D-Day veteran 'sad but proud' at graves of fallen

D-Day veteran Richard Brock, from Lancaster, was one of only 19 from a company of 130 soldiers to survive their deployment

A D-Day veteran has spoken of his sadness and pride as he stood by the graves of the comrades he lost 80 years ago.

Richard Brock, from Lancaster, turned 20 as he waited on a ship to land on the beaches of Normandy in June, 1944.

In the battles that followed, all but 19 of the 130 men in Mr Brock's company, part of the East Lancashire Regiment, were killed.

Speaking at the Bayeux War Cemetery in Normandy on Wednesday, the now 100-year-old said: "In those desperate battles, they gave their lives for the peace we enjoy today."

Richard Brock was only 20 when he landed on the beaches of Normandy

He added: "Here in Bayeux Cemetery 80 years later, being back with them again makes me so sad. But also very proud, of the sacrifice they made for us all.

"I will never forget them. My family, and their families and friends will never forget them.

"We will remember them."

Events to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day are also taking place in France and the UK.

Britain's wartime prime minister, Sir Winston Churchill, called it "the most complicated and difficult" operation of World War Two, leading to the eventual liberation of France from Nazi occupation.

'It's me next'

Mr Brock told BBC Radio Lancashire about his experiences fighting in Normandy, before advancing through Belgium and Holland and eventually into Germany.

He said he "never expected to come back" when the battles of Normandy began.

"Anybody who says they're not frightened? Liars," he said.

"Your heart's full of adrenaline at times you know. There are times when it's quiet obviously, but you're expecting it, aren't you?

"You're seeing your mates going and you're thinking 'I'm 20, I've had a good life, it's me next'. Things like that."

Mr Brock described an occasion in Belgium, during a 48-hour rest period, when he was blown across a café by a German V2 bomb which hit a local cinema, killing dozens.

He and three fellow soldiers were moments from entering to watch the film Buffalo Bill, but had stopped for a drink.

"If it hadn't been for these lads saying let's have a drink we would have been in it. It's fate, isn't it?," he said.

On another occasion, in Eindhoven in the Netherlands, Mr Brock and another soldier were patrolling when his comrade was struck and killed by a piece of shrapnel.

"One minute he was there, next he was flat on his back," he said.

Speaking about the men who never made it back from Europe, he added: "I do think of them.

"They were smashing lads and we helped one another, had one another's backs all the time.

"You often think about them because they were like brothers."