D-Day: North East veterans on the 75th anniversary

As hundreds gathered in France for the 75th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, two North East veterans have taken a look back at their involvement.

As tens of thousands of men prepared to leave England in an armada of ships and landing craft, Bill Ness from Newcastle had already begun his part in the liberation of France.

By 00:01 on D-Day, he and his Parachute Regiment comrades had landed behind German lines.

Then a coxswain and gunner, 19-year-old Fred Brunt from Monkseaton, was on a tank-carrying craft in the first wave of the assault on Gold Beach. When the tide retreated, it left Fred’s craft and crew stranded on the sand for four days.

By the end of D-Day, the Allies had established a foothold in France and within 11 months Nazi Germany was defeated and the war was over.