Four D-Day veterans brought some of their most treasured wartime tributes to Buckingham Palace as they met with the King and Queen ahead of Thursday’s 80th anniversary commemorations.
Among them were a still pristine pair of football boots carried by codebreaker Bernard Morgan – once the youngest RAF sergeant to land in Normandy and now 100 years old – tied to the straps of his military backpack.
Fellow centenarian Arthur Oborne also brought the bloodstained dog tags he was wearing when he was shot through the chest in Tilly-Sur-Seulles, just days after landing on Gold Beach.
Miraculously he survived after he was saved by his best friend, Walter, who pulled him to safety and performed life-saving treatment before getting him to a field hospital.
Tragically, Arthur awoke days later to discover that Walter had been killed the very next day, along with the rest of his battalion from the 49th Division of the 6th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s.
King Charles III meeting D-Day veteran Jim Miller in Buckingham Palace, London, during the filming of a short film that will feature in BBC’s D-Day 80
King Charles III and Queen Camilla meeting D-Day veterans Arthur Oborne, Jim Miller, Bernard Morgan and John Dennett in Buckingham Palace, London
‘Will you be remembering him? asked Queen Camilla gravely.
‘As a family, we will never forget it,’ replied Arthur, ‘We’ve visited his grave a number of times.’
The men’s moving meeting with Their Majesties is to feature as part of a BBC live broadcast, D-Day 80: Tribute to The Fallen, which will air on Wednesday, June 5.
Each veteran shares personal stories from the D-Day landings of 1944, accompanied by evocative photographs and keepsakes that bring their stories to life.
John Dennett, 99, a Royal Navy gunner who manned a landing craft at Sword Beach, brought along a photograph of ‘the girl I met in England’, Joyce.
The night before he was due to be deployed they were so busy doing the quickstep in the local dance hall that he missed his bus back to the ship.
He and his friends had to climb up the anchor chain, he told the laughing King, and were caught and disciplined.
He said it was ‘worth it’, adding: ‘We must have had something in common as we married in 1947.’
King Charles III meeting D-Day veterans Bernard Morgan and John Dennett in Buckingham Palace
The King was very taken by Bernard Morgan’s football boots, which he carried throughout the war.
He revealed to him that he played 12 games of football during the conflict, including one on the landing craft to Normandy.
‘I don’t believe it!’ the enthralled monarch exclaimed.
‘We decided to have a football match, the army versus the RAF. think it was a draw,’ Mr Morgan recalled.
Joking that he, like his boots, was far past his ‘sell-by date’, the King gently insisted that they were both ‘remarkably well preserved’.
The fourth veteran was Jim Miller, 100, part a reconnaissance regiment, the 11th Hussars, who landed on Juno Beach.
The King also shared some of his own family mementos from around D-Day including a photograph of his grandfather, King George VI, on the beach with General Montgomery several days after the June 6 assault.
Queen Camilla speaking with veteran Arthur Oborne in Buckingham Palace, London
He said: ‘My grandfather was so determined to go. He got very frustrated because they wouldn’t let him go until several days later.’
He also showed the men the late King’s diary from the time.
Asked by the Queen what his recollections of D-Day were, Mr Morgan said: ‘When we came off our landing ship tank, down on the beach the army were there collecting the poor soldiers who drowned on the initial landing.’
Mr Dennett said: ‘When you look back on the lads we lost, it was colossal. It’s frightening. But that’s when you feel grateful for what you have been through.
‘I class myself as being very lucky and I appreciate being able to do what I can now and enjoy the life we all fought for. ‘ ‘Exactly,’ nodded the King solemnly.
Mr Miller added: ‘Remembrance is so important. The younger generation must learn about it and take it to heart. ‘
D-Day 80: Tribute to The Fallen will broadcast live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8.30pm to 10pm on Wednesday June 5.