D-Day 80 The Last Veterans: Charles Giles

Charles Giles, Age: 101, Royal Navy

Interviewed 19 February 2024

Spending the entire war on HMS Bleasdale, Mr Giles had already taken part in the ill-fated Dieppe raid in which the Allies tried to take control of an operational port in occupied France.

A Hunt-class destroyer, Bleasdale had been involved in a series of exercises to prepare for Neptune, the operational name for the sea invasion. 

Mr Giles has dementia and his carer helped tell us the story of his D-Day experience with his family’s blessing.

Carer Ollie Parker said: "Charles was part of the navigating team so he was in charge of getting to the point of where the action was and stayed in line with where the action needed to be.

"It was a destroyer and he was deep in the bowels and that position is well within the ship itself so he would not have seen a huge amount of the action outside the ship.

"The thing that stands out that he always talked about was the camaraderie and the good times he had on the ship. Inside the mess where they had a break from the pain and the conflict."

The night before D-Day the ship escorted a convoy to Juno Beach and took part in the bombardment of the enemy defence ahead of the beach landings. 

Mr Parker added: "When we took Charles to Chatham dockyard to go on a Destroyer.

"Not the exact one he was on, it was the Cavalier, he lit up when he went on that ship.

"The pride you could see he had of being able to go there was amazing."

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