D-Day Heroes Honoured As 98 Forgotten Names Added To Memorial

Some of Britain's last surviving D-Day veterans have returned to Normandy to mark the 82nd anniversary of the Allied landings, as nearly 100 previously overlooked war dead were finally added to the British Normandy Memorial.

The commemorations come as the generation that fought on June 6, 1944 continues to dwindle, with just six British Normandy veterans expected to attend this year's ceremony.

For 100-year-old veteran Kenneth Hay, the rows of names carved into the memorial's stone walls are far more than history.

"To most people coming here they're just a series of names," he said. "To people like myself, they're people, I can see their faces."

Forgotten Heroes Added To Roll Of Honour

This year marks the first anniversary ceremony since researchers uncovered 98 British servicemen whose names had been missing from the memorial's Roll of Honour.

The omissions were largely caused by incomplete wartime records and administrative errors dating back more than eight decades.

Some families were able to provide evidence that relatives had died during the Normandy campaign, while other soldiers had been left off the memorial because they succumbed to wounds after being evacuated back to hospitals in Britain.

The additions bring the memorial's tribute to an even more complete record of the 22,540 British servicemen who lost their lives during the Normandy campaign.

Family's Long Campaign Ends

Among those finally recognised is Cecil Green, who was mortally wounded in Normandy but died later in a British hospital.

Because of where he died, his name was never included when the memorial was first created.

His son John described the emotional moment he learned his father's sacrifice would finally be acknowledged.

"I was really pleased, I cried," he said.

"It's a strange mixture of being glad and happy and sad at the same time."

Standing before the newly engraved stone, John gently touched his father's name as generations of remembrance came full circle.

The Day That Changed The War

D-Day remains the largest seaborne invasion in military history.

On June 6, 1944, British, American and Canadian forces stormed five beaches along the Normandy coast in an operation that marked the beginning of the liberation of Nazi-occupied Western Europe.

The assault followed months of planning and was delayed by 24 hours because of poor weather conditions.

Thousands of troops landed under intense enemy fire in what became one of the most decisive military operations of the Second World War.

A Generation Fades Into History

Commemorations began with French schoolchildren walking across Juno Beach alongside serving military personnel, pipers and descendants of wartime commanders.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey laid a wreath at the British Normandy Memorial overlooking Gold Beach, where thousands of British troops came ashore 82 years ago.

As the number of surviving veterans continues to shrink, organisers say preserving their memories has become more important than ever.

For families of the newly recognised dead, the addition of 98 names serves as a reminder that even after eight decades, the task of honouring those who never came home is not yet complete.

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I appreciate that it is a comfort to the families of those who died, but the correction is meaningless as long as there is a disrespect of their service and sacrifice. By that, I mean the people who are allowed to disrupt Remembrance Day ceremonies, to vandalize and to desecrate the memorials and graves of the dead, and the tolerating of the ongoing denigration of people like Sir Winston who served his nation with great distinction.

3 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

I appreciate that it is a comfort to the families of those who died, but the correction is meaningless as long as there is a disrespect of their service and sacrifice. By that, I mean the people who are allowed to disrupt Remembrance Day ceremonies, to vandalize and to desecrate the memorials and graves of the dead, and the tolerating of the ongoing denigration of people like Sir Winston who served his nation with great distinction.

So where do you stand with the rebranding of the National Arboretum by the RBL?

And where were you during the recent desecration of Commonwealth War graves in Gaza?

Churchill did his job, with a few costly mistakes, but so did millions of others.

The correction to memorials is not meaningless. Its a disgrace that you seek to delegitimise this all too late honouring of them. Your charge is absurd and deliberately provocative to those who served and to those who did lose loved ones, by your crude attempt to politicise what should be a momentous occasion. But its not surprising that it came from you, to essentially denigrate the Glorious Dead, while pretending to honour them.

To people like you, the names on memorials are just names, meaningless to to. To be used as political football. Just ammunition to you, not someone's father, brother, uncle, cousin who no one saw to grow to old age.

7 hours ago, Roadsternut said:

So where do you stand with the rebranding of the National Arboretum by the RBL?

And where were you during the recent desecration of Commonwealth War graves in Gaza?

Churchill did his job, with a few costly mistakes, but so did millions of others.

