Lest we forget: Borders communities join forces to mark 80th anniversary of D-Day
'If we do not mark it our children will not see it as something to remember'
Last updated 6th Jun 2024
"It was the biggest armada the world will ever see."
The grandson of the man who helped mastermind one of the pivotal moments of World War Two has revealed he retired to the Scottish Borders to recuperate in the weeks before the invasion.
William Ramsay has set up a museum in honour of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay at the family home near Leitholm, in Berwickshire.
He's been speaking to Greatest Hits Radio ahead of a special service at Bughtrig House, to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
William recalled: "He came home - he had to stay in bed; the doctor was called, he talked about how his bones ached; he was just exhausted from all that preparation.
"In the first nine days, they landed half a million men and 77,000 vehicles."
Admiral Ramsay, who had earlier overseen the evacuation of 338,000 Allied soldiers from Dunkirk, was appointed naval commander in chief for Operation Overlord.
And the ships under his command landed one million troops in France in one month, starting from D-Day on June 6th, 1944.
But he was killed in a plane crash the following year.
Willliam, who himself served as a Captain in the army, said: "The museum came about shortly after my father died... we felt that the Second World War is moving into the history books for today's children, because their grandfathers were too young to have served. And so, by creating a museum that tells a lot of the major operations of World War Two, it keeps it fresh."
And he added: "By telling it through the prism of a person - a bit like Steven Spielberg chose to tell the D-Day story through Saving Private Ryan and Matt Damon and Tom Hanks' characters - by telling these stories through my grandfather, will hopefully keep the stories alive."
A series of special events are taking place across our region to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
Last night (Wednesday), a beacon was lit at the war memorial in Selkirk where a small act of remembrance will take place at 10am today (Thursday) to remember those who never came home.
David Deacon, a former member of the Royal Military Police, said: "Pipe Major Kev Turnbull will play a lament, called The Beaches of Normandy, composed by Pipe Major Denholm 1st Bn KOSB in Normandy very soon after D Day.
"It is thought that this piece of music has not been played since the Second World War."
A retired shopkeeper who was just 23 when he took part in the Normandy landings is expected to join fellow veterans at the war memorial in Peebles.
John McOwan (pictured above) has been appearing in his uniform on large screens in London and Portsmouth as part of a campaign for Blind Veterans UK.
Pupils from Peebles High School will read passages from the 103-year-old's memoirs at the event, which gets underway at the Quadrangle at 11.45am.
WATCH: Click on the link below to hear more from events in Peebles...
Calum Stewart, from SSAFA Borders, and a fellow former REME member, said: “Having a bit of living history at the parade makes it more relevant to people.
“If we do not mark it our children will not see it as something to remember.”
Elsewhere, a senior Army official from the Borders has donated pieces of art, that depict many of the aspects of this moment in history, for a silent auction to benefit Armed Forces charities Legion Scotland and Poppyscotland.
The works by Hugo Clark (pictured above), a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Regiment of Scotland, will be up for grabs through a silent auction at a commemorative concert, titled Scotland's Salute; which is being held in Edinburgh's Usher Hall this evening.
Meanwhile, staying on a musical note, Jedburgh Pipe Band has returned to France to take part in the D-Day commemorations.
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