Brave vet recalls his memories of D-Day danger

Roland Worth 92, of Hunstanton, recalls the moments he went ashore on D-Day as an 18-year-old Royal Marine.

Roland trained as a commando and eventually became a signaller as he learned Morse code “quicker than anyone else”.

He was then appointed to position on a landing craft assault boat set for the shore of Normandy.

“As we went ashore I remember there was a lot of noise,” Roland said,

“We were knee deep as we waded on to the beach-front, knowing that we were near to death as German aircraft flew above.

“However, we had orders to keep pushing forward, so that’s what we did.

“My recollections of the next moments are somewhat hazy, as we were all bewildered, you don’t register what’s happening in a situation like that.

“We engaged with the enemy, when the planes crossed over, we clung to walls, boulders, whatever we could find.

“After three months we reached the outskirts of Caen and returned to Blighty.

“I was in Westcliff hospital (in Essex) for my wounds before moving on to Liverpool and we were deployed again.

“This time, it was to the Far East to engage with the Japanese for 18 months and aid the rescue prisoners held there.

“I have two notices here from the time, one that was the exhortation by Montgomery on the eve of D-Day and another one was the signing of the declaration for the cessation of hostilities.

“I was 18 back then. It’s only later on you realise what you’ve been through, when you are 18 you are just a boy really.

“It’s sad to think I’m the only one left of my unit there were so many of us, I’ve tried to find out if any others are alive through various Royal Marine sources, but I’m the last one standing.

“It’s really, really sad to realise that, you know.”

Roland received the prestigious Legion d’Honneur from the French government back in 2017 for his part in D-Day and his service to the nation of France in liberating it from the horror of Nazi occupation.