75 years ago today marks the day when thousands upon thousands of soldiers – men and young boys – took the incomprehensible risk to embark upon the long journey from the shores of Britain to fight the Nazis in Normandy.
Travelling away from their parents, wives, children and siblings these soldiers were not certain of whether they would return. Yet they had the courage to fight for their country. They faced death in the face as they fought for our safety, protection and liberty.
For our protection they risked their lives; it is for this service that we must never forget the service that they did.
“Although I would give anything to be back with you, I have not yet had any wish at all to back down from the job we have to do.” ~Captain Norman Skinner of the Royal Army Service Corps.
Nowadays it is more than unfathomable to imagine how they would have felt.
Men and boys, leaving the relative safety of their homes to provide the ultimate sacrifice. Many of these did not return.
Postmen, bankers, shop owners, butchers, fishmongers. People from all corners of society combined for the cause. They would not have expected the task ahead when leaving from their camps in Britain for the hardened campaign ahead. Weeks of preparation had come down to this. The victory was not assured. Yet they did so with us at heart and constantly in their mind.
Many young boys who left failed to return. Yet they committed to the cause and departed in order to help the cause of liberating Europe from the evil forces that were sweeping throughout the continent.
Boys who, for many, had many years left on their lives. Some were as young as 16 and lied in order to join the armed forces, some had recently been married, some had young children, some had only just left school.
These are, therefore, some of the men who had shown ability in sport – but put this commitment to one side and lost their lives as they fought for Queen and country in order to save us.
Alan Fowler
Swindon Town striker Alan Fowler became a national hero in England after being killed in action in Normandy in 1944.
The former Leeds United forward spent much of his peacetime career with Swindon Town. In three seasons, Fowler finished top-scorer and ranks twelfth in the all-time list of Swindon goal-scorers with his record of 102 goals in 224 appearances.
However, despite being labelled a ‘D-Day dodger’ due to his sporting past-times, Fowler was a member of a group of soldiers who tragically lost their lives to ‘friendly-fire’.
Fowler, a member of the Wessex Division in the campaign to liberate Caen, was likely killed from bombs dropped by a number of delayed Typhoons who were late in the Allied bombing of the location.
Fowler’s age when he was killed is heavily debated with football statisticians claiming he was 33, while the inscription of his grave says 37 and The Evening Advertiser reported he was 32.
David Haig-Thomas
Haig-Thomas, educated at Eton College and St John’s College, Cambridge, was a talismanic rower who was bowman of the 1930, 1931 and 1932 winning Cambridge boats in the Boat Race. He was also part of the eight-man team that finished fourth in the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, Haig-Thomas was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps. He served in Iceland and East Greenland before participating as part of the Special Command Boating Group, No. 14 Commando, alongside Canadians and Norwegians.
In 1944, Haig-Thomas was part of C Troop, No. 4 Commando, in Operation Overlord and was killed in action in Normandy aged 35.
Den Brotheridge
For many performing sporting ‘heroics’ is a dream that many young people have; however, Lieutenant Brotheridge became a true hero of the country as he contributed to the D-Day raids.
Often considered to be the first Allied soldier to be killed in action on D-Day, Lieutenant Brotheridge was killed during Operation Tonga.
The 28-year-old participated in the British airborne landings which secured the left flank prior to the main assault on Normandy.
From Staffordshire, the Lieutenant was a keen sportsman and played football for the Aston Villa Colts and cricket for Mitchells and Butlers.
But from the comfort of his home, he had been thrown into wartime action. The 28-year-old was chosen to command 25 Platoon in Major John Howard’s ‘D’ Company.
As he led the charge across Pegasus Bridge, Brotheridge was successful in silencing the German machine-gun post on the bank of Caen Canal to allow his fellow soldiers across.
However, after leading the charge, Brotheridge was struck in the back of the neck and died as a result.
Major John Thornton
Aged 33, Thornton was a promising athlete. The talented sportsman had represented Great Britain at Hurling in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Thornton was commissioned into the Seaforth Highlands and served at El-Alamein and in the Sicilian Campaign. However, Thornton’s life was brought to an end as part of the Normandy invasion.
Desmond Kingsford
Desmond was a rower who competed for Great Britain at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Educated at Cambridge University, Kingsford was a member of the winning Cambridge boat in the 1935 Boat Race along with his brother, and member of the Royal Navy, Annesley Kingsford.
Kingsford was part of the eight-man crew which finished fourth in the 1936 Olympics; however, he was killed in action in Normandy after he had commanded a combat group which seized the crossroads near Saint-Charles-de-Percy.
A week later he was killed in action at Tilly-sure-Seulles, Normandy. He was awarded the Military Cross for his actions on 3 August 1944 in his assault on Saint-Charles-de-Percy.
They may not be the superheroes we imagine in this modern era; however, their sacrifice of life for our safety is a debt that we will forever owe them.
