Back in France to remember (From Barry And District News)

Back in France to remember

A SECOND World War veteran from Barry made the trip to Normandy last week to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

Charlie Thompson, aged 85, of Porthkerry Road, joined thousands of war veterans from all over the UK and world leaders including George W Bush, the Queen and the Prime Minister in northern France.

Charlie Thompson was evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940 but was back in northern France in 1945 as part of the D-Day invasion.

"I was a diver throughout the war with the Royal Engineers. In 1940 I was on an operation in northern France which involved assembling ramps to get tanks off the ships.

"The operation was abandoned and we spent seven days on the beach dug out under a beach hut living on biscuits and bully beef.

"We were under attack from Messerschmidts and had nothing but rifles to defend ourselves with. We were eventually rescued by a British merchant navy vessel."

In 1945, Charlie was back in northern France to take part in Operation Overlord.

He said: "Two months before D-Day I was in Barry where I was responsible for training divers. I was camped out on the Hayes. We did most of the diving training in Barry Dock where the ferry boats come in."

When the invasion took place, Charlie sailed across the Channel with 50 colleagues on a wooden landing craft and carried out engineering work to help the landing operation.

Charlie took part in the commemorative march at Colleville last weekend where the Montgommery memorial is.

Charlie said: "I was very impressed with the way in which the whole thing was organised. I honestly didn't realise there were so many people in Britain who cared so much, but there are. It made me appreciate how many good people there are in Britain.

"We had a wonderful reception from young people, both British and French, who were there to pay their respects."