nothing grand or what have you about war” – George Chandler, 99, who was deployed to Omaha Beach during the Normandy landings, urges schoolchildren to ensure their generation learns from the horrors of the Second World War.

“You all stick together like glue and the main thing is, ‘how soon can I have a cup of tea and a bully beef sandwich?’” – Richard Aldred, 99, telling schoolchildren his memories as a tank driver who landed on Gold Beach the day after D-Day.

“There was a time when the refrigeration system broke down so we were told to eat as much meat as we could. I remember eating a whole shoulder of lamb to myself” – Stan Ford, 98, who served on HMS Fratton escorting other ships, tells school pupils there were lighter-hearted moments during the war.

“I got shot in the foot by one of my mates. I was raging. He was a loose cannon, a headcase. He was holding his rifle and he hadn’t the safety catch on and the bullet hit my foot. I won’t tell you what language I used at the time. We did remain good friends though” – George Horner, 97, a member of G company of the Royal Ulster Rifles, who landed on Sword Beach on D-Day.

“I just wish the gains we made would have lasted longer than my lifetime because we’re going through the same ground again, and at this time it’s Russia that is the Germany of today, an aggressor” – Former Royal Army Ordnance Corps technical clerk Mervyn Kersh, 99, who arrived in Normandy aged 19 in June 1944, calls on the UK to be stronger against Russia.

“There was that many ships, you thought, ‘well what’s going to happen?’ You had to see it to believe it. I saw a picture of it again yesterday and it’s unbelievable. We thought nothing can happen to us, there’s too many of us” – Royal Navy veteran John Dennett, 99, recalls the sight of ships sailing towards Normandy.

“Everyone was doing their bit, you know. It was important not to do nothing because Hitler… there was word in the Caribbean saying any time he could be colonising the Caribbean and South America, and so we had to do something” – Jamaican veteran Gilbert Clarke, 98, who lied to join the RAF at 16 after reading newspaper reports of ships being sighted in the Caribbean.