D-Day veteran turns 100
Mervyn Kersh says he wants to pop to Buckingham Palace to thank the King for his card
Last updated 21st Dec 2024
A D-Day veteran has thanked the King and Queen for their card at his surprise 100th birthday party.
Mervyn Kersh arrived in Normandy aged 19, three days after the start of the D-Day invasion in June 1944, acting as a technical clerk for the Royal Army Ordnance Corps organising vehicle support.
The ambassador for the British Normandy Memorial, from Cockfosters, north London, was surprised by family and friends at the Union Jack Club in south-east London on Friday.
Mr Kersh read out his birthday card signed by the King and Queen, and told reporters: "Very nice of them, I'll have to pop round to Buckingham Palace to give them thanks, pop in to say hello."
He said he has met Charles three times, including when he was Prince of Wales, adding: "I told him I'd put the kettle on if he ever pops in, because he said he would do that - he never has.
"I haven't met Queen Camilla, it's a great honour."
Asked how it feels to be 100 years old, Mr Kersh said: "I haven't had enough experience of it yet, it's sort of terrifying.
"I see it as one, nought, nought - nothing, nothing - like being newly born."
He added: "Memories going back to 95 years, I remember the school board man coming home and telling my mother that it's time I went to school.
"She argued with him, and I ran away crying, around the back of the house crying. We postponed it a few months until I was six, then I actually went to school crying all the time because I didn't want to go.
"When she collected me, I don't know what time it was, three or four o'clock, when she collected me I was crying because I didn't want to leave school - I was playing all the time, it was lovely. Later on I had to learn but that was nice."
Mr Kersh went on to thank the drivers who help him travel to different veterans' events.
"It's nice to meet people I know there, that I've learned to know, but also people I don't know each time, new ones, of course we go to the memorials, cemeteries and so on, and that revives memories of back in June (1944)," he said.
"It's very moving as well as enjoyable, two separate emotions while I'm there. The passing years, 80 years, it still brings things back."
The King and Queen's birthday card said: "We are so pleased to know that you are celebrating your one hundredth birthday on 20 December, 2024.
"This brings our warmest congratulations and heartfelt good wishes on such a special occasion."
In May this year, ahead of the 80th anniversary of the landings, Mr Kersh said he had hoped the gains made in the Second World War "would have lasted longer" as Russia has become the "Germany of today".
He told the PA news agency: "I just wish the gains we made would have lasted longer than my lifetime because we're going through the same ground again, and at this time it's Russia that is the Germany of today, an aggressor.
"Nothing is being done except wagging a finger and saying 'naughty, naughty'. Taking the money away from a few citizens is not going to stop Putin invading other countries.
"You don't get peace by being weak. The first duty of any government is to safeguard its citizens, before benefits and free medical aid and all the rest of it - the first place to spend money is on armaments."
Mr Kersh urged young people to be "prepared" and "strong" if they want peace.
The D-Day operation brought together the land, air and sea forces of the allied powers in what became the largest amphibious invasion in military history.
It was regarded as a success and began the process of ending the war in Europe.