'We must never forget': Poignant D-Day remembrance service honours veterans who answered the country's call as boys
A remembrance service has taken place to commemorate D-Day veterans
Six veterans who served in World War II have attended an emotional remembrance service honouring those who answered the country’s call as mere boys.
On Sunday, May 31, St Mary’s Parish Church, in Portchester, held a commemorative service ahead of the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, which saw almost 160,000 allied troops cross the English Channel to secure a vital foothold in Normandy on June 6, 1944.
Also known as Operation Overlord, D-Day was the largest seaborne invasion in history and sparked a 12-week campaign to liberate Western Europe from Nazi occupation.
Doug Hotchkiss, who served on HMS Belfast as a teenager, said: “I was 16 when I went to D-Day - I put my age up so I could join.
“When I was 14, I went to sea with the Merchant Navy and two of the ships I was on were sunk. I had to be picked up in the sea, and I thought ‘I’m in the wrong job’, so when I got back to Liverpool, I told them I was 17 and a half, and signed up to the Navy.
“I was in a gun turret on HMS Belfast - It had three guns and I was in the middle and it was so noisy. When I got back to Portsmouth, I decided to join the submarines and went to annoy the Japanese for the rest of the war.
“Being here - it is one of those things I feel I ought to do, but it is nice meeting up with all of these people.”
Lorie Coffey founded Project 71 in 2013 to support veterans across the region, and as the years have gone on, the charity has become a lifeline for many, with a group of dedicated volunteers taking veterans across Europe to commemorate the fallen at places close to their heart.
She said: “We do this every year. It is a D-Day remembrance service for the veterans. We used to do it for the veterans but we’ve got less World War II veterans with us today so we do it in remembrance so we will read out a list of names of those with us and those no longer here.
“There were so many of them that were just boys.
“It is so lovely to see the amount of people that have come but what saddens me is the amount of veterans coming to us is less and less now but it has been an honour to get to know them.”
Henry Rice, was serving at HMS Collingwood at the time of D-Day, before travelling to the Normandy coastline for D-Day five.
As part of the service, which commenced at 2pm, the newly formed Portchester Volunteer Marching Band celebrated its official launch, with the group welcoming guests on arrival by performing a number of songs including Believer by Imagine Dragons.
The launch comes after the original group TS Tenacity, operated by the Nautical Training Corps (NTC), was shut down on March 24, prompting Caz Taylor and Jessica Powlesland to work alongside a “fantastic group” of people to establish a new marching band open to all ages.
To celebrate there was an official ribbon cutting ahead of the D-Day service, with Caz, operations director, saying: “This isn’t just the beginning of a new band, it’s the start of something much bigger - this is about keeping the team together and building something from the ground up.
Commander Steve Shaw, chair of the Portchester Volunteer Marching Band, added: “A few short weeks ago, we had nothing. We had no money, no instruments and no emblem but a fantastic team with an amazing attitude, drive and energy, has made this happen.
“Over my 40-year military career, this has been truly impressive to see and we now have a new fully fledged marching band.”
Speaking about the newly formed marching band, Robin said “you don’t often see them anymore”.
Reverend Canon Dr Ian Meredith RNR, vicar of St Mary’s, said: “We must never forget those who served and those who returned home. For they wore the scars, the loss of comrades and injuries.
“It is important that we try to commemorate D-Day for as long as we can to remember the sacrifice made.”