Eisenhower D-Day trip re-enacted to Berkshire

A convoy of historic military vehicles has re-enacted the journey made by General Dwight D Eisenhower to visit troops ahead of D-Day.

The Drive To Remember event on Saturday saw 60 classic vehicles retracing the general's journey from Hampshire to the Greenham Common airfield in Berkshire.

Organisers said it was a means of remembering fallen servicemen.

Marion Loveland, a veteran Wren who waved the convoy off, said "the memories came flooding back".

Ms Loveland, who was Third Officer and assistant to the commodore during D-day, added: "Today the veterans here are few and far between, but the people who are remembering the 75th anniversary of D-Day are very commendable.

"They really believed in what they were doing, and I'm sure this will make other people remember when they see them.

"It brings it to the notice of the younger generation who are very interested in the Second World War.

"I knew that D-Day was very important and that the outcome would change everything, so it was with fear and trembling that we looked to it."

Ms Loveland said she lost her fiancé on D-Day on Sword Beach.

The convoy was to mark the 75th D-Day anniversary

General Eisenhower was appointed commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces for Operation Overlord in late 1943.

On 5 June 1944, the day before the seaborne landing, he set off from his military base at Southwick Park to give encouragement to the troops heading to Normandy.

Convoy leader Michael Burne, from the Military Vehicle Trust, said it was important to remember the "extraordinary" planning.

He said Eisenhower wanted to talk to the airborne troops "that were going to be the spearhead of the landing because he knew it would be a fairly difficult time".

"Many wouldn't survive," he said.