Jersey D-Day veteran remembers his fellow soldiers on 79th anniversary
Bill Reynolds looks back on the historic battle...
One of Jersey's two surviving D-Day veterans has described his 'luck' at living for 99 years on the 79th anniversary of the Normandy landings.
Bill Reynolds was enlisted during World War II and remembers the 'chaps' he served with, many of whom did not return from the landings.
The 79th anniversary of the landings was marked in Jersey this morning (Tuesday 6 June) with a service at the Cenotaph.
Mr Reynolds, along with fellow veteran Ernest Thorne, laid a wreath during the service, which also involved a rendition of The Last Post and a minute's silence.
The Chief Minister, Deputy Kristina Moore, Lieutenant Governor, Vice-Admiral Jeremy Kyd, and Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, were all in attendance.
What were the D-Day landings?
What were the D-Day landings?
Historians view D-Day as one of the turning points in World War II, and Britain's wartime leader Winston Churchill described it as the "beginning of the end" for Hitler.
It was the largest seaborne invasion in history and involved nearly 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers.
It's estimated nearly 160,000 troops were involved and that there were more than 4,000 allied deaths on the first day.
It's thought around 60 soldiers, sailors and airmen from Jersey were involved in the battle and just over a decade ago 38 of them formed the Jersey Normandy Veterans' Association.
Mr Reynolds says the annual service is vital so "the young ones know what it's all about."
His memories of the landings are still clear and he remembers being taught how to take over the landing craft if the pilot got shot.
As they landed on the Normandy beaches, his truck's engine cut out when he tried to drive ashore. When he was eventually able to drive, he remembers passing by a German sign which said 'Attention mines' which was 'a bit scary.'
"When it happened, you had no time to think about it. It just happened." he said.
"War is a terrible thing. As we all know now in Ukraine. I can't really believe the Russians wanting a war - they went through a bad one during the last World War.
"I never wanted anything to do with the war, after the war we wanted to forget it."
Mr Reynolds joined the Jersey Normandy Veterans' Association when he returned to the island.
He says the service is 'fantastic' and 'always a great event'.
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