D-Day veteran plans to remember friends in Normandy

Norman Bartlett will be returning to France to remember those who didn't come home

A 98-year-old D-Day veteran is preparing to travel to Normandy to remember friends who never came home.

Norman Bartlett, from Blackwater in Hampshire, joined the Royal Navy in 1942 when he was 16-years-old.

He served in the Pacific where he witnessed the surrender in Tokyo Bay and the emotional return of prisoners of war.

This D-Day, eight decades on, Mr Bartlett will once again travel to France to take part in the anniversary commemorations.

Norman Bartlett joined the Royal Navy in 1942 aged 16-years-old

On D-Day 1944, he was a gunner on HMS Duncan, firing at German lines and helping bring the injured back to Portsmouth.

Mr Bartlett said: “We lost a lot of guys over there.

“When you see them getting shot, you know, it’s hard.

“There are so many memories of those guys - they had a very tough time.”

Mr Bartlett read a prayer at the 75th anniversary of VJ Day

On the 75th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day, in the presence of the King and Queen, Mr Bartlett read a prayer, on national television.

It read:

“The price that was paid,

“We will always remember,

“Every day, every month, not just in November,

“We shall remember them.”

Mr Bartlett and his late wife Betty loved music and dancing

Mr Bartlett still has a passion for music and is a key member of the Hart male voice choir, in Odiham.

He said the choir group are a friendly bunch “where nothing is too much.”

Asked if he had a message for the next generation, Mr Bartlett said: “Well I think it should be remembered, when the kids grow up, it should be explained.

“Let them know what those guys went through so they could live in peace.”