'The German army blew up a cup of tea next to me'

Andrew Bruce, the 11th Earl of Elgin and and 15th Earl of Kincardine, is one of the few surviving witnesses to Germany's first air raid on the UK during World War Two - which became known as the Battle of the Forth.

At 15 years of age, he stood next to his father who fired his rifle at German planes from the lawn of their home, Broomhall House, in Dunfermline.

While at Eton College he trained with the officer training corps, and when he left school he became a sergeant with the Home Guard.

By 1944 he was a Scots Guard lieutenant, and two weeks after D-Day, on 22 July he landed at Juno beach, in charge of three tanks and 15 men.

During Operation Bluecoat, the British breakout from Normandy, a grenade attack badly injured Bruce's hand and one of his legs.

In 1946 he was invalided out of the Army with the honorary rank of lieutenant.

We Were There aims to collect as many first-hand accounts as possible by 2025, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, to preserve veterans' accounts for future generations.

The BBC is currently working on the project with a number of partners including the Normandy Memorial Trust and Royal British Legion. Some of the stories collected may be shared with our partners and used on BBC News platforms.

If you have a story to share, or know someone who does, please click here to tell us a little bit more or use one of the methods below.

Do you or someone you know have memories of World War Two? Please share these experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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