Care home residents have marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day by sharing personal memories and taking part in community commemorations.
The historic international occasion prompted events, visits and get-togethers at all 21 Colten Care homes in Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and West Sussex.
It was especially poignant for those residents who experienced D-Day as young men and women themselves.
At Braemar Lodge in Salisbury, 98-year-old resident and D-Day veteran Commander Douglas Parish was the main speaker at a supper for representatives of the Royal British Legion, fellow veterans and the Salisbury Sea Cadets.
Douglas, who is the Cadets’ Salisbury branch vice president, gave a first-hand account of serving in the engine room of HMS Mauritius as a 17-year-old midshipman on D-Day.
READ MORE: People gather at War Memorial to mark early hours of D-Day invasion
“We received the ‘actions stations’ order at 11am on D-Day morning,” he said. “Coming up on deck, I’d never seen anything like it in my life. You could not see the sea for ships.
“There were all sorts of landing craft, some with guns, some with rocket batteries, all going off with bangs in all directions.
“It was incredible, the sights and sounds of so many ships in one place at the same time that you could literally step out onto them. It’s something you knew you would never see, hear or experience again.”
Douglas recalled his warship being fired on, with an enemy shell exploding just 15 yards from the starboard bow.
Awarded the Légion d’honneur medal for his role in helping to liberate France, Douglas has remained consistently modest about his contribution to D-Day. “I just did my job, I was a very small cog in a very large wheel,” he said.
One of the visiting veterans, Luke Wood, countered the comment by explaining that his regiment the Royal Green Jackets, formerly the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, had been directly assisted by artillery covering fire from HMS Mauritius as they manoeuvred to protect forces coming on land at Sword Beach.
Graham Ballard, Companionship Team Leader at Braemar Lodge, said: “Douglas’s talk was fascinating and everyone was fully engaged. He detailed each element of his experiences hour by hour using his logbook. He read out entries he had written from the perspective of his 17-year-old self as a newly recruited Engineering Officer.
“Guests were invited to ask questions during which Douglas’s daughter Alison was able to comment from her perspective of her dad being away at sea for so long.
“Afterwards the group commented on how sharp Douglas’s memory is to recall the events with such clarity. His response was that ‘these experiences were so powerfully emotional that you couldn’t possibly forget them’”.
As well as speaking at the supper, Douglas was a guest at an anniversary service at Salisbury War Memorial and a D-Day dinner at Salisbury Guildhall.
Elaine Farrer, Colten Care’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “D-Day continues to inspire and act as a reminder of the bravery of our armed forces and the loved ones they left behind for the price of our freedom.
“With many of our residents having service histories themselves and even personal wartime memories, it has been a privilege to facilitate events and opportunities to commemorate the 80th anniversary on their behalf.”
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