As the world commemorates the 77th anniversary of D-Day, the stories of those who fought and died on the beaches of Normandy are still being retold today. One such story belongs to Ronnie Fraser’s father, Ralph. Ralph was a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany who fled to Britain in 1939. In June 1942, he joined the Pioneer Corps, a regiment made up mainly of Jewish refugees. He was then stationed in Scotland, and it was there that his commanding officer warned him that if he was to go into Germany, he needed to change his surname, which was Feibusch. Ralph took the name Fraser and went on to serve in the British Army as a motorcycle rider in Normandy for D-Day. Ralph tragically passed away when he was 91, but his son, Ronnie, and his children and grandchildren, still remember his story.
Margaret Brotheridge’s story is also a reminder of the bravery and sacrifice of the Allied soldiers who fought on D-Day. Her father, Lt Den Brotheridge, served with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and was the first Allied soldier to be killed on D-Day. He was part of Operation Tonga, a mission to seize Pegasus Bridge in Normandy, and was one of 181 hand-picked soldiers who flew into Normandy. His daughter Margaret was born 19 days later, but every year she returns to Bénouville, where the first battle on D-Day took place, to support the Gondrée family’s café at the bridge. Margaret is proud of what her father and all the soldiers did that day.
Kirsty Wark’s father, Jimmy, was also involved in D-Day. Wark, a presenter for BBC Newsnight, only discovered this after researching his military history. Jimmy made the crossing on 16 June and saw action for one day before becoming severely wounded and being sent back to the UK. He was then sent to Germany in 1946 as an intelligence officer. Jimmy received a military cross for his actions on the beaches of Normandy, but he was reluctant to talk about his wartime experiences. Kirsty remembers her father being very angry when her brother took his uniform out of the linen cupboard, as he did not want the significance of his actions to be taken lightly.
The stories of Ralph Fraser, Lt Den Brotheridge and Jimmy Wark are just three of the countless tales of bravery and sacrifice from D-Day. As the world pays tribute to those who fought and died on the beaches of Normandy, we remember and honour their bravery
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More