Recent Events .... Many thanks to the Newtownards Chronicle ...

Two World War Two veterans, who fought in the D Day landings on Tuesday, June 6, 1944, were reunited, some 64 years later, at an event in Newtownards Royal British Legion Club, in the lead up to Armistice Day.  Every veteran has his, or her, own unique story and George Thompson, from Shore Street in Donaghadee, and Eddie Spence, from Greenwell Place, Newtownards, told of their experiences with great honesty and dignity.

Throughout the interview, these valiant warriors, who are believed to be the last surviving veterans from the Donaghadee and Newtownards Royal British Legion branches to have fought at the Normandy landings, explained how they were trained and primed to confront the enemy â€" a job they were not conscripted to do, but volunteered to do, at a very young age.

At the age of 83, George, who is originally from Comber, recounted: "I grew up in Railway Street and Brownlow Street and left school at 14. I went to work in the shipyard as a marker boy and, by the age of 16, I was serving my time to the building trade.

"I was just over 16 when I joined the Navy and Boys Service. This was in 1942 and I did Welsh Operations across in Scotland. When I was 17, I volunteered for Naval Commandoes and I did training in Scotland and moved around quite a bit and did a lot of mock landings.

"In 1944, I left for Calshot, in the Isle of Wight, for a couple of weeks. We were nearly on our way for the Normandy landings when it was cancelled for a bit, because of the weather. On D Day, we were the first batch ashore, with combined operations and commandoes."

George recalled: "It was rough going. We were not long ashore and they started bombing rocket ships. This brought quite a number of Germans out and we had a wee bit of hand to hand fighting â€" that was tough. I got shrapnel in my rear end and legs and I was put in hospital on the beach."

George showed the Chronicle the army card he had sent his mother at this time and illustrating his strength of character for someone so young, he did not inform her that he had been injured, so as not to worry her.

He continued: "We got the LSC (Land Ship Craft) to go back home, but the steering gear broke and we drifted onto a minefield. It was clear at first, but when it got dark there were four of us in the Port Hurricane drinking a cup of Kar and eating a corned beef sandwich when we hit a mine. Four of us sitting at the gun turret were blown into the water. It was dark and we didn’t know which way to go, but there was an American tank landing ship landing an amphibious truck, which went from water to land, and it picked the four of us up and took us to the American tank landing ship."

George laughed: "That is the first time I saw a cafeteria and got ice cream."

But he became more solemn, as he added: "They kitted us out and we went back to Portsmouth and sent to a rest camp at South End on Sea. We were the only four survivors on that crew."

He was given seven days survivor leave, but there were few boats from the mainland to Northern Ireland and by the time he got home it was time to go back again.

Reflecting on this brush with death, George remembered: "When I was wounded it was my 18th birthday and I spent it in the water from dark to clear. I said to myself, 'Oh God, I volunteered for this, but if it is you're will, I will be saved, and I was."