RAF pilot who was afraid of heights recalls D-Day

Harry Garthwaite flew officers into Normandy during the D-Day landings

A 104-year-old RAF veteran who admits he was afraid of heights has recalled his part in the D-Day landings.

Harry Garthwaite, from Birmingham, flew senior military personnel to Normandy and brought home casualties.

He said he remembered seeing "thousands of army men being launched towards France in sky tugs and gliders".

He has appeared on large digital screens in London and Portsmouth in a campaign by Blind Veterans UK charity to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Operation Overlord.

Mr Garthwaite, who was 24 at the time, was with the Second Tactical Air Force 84 Group and was told to go to Hawkinge aerodrome to prepare for the landings.

But he said: "When I got to Hawkinge, it was heaving with people and there was no room in the mess so we were sent down into Folkestone."

Harry Garthwaite was 24 at the time of the D-Day landings

On the day of the invasion he said: "I collected army officers to take them to airfields near strategic points involved in the operation. They were everything from lieutenant colonels upwards to generals."

He remembered one officer tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to cut his engines to hear an announcement on the tannoy that the invasion had gone according to plan.

Shuttling officers to France and wounded soldiers back to waiting ambulances in Sussex, he recalled "the Royal Engineers did a great job building little landing strips here, there and everywhere".

Harry Garthwaite's image is on large digital screens in London and Portsmouth

Mr Garthwaite was demobbed in December 1945, having flown 23 different aircraft and clocked more than 2,231 hours, 517 of which were operational.

He said: "There's a funny thing because I can't stand heights. I'm terrified on the top of the ladder."

But he found no problem flying and added: "The first flight I took never worried me. As long as the plane's moving, I'm moving."

Harry Garthwaite remembered seeing thousands of soldiers preparing to travel to France

Later in life he lost his sight to macular degeneration and said he felt “completely lost”.

He turned to Blind Veterans UK and the charity was able to provide him with a CCTV magnifier, which meant he was able to read again.

His story is one of 16 being re-told by the charity on its website and on the giant digital screens.

The CEO of Blind Veterans UK, Adrian Bell, said many veterans played down their role in D-Day and say they were just "a small cog in a huge enterprise".

But he said: "It could not have succeeded without such commitment from so many people playing their part."