D-Day 80 The Last Veterans: Jack Gledhill

Jack Gledhill, Age: 100, Royal Engineers

Interviewed 21 February 2024

An apprentice patternmaker who joined the Royal Engineers and trained as a Sapper, Mr Gledhill was put on an instructor’s course.

He then trained many troops in the lead-up to D-Day in how to avoid enemy mines, booby traps and obstacles, build bridges on land and sea and use ropes for heavy lifting.

The only way he could get into the services originally was to sign as a regular.

He was sent on a six-week initial training course, and then went on to train as a Royal Engineer sapper.

"They kept me behind to put me on an instructor’s course to train recruits," he said.

"I passed it and they kept me behind and trained sapper recruits."

Jack is sure that many of those recruits went to Normandy.

Identified on landing by white bands around their helmets, Royal Engineers helped design, build and put together the Mulberry artificial harbour and clear lanes and establish exits on the beaches.

Their tasks also included removing vehicles that had become stuck and also clearing obstacles such as mines.

This work on D-Day often had to be done while the men came under fire.

Mr Gledhill said: "I missed out.

"Instead of going with them to be put in units they kept me behind and I felt that, like I hadn’t gone. I had to accept it.

"A sapper does a lot of work.

"He deals with booby traps, bridges on water and on land, we used to train them to build that. And ropes for lifting stuff about - we had to train for all of that."

Although Mr Gledhill regrets missing out on the invasion, Royal Engineers were among the best-trained troops in the British Army and that expertise was instrumental in the success of D-Day.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...