Image of (LEFT- RIGHT) Sergeant Allan Jackson 3 PARA, Tom Hughes, Cyrill Hughes, Fred Millward (wheelchair) John Welsh, Sergeant Jim Kilbride and Corporal Nick Quinn (2 PARA).

Veterans who parachuted into battle on D-Day have met paratroopers preparing for a commemorative jump on to the same fields 70 years later.

D-Day veterans from 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion (9 PARA) visited ColchesterÕs Merville Barracks to meet their modern counterparts from 16 Air Assault Brigade.

The veterans climbed back aboard the camps Dakota - the aircraft used for Second World War parachute operations and watched troops prepare for a jump to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

Several hundred troops from the brigade will travel to Normandy for commemorative events next week, including memorial services at key locations such as Pegasus Bridge and a jump by 300 British, Canadian, American and French troops onto a drop zone used on D-Day.In the early hours of 6 June 1944, some 7,900 troops from the British 6th Airborne Division landed by parachute and glider to begin the liberation of Europe. 9 PARAs objective was to put out of action the German gun battery at Merville, which had a commanding field of fire over the invasion beaches.

Troops were widely scattered during the drop and only 150 of the battalions 600 men were available for the assault. Nevertheless the attack was launched and, after heavy fighting, the guns were silenced. Only 65 men gathered at the rallying point to move on to the unit's next objective.The Parachute Regiment was awarded a battle honour for the action, from which Merville Barracks takes its name.


Geff Pattinson and Corporal Nick Quinn.


Sergeant Jim Kilbride (4 PARA) from Colchester and Fred Millwood Normandy Veteran.



Geoff Pattinson who is a Normandy veteran.





D-Day veterans meet current paratroopers

Veterans who parachuted into battle on D-Day have met paratroopers preparing for a commemorative jump on to the same fields 70 years later.

D-Day veterans from 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion (9 PARA) visited Colchester’s Merville Barracks to meet their modern counterparts from 16 Air Assault Brigade. The veterans climbed back aboard the camp’s Dakota - the aircraft used for Second World War parachute operations – and watched troops prepare for a jump to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

Several hundred troops from the brigade will travel to Normandy for commemorative events next week, including memorial services at key locations such as Pegasus Bridge and a jump by 300 British, Canadian, American and French troops onto a drop zone used on D-Day.

In the early hours of 6 June 1944, some 7,900 troops from the British 6th Airborne Division landed by parachute and glider to begin the liberation of Europe. 9 PARA’s objective was to put out of action the German gun battery at Merville, which had a commanding field of fire over the invasion beaches. Troops were widely scattered during the drop and only 150 of the battalion’s 600 men were available for the assault. Nevertheless the attack was launched and, after heavy fighting, the guns were silenced. Only 65 men were left uninjured to move on to the unit's next objective.

The Parachute Regiment was awarded a battle honour for the action, from which Merville Barracks takes its name.

Fred Milward, from Hastings in East Sussex, was one of the soldiers who participated in the attack at Merville.

The 91-year-old said: “It brings back the memories to see the Dakota. On D-Day I was the first in line to jump out of the door and I was absolutely terrified – the sky was pitch black but lit up by the explosions of anti-aircraft fire.

“It was mayhem on the ground and we knew at the rally point that we only had about a quarter of the men allocated for the attack. Our commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway, was a hard man and he had been given a job to do and was determined to do it, so we did.

“I’ve been back to Normandy several times and it’s always an emotional experience, to think off your friends who didn’t make it back.”

Jeff Pattinson, 90 from Greenwich in south London, was in a glider heading to Merville that went off course after the tow rope snapped.

He said: “To see how the current soldiers train for parachuting is very interesting and it’s a lot more thorough than what we did in 1944.”

Lieutenant Colonel Will Lynch, Commanding Officer of 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, is organising the brigade’s participation in the commemorations.

He said: “For 16 Air Assault Brigade, it is a privilege to join our veterans to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day and honour those who gave their lives for our freedom. The achievements of 6th Airborne Division were vital to the success of the invasion and played a key part in building the formidable reputation of British Airborne Forces.

“The veterans and our current soldiers are the same calibre of men, only separated by age. The determination, controlled aggression and self-reliance needed by a paratrooper in 1944 are required now in our role as the British Army’s airborne rapid reaction force.”

Notes to editors:

The Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944 was the largest amphibious assault ever launched. More than 75,000 British, Canadian and other Commonwealth troops landed on the beaches alongside the United States and the Free French, in an Allied invasion force of more than 130,000. Another 7,900 British troops were landed by air. Supporting the invasion were more than 7,000 ships and smaller vessels off the coast and 11,000 aircraft. In total, British and Commonwealth casualties (killed, wounded or missing) on D-Day numbered approximately 4,300. The invasion established a crucial second front in the liberation of Europe from Nazi occupation, ultimately leading to victory for Allied Forces in 1945.

16 Air Assault Brigade is the British Army’s largest brigade with some 6,200 soldiers, combining the speed and agility of airborne and air assault troops with the potency of Apache attack helicopters. The brigade's core role is to provide the Air Assault Task Force (AATF), the British Army's rapid reaction force, which is ready to deploy anywhere in the world at short notice to conduct the full spectrum of military operations, from non-combatant evacuation operations to war-fighting.

Diplomacy is about surviving until the next century - politics is about surviving until Friday afternoon
Sir Humphrey Appleby