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As dawn broke 70 years ago on 6th June 1944, the first of 156,000 allied troops stormed the Normandy beaches under a hail of German artillery. By sunset there would be 10,000 casualties.  It would be one of the most momentous days in history and the start of a two month epic struggle to liberate Normandy, one that would cost over 225,000 dead, wounded, or missing in action.

In salute to their memory the Big Lottery Fund is proud to support over 250 UK Normandy veterans to make a Heroes Return journey back to the shores of France  to join in the 70th commemoration ceremonies to pay their respects to lost comrades.

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Peter Ainsworth Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, said: “As we commemorate the historic 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings we are proud to remember and honour the immense debt of gratitude owed to those brave veterans whose courage and sacrifice finally brought peace to millions across the world.”

The Big Lottery Fund has awarded over £28 million to ensure that over 57,000 WW2 veterans, widows and carers have had the opportunity since 2004 to go back to battlefields to attend commemorations. 

One veteran making a Heroes Return pilgrimage back to Normandy is 89 year old veteran David Render, who will return to Gold Beach where 70 years ago he served with the Sherwood Rangers as a troop leader in command of six Sherman tanks.

In the battle for Normandy David had two tanks blown from under him but remained a troop leader to the end of the war and apart from a few bruises and nicks came out the war physically unscathed, a rare achievement given that the Sherwood’s lost 59 officers from June 1944 to May 1945.

Born in Highbury, London in 1924, David said: “My father had been an officer in the Royal Engineers during World War One and he had instilled in me a deep sense of patriotism which still spurs me on today.”

After completing his officer training at Sandhurst to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in February 1942 David was assigned to a holding camp in Cumberland. In June 1944 he received an order to go to Portsmouth.

He said: “I had no idea why I had been summoned. When I got there I was told to oversee the loading of 16 Cromwell tanks onto a landing craft. I could see that Pompey was awash with frantic loading of equipment, men and food onto ships but did as ordered.  After I had loaded the tanks on I went up to a sailor and asked which way to get off the ship. But he just told me to look out of the porthole and when I did I saw we were already at sea. I asked him where were going and he said ‘Normandy, of course’ “

“We were loaded up with sixteen 30 ton tanks and the craft was behaving like a snake over the waves, creaking and groaning. It had probably been built in just five days over in America and I think all the sailors thought it was going to sink. And so did I. But it eventually rammed itself up onto the shore of Gold Beach. The captain wanted the tanks off quickly. We were being strafed by Messerschmitt 109s.”

The loading platform was lowered and, the first tank drove off and just went down and down and then suddenly turned upside down and disappeared. It sank with all crew lost. When I saw that I thought of those chaps I’d just been talking to and now they were trapped inside drowning. I thought I would rather have been home with mum.”

The ships commander had not realised that there were a series of deep trenches below the sea line so instead of the tank landing in eight feet of water it went into eighteen feet. The ship then had to move to another location along the beach where the other tanks were safety disembarked. After making a second crossing David was then given the order to join the Sherwood Rangers on D-day plus six and went into battle as troop leader on the following day.

“We all knew we were going to get killed the average lifespan for a trooper was a fortnight. We became numb to it. I certainly wasn’t a hero. When we did an action it was just on to the next one. They drove us to death. A day in Normandy was from 4am in the morning to 1am the next morning.”

“I remember coming up against the SS Herman Goring division, nasty pieces of work. They set fire to a church with all the villagers locked inside. How can anyone do that? I remember going into a small church in Normandy that the Sherwood’s had liberated and there were flowers, crosses and candles that the jerry’s had lit, and I thought it strange that we and them were all praying to the same god for victory and safety. “

David said of the 70th commemorations: “To go back to the cemeteries to see our lads is really heart rendering. We were the lucky ones, make no bones about it. And we are lucky that we have got an organisation like the Big Lottery Fund who cares for our old soldiers who are still very interested in keeping alive their memories and passing them on to the younger generation who we sincerely hope will not do it again.”

Also returning to Normandy is Walter Hart, 93 from Ruislip. Walter a Lance Corporal with the Royal Army Medical Corp (RAMC) was involved from the beginning to the end of the war.

An original member of the British Expeditionary Force, the first militia since World War One, Walter who had been previously trained with St John’s Ambulance was posted to Abbeville in France where in 1940 he was deployed to assist wounded soldiers being evacuated at Dunkirk. He recalls: “We had originally been told that around 40,000 troops were to be evacuated but it turned out to be 370,000 thousand.”  

Walter Hart , Lance Corporal, Royal Army Medical Corp served in Field Hospital, Gold Beach, Normandy and also saw service in Dunkirk and Egypt.

Walter was severely wounded and as getting out through Dunkirk became impossible he was taken by train to a small port further down the coast and brought home.  After a period of recovery Walter went on to serve with Monty’s 8th Army in Egypt before once again returning to the shores of France in June 1944, this time landing on Gold Beach where he operated from an RAMC field hospital.

He said: “We had to sleep where we could so we found a spot on the cliff tops at Arromanches. The Germans had dug some makeshift graves and then abandoned them. It was pouring with rain so two of us laid groundsheets in the bottom of the graves then put one over the top and we slept inside.”

Walter recalls his experiences as a medic. “The injured chaps came in with all sorts of bullet and shrapnel wounds. Bullets don’t choose where they want to go. Some of the wounds were absolutely horrific. I couldn’t talk about it till fifty years after the war and now I haven’t stopped talking about it for the last twenty. We were darned scared all of the time. I wouldn’t say we were heroes. We just had to get on and do it. When I was outside and working I became oblivious to what was going on all around but when I went inside I would start trembling like a leaf.

"I think the Heroes Return funding is a good thing as it enables a lot of chaps who couldn’t afford it to go back.”

The Big Lottery Fund has extended its Heroes Return 2 programme to enable veterans to apply for funding to make second trips. The programme deadline for closure will now be end of 2015. This will ensure Second World War veterans from the UK, Channel Islands and Republic of Ireland who have already been funded since the programme opened in 2009, will have a second opportunity to apply for a grant towards travel and accommodation expenses to enable them to make trips back to places across the world where they served, or make a commemorative visit in the UK. For details contact: Heroes Return helpline:  0845 00 00 121 or visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/heroesreturn

For interviews or any further information contact the Big Lottery Fund press office on 020 7211 1661/1888.  
Out of hours media contact: 07867 500572
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @biglotteryfund #biglf
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund

Notes to editors

• The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• The Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 it has awarded close to £6bn.
• In the year ending 31 March 2013, 28% of total National Lottery revenue was returned to the Good Causes. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £31 billion has been raised and more than 400,000 grants awarded.