Normandy Veterans' Signing Event – 16th October
We'll be joined at the gallery in Wendover by highly-regarded WWII veterans who took part in D-Day and the Battle for Normandy as the Allies pushed for victory in Europe.
Our special guests are looking forward to meeting enthusiasts and signing items for collectors - they include:
Trooper BILL GLADDEN Ld'H - originally serving with 154 Royal Armoured Corps, he then joined the 79th Armoured Division Development Unit which helped in the improvement of Hobart’s ‘Funnies’, Bangalore torpedoes and flail tanks to name but a few. Moving to the 6th Airborne Armoured Recce Regiment on Tetrarch light tanks, they flew out on D-Day in Hamilcar gliders with their landing zone at Ranville, east of the River Orne. Here he was wounded in fighting with Germans and returned home on 21 June.
Leading Aircraftman BERT WESTGATE - having joined the RAF in 1943, Bert initially trained as a Lancaster rear gunner, then prior to D-Day was posted to Compton Bassett, a Radar and Radio training facility, to undertake tactical wireless operator training. He was then re-posted to Portland, Weymouth, in early June 1944 and crossed the channel to Omaha beach on D-Day +6 with American forces where he undertook radio van operator duties following the 21st Army Group through Normandy, France and into Belgium.
Able Seaman GEORGE CHANDLER MiD Ld’H - having joined the Royal Navy in 1943 aged 18, George served as a Gun Layer on MTB 710, 59th flotilla on coastal defence duties, with regular channel night-time enemy engagements. In the run up to D-Day they trained with US Rangers on the south coast, honing troop seaborne manoeuvres and on D-Day itself served as a defence escort to invasion forces in the American sector close to Omaha beach. George later served in the Mediterranean theatre, Adriatic Sea, in close operational support with the LRDG and SBS special duties sections.
Private VICTOR MACKENZIE Ld’H - joining the Home Guard aged 16 in 1940, Vic went on to join the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Responding to a call for drivers for the Royal Army Service Corps and following extensive training, he landed on Gold Beach in the days after D-Day driving with the Close Support Group, 7th Armoured Division, landing essential supplies and ammunition.
Private MERVYN KERSH Ld’H – due to land on Gold Beach D-Day +5, Mervyn was serving with the RAOC with the 17th Advanced Vehicle company and were called to action earlier, landing on Gold Beach on D-Day +3. Charged with vehicle logistics and their transit storage post-invasion, Mervyn served through Holland and Belgium crossing the Rhine into Germany by the end of the War. Hearing that Bergen-Belsen concentration camp had been liberated in April 1945, Mervyn took the emotional trip to visit the site and meet survivors.
Warrant Officer 2 DAVID MORGAN – Serving with the Royal Signals, David landed on Utah Beach on D-Day +5, tasked with establishing a wireless link back to the War Office in London. Once the US Forces had taken Cherbourg, David was re-assigned to a smaller unit and continued the advance into Germany. Following the War, David extended his service with deployments in Germany, Egypt, Libya and Kenya. David left the army having served 22 years.
Entry is completely FREE, all we ask is that you RESERVE YOUR TICKET in advance to help us manage numbers and make it relaxed and comfortable for everyone.
Our guests are happy to sign autographs for collectors and items purchased at the event over £60 can be signed free of charge.
Bookings are now being taken so please contact us to secure your place.
Sadly Joe Cattini and Norman Griffiths are unable to join us at short notice, but send their best regards and looks forward to an event in the near future...
Lance Bombardier JOE CATTINI Ld’H - serving with the Hertfordshire Yeomanry 86th Field Regiment Royal Artillery, he landed in King sector, Gold Beach on D-Day as part of the first artillery wave to land. He served in Normandy, then through the NW European Campaign with 30 Corp, taking part in Operation Market Garden, through Eindhoven, Veghel and Nijmegen. In December 1944, around Christmas, the battalion was called upon to help the besieged Americans at Bastogne. After the Ardennes offensive, Joe returned to Nijmegen and from there in to Germany with Operation Veritable (Battle of the Reichswald) and then on to Bremen Germany, where his war ended.
Corporal NORMAN GRIFFITHS Ld’H - Norman landed on Juno Beach D-Day +4, originally planned for +2. He was an armourer with the Norwegian Fighter Squadrons 331 and 332 operating Mk.IX Spitfires. The squadron operated under difficult conditions from the front line, using constantly changing makeshift airfields, until the Normandy breakout, then through Europe to Germany by the end of the war.
