Local D-Day veteran returns to Normandy for 75th anniversary of the landings

92 year-old John Cornwell from Cheltenham will be once again returning to the beaches of Normandy on the 6th June. Along with 300 other Normandy veterans who are being taken back to France by the The Royal British Legion (RBL) on a specially chartered ship for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Image copyright - War History Online

This time it will be 75 years from the day he jumped from a landing craft. He was one of nearly 160,000 men from Britain and the Commonwealth who took part in the largest invasion in history.

John remembers the day he jumped - "We were waiting to land on Gold Beach, in the King Red Sector.  When it was my turn I jumped into 3 feet of water, struggling to hold onto my bren gun and pack – the water was freezing and the noise all around was terrible". 

Private John Cornwell of 2nd Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, was part of 56 Infantry Brigade who landed on 6 June 1944 and was tasked to take the coast road in the morning of 7 June to secure the historic town of Bayeux. He was a month short of his 18th birthday, having been imprecise about his age of 15 ½ when joining up with a mate of 17 ½.

"I was a big lad and we both looked the same age, so I sneaked in!"

John was wounded two weeks later and with a shattered left leg was airlifted back to UK for surgery which took nearly two years.

"The plastic surgeons at Gloucester City Hospital (now Gloucester Royal) were marvellous and fixed me up – although my left leg is now 2 inches shorter than my right."

He couldn't face returning until the 40th anniversary in 1984 but since then he has returned to the beaches and the cemeteries each year with Kathleen, his wife of 70 years, to remember in particular his fallen comrades – only half of his platoon of 34 survived the battle. As a survivor, John was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in 2016.

"I hope the people of Cheltenham will be thinking of us on 6 June. The war is part of our history. People should remember the people who put their lives down for the country. I always will" added John.

To show your respects to John and his fallen comrades, veterans and members of the public are encouraged to attend a short Parade and Service of Commemoration this Thursday, 6th June at 12.30pm at the War Memorial, Promenade, Cheltenham. Mayor Roger Whyborn will be present and will lay a special D-Day75 poppy wreath.