"I'll never forget it": Aberdeenshire WW2 veteran shares memories of D-Day on 80th anniversary
Private Jim Glennie, 98, from Turriff was sent to the beaches of Normandy by boat at the age of 18.
Last updated 6th Jun 2024
One of Scotland's last living D-Day veterans has shared his experiences of the Normandy landings 80 years on.
The D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 marked the beginning of the end of the Second World War as 150,000 allied troops stormed the beaches of Nazi-occupied Northern France.
It was the largest seaborne invasion in history.
Private Jim Glennie, now 98, from Turriff was sent to the beaches of Normandy by boat at the age of 18.
Pvt Glennie told of how the soldiers had to jump off the boat into knee-deep water and his two friends admitted they couldn't swim.
"They stuck to me like glue" Jim said.
He explained the German forces were closing in on them, being shot at with constant shelling around them.
"The Germans were moving in. We weren't strong enough to hold them back to tell you the truth."
Injured and captured
Pvt Glennie was later shot in the arm and captured, where he turned 19-years-old as a prisoner of a war camp.
He said someone in the camp shouted: "'Fit day is this?' and I said 'time you get a watch!'"
"He said 'it's the 19th of August'.
"I said 'that's my birthday'".
Asked what it was like to be a prisoner of war he explained "Food was the main thing. The Jerries (Germans) when they captured us - well me anyway - they searched us.
"My mother had a ring and she had given it to me. The blinking jerry (German) took it off.
"I felt like...you know...but you couldn't do anything."
Jim was taken to a hospital where a German doctor removed the bullet from his arm.
He laughs as he explains the doctor said: "Have that as a souvenir, Scottie".
He eventually returned home to Turriff and said his mother was "over the moon" to have him back.
"I was lucky, definitely lucky."
"I'll never forget it"
Turning 99-years-old in August, Jim continues to volunteer at the Gordon Highlanders Museum.
Later today, 6 June, Pvt Glennie will perform a salute alongside a pipe band to commemorate the D-Day landings at the museum.
Asked how it feels to be part of the 80th anniversary, he replied: "I'll never forget it."
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