D-Day education centre will ensure sacrifices of Normandy heroes will never be forgotten

The world will fall silent in three days' time to mark arguably the most significant wartime anniversary.

On Thursday, exactly 80 years after D-Day, the last surviving warriors of the fabled 1944 campaign will bow their heads in sombre reverence where giants fell. 

It will, in all likelihood, be the final chance for them to salute comrades from the mighty Allied invasion.

And on the very same day a new chapter will begin to ensure generations to come never forget the ultimate sacrifice so many made to win freedom for the world.   

The Winston Churchill Education and Learning Centre, proudly standing alongside The British Normandy Memorial above Gold Beach in Ver-sur-Mer, will be officially opened by King Charles to tell the incredible story of against-all-odds heroics, service, sacrifice and dedication to duty that saw lives lost so peace and stability could be secured.  

If one day can be said to have determined the fate of generations to come it was June 6, 1944. 

The centre will tell the story of how raw courage, grit and determination saw 156,000 British and Allied soldiers set sail on a mighty armada from the south coast of England before leaping neck deep into the choppy water, dragging themselves across beaches along the Normandy and up heavily-fortified hillsides amid a hail of machine gun and mortar fire in a desperate bid to liberate occupied France and Western Europe, secure victory in the Second World War and, ultimately, freedom.

Lord Richard Dannatt, former head of the British Army and Chairman of the Normandy Memorial Trust, said:  “Although the massive contributions of the United States and other nations, particularly the Canadians, were key to the success of the [Normandy] campaign, the role of the United Kingdom was pivotal. 

“Winston Churchill had led the nation, standing alone against Nazi Germany and fascist Italy from 1940, and the country became the launchpad for the greatest air, sea and land operation ever conducted in military history. Our country can be justifiably proud of the role Britain played in building the Europe of today. The Winston Churchill Centre will tell this story for years to come.”

British General Bernard Montgomery, affectionately known as “Monty” commanded the 156,000 troops who stormed ashore. 

Stan Hollis, Company Sergeant Major with D Company, 6th Battalion Green Howards, was one of the first to step foot on Gold Beach at 07.32 and was awarded the only Victoria Cross of D-Day. 

The youngest soldier who fell was just 16 while the oldest was 64. 

Royal Navy veteran Alec Penstone, 99, from Shanklin, Isle of Wight, will be among the Normandy lionhearts standing proud on Thursday. 

Alec served on HMS Campania defending the invading Allied armanda from German U-boats and submarines. He later served on Arctic convoy ships delivering essential supplies to northern ports in the Soviet Union.

He said: “I’m not a hero, I never was, I am just so lucky. The heroes are the ones who never returned. They knew they were going to their death. They were your family and I am so grateful for what they did. Some of the younger generation don’t understand because they have never been taught. That is why it is so important to teach them about what happened and why.”

Operation Overlord, the codename for the air and sea invasion, was commanded by General Bernard Montgomery - known to his troops as “Monty”. 

His grandson, Henry, 3rd Viscount Montgomery of Alamein and Honorary President of the Spirit of Normandy Trust, said: “It is quite impossible not to be deeply moved walking through the columns reading the names of the 22,442 service personnel who gave their lives for our freedom during the Normandy campaign. 

“Annual pilgrimages form one of the main objectives of the trust. The other - and one that is growing in importance - is education and in particular working with schools to tell the story of the campaign, which freed Europe from an evil and oppressive regime and resulted in a prolonged period of peace in Eastern Europe. 

“One only has to look today at what is happening in Eastern Europe to realise how potentially fragile that peace is. And that is why telling the story is so important and will continue to be so important. 

“Despite my heritage I was guilty of taking for granted what I, we all, enjoy. It was not until I met wonderful veterans and comrades on annual pilgrimages that I learned of their extraordinary courage, told with humour and humility. I have also witnessed the incredible welcome from the people of Normandy who really knew what loss of freedom meant and come out in their thousands each year to thank the veterans that I realised the significance of those three hard summer months of 1944. 

“Thanks to these men I have learned, to quote Eisenhower [Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe] that freedom must be daily earned and refreshed, it is not a right. That is what the future educational work of both The Spirit of Normandy Trust and The British Normandy Memorial is all about so the horrors these brave men and their fallen comrades endured for our freedom, that we still all enjoy today, is never forgotten, and we learn what it takes to keep that freedom.”

Ahead of a momentous week highly-decorated soldier Lord Dannatt, 73, a former infantry officer in the Green Howards who saw action during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Bosnia and Kosovo wars, said: “The number of veterans is dwindling, but the significance of the British and Allied contributions to bringing freedom and peace to Europe on D-Day cannot be underestimated and the gratitude the French still feel towards those who liberated their country burns so strong.”