Veteran attends torch ceremony ahead of D-Day 80
A 99-year-old veteran joined a ceremony to pass on a commemorative torch to mark the upcoming 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Stan Ford, Royal Navy veteran from Bath, in Somerset, met with primary school pupils in Haycombe Cemetery to reflect on his experience of the D-Day landings.
It was organised as part of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's (CWGC) campaign, which aims to build connections between veterans and young people.
Mr Ford said: "We are hoping that the children can take on board something, even if it's just to say the cemetery in Normandy has got 22,442 names of guys who did not come home."
The D-Day operation of 6 June 1944 brought together the land, air and sea forces of the allied forces in what became known as the largest amphibious invasion in military history.
The CWGC's Lighting Their Legacy campaign will see the torch being transported around the UK, before it arrives in Normandy on 6 June - the 80th anniversary.
The CWGC’s mission is to "ensure those who died in service, or as a result of conflict, are commemorated so that they, and the human cost of war, are remembered for ever".
Schoolchildren said it was an "honour" to have met the veteran.
Mr Ford was badly injured during the landings after his ship was torpedoed.
Mr Ford served on HMS Fratton, an escort ship that accompanied ships taking men and supplies across the English Channel on D-Day and afterwards.
HMS Fratton was sunk off the Normandy coast on 18 August 1944.
Thirty-eight of the ship’s crew were picked up, however 31 lost their lives.
The explosion was so severe that the gun platform that Mr Ford was operating was blown off the ship and into the water, with him still on it.
The CWGC’s head of education and engagement, Simon Bendry, said: “When you study history it is often something that is a long way away but suddenly here is that connection, here is somebody that was there.
"For these youngsters here I am sure it is something they will remember for a long, long time."
"D-Day 80 is a national moment, a special time to come together to commemorate and contemplate the sacrifices which underpin the freedoms we enjoy today.
"It’s an honour to help ensure that we carry on that legacy for generations to come.”
Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.
