Please select one of the following photo albums: Preparing for D-Day June 6, 1944: The Normandy Landings Featured Images All Photos on the Invasion of Normandy
John Jenkins, a British World War II veteran who served with the Pioneer Corps and helped to invade Gold Beach shortly after D-Day, discusses his emotions right before landing. Jenkins talks about being just close enough to home on the shores of Normandy that he figured out a way to … Continue reading
Veteran of the British Royal Navy, Harry Card, tells his personal story about the day his ship, the late HMS Swift, was attacked on June 24, 1944 whilst in support of the Normandy Invasion off Sword Beach. Card recalls what it was like as the vessel began to sink after … Continue reading
Marine James “Sandy” Powell was a member of the 30 Assault Unit (AU), an elite British Royal commando unit that helped to gather intelligence and carry out interrogations. The group was commanded by Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond spy novel series. Powell explains what his D-Day landing near … Continue reading
Fred Millward, a paratrooper of the British 9th Parachute Battalion, part of the 6th Airborne Division, was one of the only paratroopers to survive D-Day and participate in the Allied attack on the Nazis’ Merville Gun Battery, a German coastal fortification on the Atlantic Wall in Normandy. Millward describes how … Continue reading
Decorated veteran Gordon Smith, part of the 1051 Port Company Royal Engineers, recalls arriving at Juno Beach a day after the Normandy Landings. Smith recalls collapsing while trying to keep himself steady in a packed and tottering barge as his unit awaited orders to get to the beachhead. Strangers placed … Continue reading
“Part of your thoughts is self-preservation. And unfortunately self-preservation is always at the cost of somebody else.” British veterans Peter and Len go on a road trip to visit Sword Beach, the area where they had landed on D-Day. They describe what their orders were as they arrived on the … Continue reading
Ian Hammerton, British commander of a flail tank during WWII, recalls landing on Juno Beach during D-Day. Hammerton describes seeing many dead and wounded soldiers already on the beach as he arrived. He also remembers the hectic environment that surrounded him during the Normandy landing.
Bill Millin, the personal piper to Lord Lovat, a prominent British Commando in World War II, was ordered by Lovat to play the bagpipes as his fellow soldiers died around him on Sword Beach and all the way to the seize of Pegasus Bridge during the Normandy Landings. Millin asked … Continue reading
Ray was 19 years old when he participated in the Normandy Landings. He lost his great grandfather on the Gold Beach. Continue reading
