Lovely tale
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:07 pm
Two D-Day comrades were reunited by chance when they returned to the Normandy beaches as tourists 67 years later - on the same day.
War heroes Bill Betts, 88, and Clifford Baker, 98, were among the first soldiers off the boats when their regiment stormed Gold Beach on June 6, 1944. Mr Betts was in the first boat to land, Mr Baker was in the second.
The pair met each other on the beach but shortly after Mr Betts was wounded by heavy machine gun fire and airlifted back to Britain. He never saw his fellow soldier and friend again.
But during a trip to Arromanches D-Day Museum in northern France this summer he spotted Mr Baker's signature directly above his in a book of remembrance.
He quickly made enquiries and discovered the signature had been made just 20 minutes earlier - and Mr Baker was about to depart on a coach.
Mr Betts, of Wellesbourne, Warkwickshire, dashed out to the car park and had an emotional reunion with his former comrade.
Grandfather-of-two Mr Betts said: 'I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw his name but there it was in black-and-white.
'I'd been given a commemorative medal by the Mayor of Arromanches so I asked her when Clifford had been into the museum that day.
'She said only 20 minutes before and that his coach was now boarding in the car park. I decided that I had to take the chance to catch him.
'I never imagined that we'd see each other after all that time, let alone in a place so close to where we were last together.
'We were face to face again so you can imagine just how emotional that was.
'We had a chat about D-Day and the events that happened such a long time ago - the memories of it all are still very clear in my mind.
'After I'd said my goodbyes and boarded our coach again everyone on-board broke into a roar of cheers and applause.
'It made my trip that bit more special.
'I think it was ordained that we should not meet for 67 years until that particular day and that particular time.'
The pair spent two-and-a-half years training together with the Essex Yeomanry as radio operators before the fateful Normandy landings.
Mr Betts, Mr Baker and their fellow soldiers boarded landing craft in Poole, Dorset, before linking up with other regiments in Southampton.
From there they began the perilous push across the English Channel towards the Normandy beaches, where thousands of men lost their lives.
Aged just 19, Mr Betts' mission was to relay messages from the advancing front line back to the gunners on the ships, anchored four miles offshore.
Despite suffering chronic seasickness, he insisted on being the first ashore to ensure the gunners did not shell their own troops.
After being injured by enemy fire, Mr Betts was told by his captain to stay put while the rest continued their assault up the beach.
That fleeting moment - as German mortars screamed over the sand dunes - was the last time Mr Betts would see Mr Baker for 67 years.
Mr Betts, a retired manager for American car firm Chrysler, said: 'I was angry with myself for getting wounded so early - I'd trained for such a long time in preparation for D-Day and here I was immobilised.
'It was absolute chaos - we caught sight of each other as everyone was running past.
'I was just telling them all to carry on, it was fairly brief.
'Then it all got a bit nasty - another wounded man lying next to me put his hand up to the others passing and it was shot through.
'I realised I had to stay absolutely still because if the sniper had shot him and I moved, he would shoot me.GOLD BEACH: AT THE CENTRE OF THE D-DAY LANDINGS
Gold Beach was one of five designated beaches that were used during the D-Day landings in June 1944.
The other beaches - Gold, Sword, Juno, Omaha and Utah - were all in Normandy and designated to either the British, American or Canadian military forces.
Gold Beach, in the centre of the landings, was five miles wide and at the western end was Arromanches, the site of the Mulberry Harbour.
The main assault unit was led by the British 50th Infantry Division, part of the British 2nd Army.
Some 400 casualties were taken in securing the beach.
Source: www.historylearningsite.co.uk
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1b4jYLAnH
'He just slumped forward and lay on top of me and I realised he was dead.
'I had to lay still for eight hours until it was safe for the Americans to recover me.'
After recovering from his operation in Southampton, Mr Betts rejoined the Essex Yeomanry in France and fought on through Belgium and Holland with a different troop.
He was among the very first soldiers into Nazi Germany, crossing the Rhine in an amphibious tank.
Mr Bates and Mr Baker's remarkable reunion came after they both received grants from the Big Lottery Fund's 'Heroes Return 2' programme, which funds trips for former serviceman to revisit their historic battlegrounds.
The Mayor of Arromanches had presented some of the veterans with medals and was still at the museum when Mr Betts spotted Mr Baker's signature.
The mayor frantically ordered the bus to be stopped and Mr Baker, of Port Talbot, South Wales - accompanied by his granddaughter - stepped off to come-face-to-face with Mr Betts.
They embraced while bystanders took pictures of the special moment.
To date, the Big Lottery Fund has awarded in excess of £25million to over 50,000 Second World War veterans, widows and spouses across the UK.
Peter Wanless, Big Lottery Fund Chief Executive, said: 'Stories such as these serve as poignant reminders for us all of the huge debt of gratitude and recognition of the sacrifice made by hundreds of thousands of British servicemen and women during the Second World War.
'They built the peace and protected the freedoms we enjoy today.
'I'm delighted that we can continue to offer this support and I urge them to apply now for a commemorative trip in 2011/12 to revisit the places they served.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1b4jRFKJc