The correction to memorials is not meaningless. Its a disgrace that you seek to delegitimise this all too late honouring of them. Your charge is absurd and deliberately provocative to those who served and to those who did lose loved ones, by your crude attempt to politicise what should be a momentous occasion. But its not surprising that it came from you, to essentially denigrate the Glorious Dead, while pretending to honour them.

To people like you, the names on memorials are just names, meaningless to to. To be used as political football. Just ammunition to you, not someone's father, brother, uncle, cousin who no one saw to grow to old age.

The subject matter was specific to the UK and to the respect of the veterans of WWII. Your faux outrage serves only as an opportunity to convey your underlying political sentiments. I need no lessons in understanding the the roles of those who served as multiple members of my family were in active service while others lived under the barbaric Japanese occupation.

Your reference to the national arboretum is nonsensical. Commander David Childs, who founded the arboretum, supports the name change, because it reflects the reality of the facility being supported by the Legion and what the facility is. It is a minor change going from The National Memorial Arboretum to the Royal British Legion National Remembrance Gardens.

The intent and structure remains the same. Have you even visited the place? It is not actually an arboretum and is more of a series of gardens with some trees. Located off the A38 the place is situated in an area with a series of memorial and gardens including the the Fleet Air Memorial, Gulf War Memorial, Children and Families of Far East Prisoners of War Museum and a number of other memorials. The name change also allows the memorial to be integrated with other similar memorials administered by the Legion eliminating expense duplication such as a specific stand alone board and administrative staff and allows the Legion to provide financial support from the Legion fundraising, as opposed to a separate fundraising (and its associated costs). Unless you are an active donor, you most likely not be aware, let alone appreciate the need to be fiscally responsible.

As for the Commonwealth Gaza graves, the IDF advised the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) of its operation. The desecration had occurred long before they entered because the cemetery had a system of Hamas military tunnels and military bunkers. Had Hamas not used the location as a military installation including rocket launch site, the IDF would not have had to enter to destroy the military tunnels. The documentation of military use was provided to the CWGC. Once Hamas and friends used the cemetery for military purposes, it became a military target. Unfortunately, it allows people like you to offer hateful faux outrage, while ignoring the truth that Hamas had turned the cemetery into a military site and had desecrated the cemetery by doing that.

2 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

Your faux outrage serves only as an opportunity to convey your underlying political sentiments.

Not faux outrage.

You don't know my politics, or you haven't taken notice of when I have stated on this forum my voting intentions.

I take extreme umbrage that you believe adding the names of the missing dead to a memorial is meaningless. You did not address that core objection. Bu I know you won't, because that's who you are. You continually deflect and whine.

the correction is meaningless as long as there is a disrespect of their service and sacrifice. By that, I mean the people who are allowed to disrupt Remembrance Day ceremonies, to vandalize and to desecrate the memorials and graves of the dead

You lie when you state people are "allowed" to disrupt Remembrance Ceremonies, and "allowed" to desecrate memorials. No one is <deleted> allowed to do that, because when caught, they are arrested and charged. U suppose you go through life believing murder is allowed. Robbery is allowed. Rape is allowed because these things happen.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67398933

https://www.forcesnews.com/heritage/remembrance/protesters-who-climb-war-memorials-could-face-prison-under-new-plans

https://news.sky.com/story/churchill-statue-in-parliament-square-defaced-with-zionist-war-criminal-13512850

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/seven-arrests-as-church-s-stolen-war-memorial-recovered-afte-324993/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-67370101

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23905364.faringdon-war-memorial-urinated-aggressive-man/

https://armaghi.com/news/newry-news/woman-44-arrested-after-war-memorial-damaged-in-newry/78899

https://www.northantslive.news/news/northamptonshire-news/man-arrested-thrapston-war-memorial-4703239

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/woman-who-urinated-on-essex-war-memorial-twice-is-jailed-for-seven-months-a3349726.html

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/10190772.poole-cemetery-vandals-war-grave-was-one-of-those-desecrated/

Edited June 7Jun 7 by Roadsternut

I feel for the many that made their way to the D Day memorial ceremonies on Omaha Beach on 6 June. They had to listen to the US Defence Secretary's tribute to the fallen turn into another harangue of European immigration policy. There's a good chance that many attending this event do have very real concerns over mass migration, the abuse of human rights laws and trafficking. However, there is a time and a place for everything and I don't see politicising this event as acceptable behaviour.