Salute for the fallen

Salute to the fallen...heroes Henry Rice, second left, and Ken Hay, both 99, join a group laying wreaths at Normandy Memorial

- By Giles Sheldrick

HEROES stand and salute, perhaps for the last time, at a sacred site recording the names of every fallen British D-Day warrior. Perched on a windswept cliff overlooking Gold Beach where the British 50th (Northumbrian) Division were the first to storm ashore the British Normandy Memorial immortalises the greatest generation.

Yesterday, among its limestone columns etched into which are the names of 22,442 soldiers who fell on June 6, 1944, and during the Battle of Normandy that followed, nine Second World War veterans gathered to pay their respects.

It is likely to be the last great gathering of giants, some of whom took part in the mighty allied invasion of occupied France, including Richard Brock, 101, John Dennett and Jim Grant, both 100, and Ken Hay, Henry Rice and Ken Benbow, all 99. They were joined by war heroes Marjorie Hanson, 102, George Boothby, 100, and Gilbert Clarke, 98.

They mustered at a moving cere mony to honour the sacrifice of those who helped free Europe from the grip of Nazi oppression - as war continues to rage in Ukraine.