98 ‘lost’ hero soldiers added to D-Day monument 82 years after they died | UK | News
D-Day hero and tireless fundraiser Harry Billinge (Image: PA)
The names of 98 missing soldiers who fell on D-Day and the subsequent Battle of Normandy have been added to the honor roll of those who died in the war.
Some 22,540 heroes are now immortalized at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer.
The names are engraved on the west wall and will be officially unveiled at a ceremony on Friday, on the eve of the 82nd anniversary of the Normandy Landings.
Record keeping during World War II was incomplete and contradictory. Some names were recorded incorrectly on military casualty lists; in some cases because these individuals were injured in Normandy and brought back to Britain for treatment. In others, names were not included on lists submitted by military authorities to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Forensic investigation by the Normandy Memorial Trust means warriors lost in the Normandy campaign have now joined their forever immortalized comrades.
General Lord Dannatt, former Chief of Staff, Chairman of the Normandy Memorial Trust and Patron of the Spirit of Normandy Trust, said: “These ‘missing’ names from the Normandy campaign now take their rightful place alongside those of their comrades on the British memorial in Normandy.
“As we approach the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, we honor them all for their sacrifice and remind ourselves of the urgent need to ensure the United Kingdom is adequately defended.”
King Charles at a ceremony at the British Normandy Memorial to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 2024 (Image: Getty Images)
The British Normandy Monument stands on a hillside at Ver-sur-Mer above Gold Beach in Normandy.
The limestone columns bear the names of 22,540 soldiers and women from 38 nationalities who lost their lives on D-Day and the three-month Battle of Normandy that followed.
The site was selected by Normandy veterans during a consultation process in April 2017 and was officially opened on 6 June 2021 by Prince Charles, then Prince of Wales, as Royal Patron of the Normandy Memorial Trust.
One of the driving forces behind the project was indefatigable D-Day veteran Harry Billinge, who died on April 5, 2022, at the age of 96.
Harry was an 18-year-old sapper in the Royal Engineers when he went ashore at 6.30am on June 6, 1944, as part of the first wave of troops to attack German-occupied France. He was one of four survivors from his unit.
Harry has been fundraising for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal for decades, but his fundraising took off when he heard that a memorial was being created for the fallen veterans with whom he served.
Every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, whatever the weather, he would rattle a collection box at the Par Market in his hometown of St Austell, promising to keep doing it until he could no longer do it.
“I can never forget what I saw,” he previously told the Express.
“I never want to end this one day – all the friends I’ve ever known never put their foot down, so why should I? So many great people have died.”
“I could never forget D-Day. It was a really sad day, it has been my whole life.”
“I’m so lucky. If I can’t do what I do, I’m worth nothing. These men made the ultimate sacrifice. My generation saved the world.”
“It is my duty to do what I can for the men who never come back. I will continue to do that, and when I can’t, I will rest in peace knowing that I did the best I could. When I die, I will recover.”
