![]() Once on the ground, our group of 56 British and 1 American Normandy Veteran were escorted over to meet a relaxed Guard of Honour which included 20 American Normandy Veterans whose trip we were told had been sponsored by the White House. This visit to the historic Royal Navy Dockyard was such a grand and fitting start to the Normandy week. Lord Mayor welcomes Normandy Veterans to Portsmouth during evening reception at the Queens Hotel in SouthseaĪfter the traditional hearty breakfast on Monday morning, the two coaches took everyone down to the Historic Dockyard where the main Victory Gates were opened for our arrival. Once everyone was checked in and all in order after the days travelling, Karl Wainwright, Ceremonial Piper of the Millin-Montgomery Voyage piped everyone into Dinner where we were joined by the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Councillor Lynne Stagg. Upon arrival we met up with the rest of the veterans and companions who were joining from the southern region and also with John Millin with his wife, Dorrie. This special anniversary pilgrimage included two days in Portsmouth so the Queens Hotel Southsea was our home for two nights. Without their support these pilgrimages could not take place. ![]() John Ambulance medics and volunteer helpers to assist the veterans throughout the busy week. As always we had our dedicated support team of St. Included in this figure were 56 Normandy Veterans and a stray paratrooper veteran of Operation Market Garden! We also had two volunteers from the Black Watch who not only became the veterans’ personal Piper and Drummer, but were also quick to volunteer to help the veterans in any way they could. ![]() With the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Landings widely considered to be the Normandy “Swan Song”, all the veterans knew this year would be something special and they were very much looking forward to the week ahead! Two of the veterans in our 2014 group, Jack Brownlee and Steve Conyngham, had not returned to Normandy since they landed there in June 1944 and so were particularly apprehensive.īy the time we boarded the ferry to Normandy we were a group of 112 the largest british veteran group attending the events that week. Our sixth pilgrimage to Normandy began as usual in the northwest of England at around 9:30am on the Sunday morning, with two coaches and a minibus stopping to collect veterans who had travelled from all over the country on our route down to Portsmouth. Several of the veterans setting off for Normandy in early June had taken part in the voyage as it visited various ports along the coast of Britain, so the grand finale at Sword Beach on the 6th would prove to be one of the highlights of the forthcoming week.īritish veterans of the Normandy Landings on parade in Portsmouth to welcome Millin-Montgomery Pipes In some ways the 70 th Anniversary had started four weeks earlier for us on Sunday 3 rd May, with the launch of the Millin-Montgomery Voyage at Spean Bridge in the Highlands of Scotland.
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