D-Day 80 The Last Veterans: George Chandler

George Chandler, Age: 98, Royal Navy

Interviewed 5 March 2024

Died: 26 October 2024

A crewman on a British motor torpedo boat leaving from Newhaven, George Chandler from Burgess Hill crossed the Channel on the afternoon of D-Day.

His vessel was an armed guard for the American Rangers heading to Omaha and Utah.

He said: "I was a gunner. It was half past four in the morning when the skipper told the crew to make ready for sea and overhead were planes of all sizes and types heading for the French coast.

"We kept to the coast because we were on guard against German E-boats.

"If you like, they were German motor torpedo boats - we couldn’t go inland because we were guarding against German forces coming round the coast.

"We laid off and we could see these young Rangers.

"Some were younger than me and I was 19 at the time. We watched them come in and get slaughtered. They weren’t killed, they were slaughtered. They didn’t stand a chance.

"We could see them through these big submarine night glasses we had.

"Some of them were killed before they even got off their boats and assault craft, and I wouldn’t ask any mother’s son to go through what they went through.

"Like all these things, when you go to a memorial you are there again on the spot.

"While I am talking to you I am re-living that. I can see these youngsters being mown down as they tried to land.

"They must have been the bloodiest beaches of the whole of D-Day."

The Americans finally secured a foothold and Mr Chandler’s ship returned to Newhaven. It then spent several months carrying out patrols of the French coast.

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