‘Mixed feelings’ as D-Day veterans sail for 80th anniversary commemorations

Crowds waving Union and D-Day flags gathered on the Round Tower and harbour walls in Old Portsmouth to see the ship off.

Normandy veterans wave from on board the Brittany Ferries ship Mont St Michel (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Wire)

D-Day veterans told of having “mixed feelings” after they set sail for Normandy for the 80th anniversary commemorations.

Dozens were on board Brittany Ferries ship Mont St Michel on Tuesday morning, many in good spirits, though one was seen teary-eyed.

The ship was accompanied by Royal Navy patrol vessels Trumpeter, Medusa and Basher as well as HMS Cattistock and the Training Ship Royalist, with tugs spraying water as it travelled out of Portsmouth Harbour.

Several small boats and yachts also waited outside the harbour to see the ferry off on its journey to Caen.

The Jedburgh Pipe Band played the ferry out of the harbour and a Royal Air Force flypast circled low overhead.

Crowds waving Union and D-Day flags gathered on the Round Tower and harbour walls in Old Portsmouth and cheered and clapped as the ferry passed, with the veterans and families smiling and waving back from the ship’s decks.

Arnie Salter, 98, from Bedworth, Warwickshire, said: “I’ve got a lot of mixed feelings, I’m glad to go, it brings back memories, but I’m also sad, we lost a hell of a lot of good men.”

Mr Salter, who helped ferry hundreds of troops across to the Normandy beaches during D-Day, added: “The flypast was lovely and the pipers were wonderful.”

Jack Mortimer, 100, from Leeds, who landed on Sword Beach, said: “When I go back there, I cry. I saw bodies being brought off that beach.”

Ken Hay, 98, who was captured as a prisoner of war just weeks after D-Day said: “It’s a very special day, we received a great send-off.

“To go back to France is important, to see the cemeteries, the monuments, it’s always good to see.”

John Dennett, 99, from Wallasey, Merseyside, told reporters: “At my age now, I’m a bit more expecting it to be emotional… we must always remember them.”

The Royal British Legion is escorting just 22 D-Day veterans to Normandy, compared with 255 who travelled to commemorate the 75th anniversary in 2019.

Another 10 are travelling with the Spirit of Normandy Trust.

One of those waving the veterans off was Janet Welling, 71, from Portsmouth, who said: “I came here to remember the day and to reminisce.

“It shouldn’t be forgotten, what those poor lads went through, leaving here and embarking on France, and what they put themselves through. They said they weren’t scared – they must have been petrified.”

Maisie Brown, 20, also from Portsmouth, said: “I came down with my nan to celebrate D-Day and that it should always be remembered.

“Being the younger generation, and my dad and my uncles being in the Navy, I feel it’s always important to remember and never to forget.”

As the ferry headed out into the Solent, an RAF A400 aircraft flew past to honour the veterans.

Mark Atkinson, the RBL’s director general, said it was a “momentous occasion”.

He went on: “The veterans are remarkably sprightly, they’re up and about and engaged.

“There were a lot of mixed emotions as you’d imagine but a lot of people are really excited to be going back.

“It’s an opportunity for them to pay their respects and remember the fallen.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The veterans, travelling with the Spirit of Normandy Trust and the Royal British Legion, will carry with them a commemorative torch from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission which will form the centrepiece of the vigil at Bayeux War Cemetery on 5 June.

“A young person will pass this symbolic torch to a veteran before they board the ferry. At 1300 (ship’s time), a wreath-laying will take place on the ferry to remember those who never made it to shore.”

About 40 veterans gathered at Southwick House near Portsmouth on Monday, which was used as the headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight Eisenhower during the build-up to the Normandy invasions.