D-Day veterans recall looking forward to cups of tea and bailing out of tanks

D-Day veterans have told children how they were “looking forward to cups of tea” after landing in Normandy during the Second World War.

Pupils aged between 10 and 14 from three schools in London were invited to an event in Waterloo on Friday to talk to veterans about their experiences ahead of the 80th anniversary of the landings.

Organisers said they hoped the event would help younger generations better understand what those serving in the Second World War went through in the hope of preventing future conflict.

Speaking at the session, Richard Aldred, 99, who served as a tank driver and landed on Gold Beach in Normandy the day after D-Day, told the children there was great camaraderie among the fighting men but they missed home comforts.

He said: “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?’”

Mr Aldred recalled hearing a “god awful thump” when the gearbox of his tank was hit by enemy fire in France.

He said: “I just heard on the wireless ‘bailout’.

“You have eight seconds to get out otherwise you fry because whenever a tank was hit, chances are it will burst into flames.

“I will always remember the smell of burning.”

Stan Ford, 98, who served on HMS Fratton – an escort ship that accompanied vessels taking men and supplies across the Channel – recalled seeing thousands of ships setting sail on D-Day from his station in Selsey Bill on the south coast of England.He said: “Battleships, cruisers, destroyers, right down to the small little minesweepers.

“As a 19 year old, I said to myself ‘we’re not going to lose this war’, which we didn’t.”

Mr Ford told the pupils there were “humorous times” that helped his regiment get through the war.

Chuckling, he said: “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!”

When asked what he hoped his pupils will take away from Friday’s event, Rob Ashton, a year six teacher at Norfolk House school in north London, said: “They will remember that they’ve had the experience of meeting somebody who was there and they’ll tell their future generations.

“They’ll go back to school today telling other children ‘wow I’ve met a veteran who was there at the war at the D-Day landing.’”

Speaking after the session, event chair and founder of the British Normandy Memorial, Nicholas Witchell, told the PA news agency: “The message from the veterans is – they don’t just want to remember their comrades, they want the world to learn, and they want to ensure that younger generations understand what they went through, in the hope that it doesn’t happen again.”