Bob's story: Shooting down the enemy

At just 18, Bob served as a DEMS gunner, protecting merchant ships. For D-Day, he was assigned a small Dutch ship transporting soldiers to Normandy.

"The American soldiers were wonderful chaps and we soon got to get on very well with all of them, and the Dutch fellows as well. So we had three flags: the Dutch flag, the British flag and the American flag. 

"We had a few days while we were waiting for the off to get used to each other and we found each other's company wonderful. But there was all this activity going on, getting ready for when we went.

"Eventually, the day did come and in the early hours of D-Day, we set off."

A hostile plane came into view and started heading across the convoy.

"I had an American soldier beside me, helping me with the magazines and that, and I started firing at the hostile plane.

"It kept coming in and, eventually, when it was almost immediately above us, I could see my tracer bullets passing through the plane. Then, suddenly, it burst into flames.

"It spiralled out of control and swung over and crashed in France. Must have been a few hundred yards in because we heard crashing, going down.

"Of course, the American soldiers were delighted and we proceeded on through to our spots where we were anchored so we could discharge them to the beach they had been assigned to."

As the American soldiers disembarked, Bob felt worried for them.

"I stood at the gangway and was able to say 'good luck' to all of them as they got into this transporter.

"What worried me was that the chap with the English helmet on stood out a bit from the others. I thought, you know, 'I don't like that'. But it was too late to do anything about it. So off they went with our wishes of a safe experience.

"They weren't the first ones to land because they weren't met with the  volume of what we were expecting. They just disappeared into the dawn light. And that was it. Nothing else we could do for them. Just pray for them and hope they were all right.

"To this day, I never knew what did happen to them; whether they got back. It's a shame because some of them had given me their details, in our short friendship and in the frenzy of the moment, I couldn't find them anywhere."

Bob's ship went back to Cowes to prepare for a second crossing.

"We loaded up again with cans of petrol and took the equivalent number of British soldiers. Also very nice. Obviously concerned about what lay in front of them... And we turned around and we went back to the English beach, Sword Beach.

"By this time, the British troops had got a foot in from the beaches, and they were inland quite a bit. And so we were able to go ashore and have a look around while all the soldiers were disembarking.

"There was a big British battleship firing volleys of shells into France. It was a magnificent sight really, in my memory, seeing that. And finally, we went ashore."

Bob returned to Cowes and visited two colleagues who had been on another Dutch ship which was attacked as it crossed the Channel. The Dutch crew were jubilant because they were returning to their home and families safe and sound. One was so excited that before they got to the berth, he dived into the water and swam ashore.

In 2015, Bob revisited the Normandy beaches.

"I stood on the place where I stood all those years ago, looking round." People came up to him to kiss him and shake his hand, saying thank you. Bob felt very moved to see how much his service meant to them.

"If we lost the war, you know, there wouldn't have been any France or any other country in Europe. So what was achieved - by Britain, the Americans, the Canadians, the Australians, the West Indians and Indians... everybody - was freedom for them."

Bob feels very hindered by his eyesight.

"I can't write a letter. I can't read letters people write to me, I can't see the Christmas cards."

Although new to the charity, the sight loss equipment he's been given is already making a difference. He has a talking clock and a talking watch, as well as a liquid level indicator that goes on a teacup so he doesn't over fill it and burn himself. 

"The watch is wonderful really. I’ve been uncomfortable in bed, wondering if I should wake up - because I can't see the time. But now I've got the watch. I can look at it in the night and see I have plenty of time. So that's a great help."