Normandy Memorial at Ver-Sur-Mer

The British Normandy Memorial was officially unveiled on 6th June 2021 near the village of Ver-Sur-Mer and records the names of the 22,442 servicemen and women under British command who fell on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944. This includes people from more than 30 different countries.

On 6th June 2024 Their Majesties The King and Queen, Normandy Veterans and international dignitaries came together to mark D-Day 80, which included the opening of the Winston Churchill Centre for Education and Learning. The Centre, which includes a shop and café, is closed over winter and reopens in April 2025.

To find out more go to britishnormandymemorial.org

Bristol Normandy Veterans Memorial Bench at Ver-Sur-Mer

Our Chairman, Paul Turner was approached during the building of the British Normandy memorial.  They said there will be just 8 benches around the main memorial area and would he like one for The Bristol Normandy Veterans.

He didn’t need to be asked twice, there was a problem, it was to cost £5,000.  He set about arranging a fund raising campaign.

The generosity of the group was extremely good, and an online fund raising campaign helped get the campaign up to £2500.

A phone call from an amazing supporter of our group, Julian Cook of Burston Cook to enquire how we were getting on and Julian said “Place the order Paul, there’s a cheque in the post for the other £2500”!

The wording of the plaque on the bench was agreed and we were there.  The group is so proud of our bench, the first person to sit on it was our veteran Stan Ford, followed by a pilgrimage of 15 of our group to Normandy, taking a framed collage of the veterans who were wanting to see it, but sadly didn’t live long enough to see it.