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Holbeach's Harold Payne marks 30 years of pilgrimages for veterans




Veterans from the First and Second World Wars were able to cross the English Channel to pay their final respects to fallen comrades thanks to the dream of one man.

For the last 30 years Harold Payne and his team of supporters have been working hard to ensure that those who survived the conflicts were able to return to visit friends who had paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Sadly, after raising £635,000 for veterans and a further £200,000 for the Royal Anglians, The Anglia Motel Pilgrimage fund is winding up.

Harold Payne with two of the remaining veterans
Harold Payne with two of the remaining veterans

Harold said: “I am running out of veterans. I promised that I would take them back for 20 years and now it has been over 30 years.

“They will never die in my heart. What they did was unbelievable and it has been a privilege to do it.

“The actions of the Army, Royal Air Force and the Navy were outstanding but there were also the nurses on the beaches of Normandy along with the WAAF and the Land Army back in England.”

Harold Payne with some of the veterans in a previous pilgrimage
Harold Payne with some of the veterans in a previous pilgrimage

Harold says that his life was changed one day when he began chatting to a customer who had stopped for a drink at his Anglia Motel Cafe in Fleet.

Harold, whose uncle had served in the Japanese campaign, said: “He told me that he had served in Arnhem and Normandy and wanted to go back to see his friends but did not have the means to do it.

“He left and I never knew his name but it got me thinking. I know what my uncle went through and I thought that I wanted to help other people like him.

Veterans and friends honour those who paid the ultimate sacrifice
Veterans and friends honour those who paid the ultimate sacrifice

“When I woke up the following morning, I knew what I wanted to do and began to set up a charity to help veterans, with a lot of help from customers and friends. Alf Holgarth helped me. I have fulfilled that dream and we have taken more than 3,000 veterans back and have raised thousands.”

The pilgrimages would allow veterans to visit cemeteries to lay flowers on the graves of friends, along with taking in important battle sites, such as the Normandy Beaches and Pegusus Bridge, and memorials.

One of the regular stops for the pilgrimage is the American Cemetery, which has more than 19,000 graves, where wreaths are laid during a ceremony. One year the party was invited back to a chateaux for a meal and veteran Eric Toynton was presented with a sash by the Mormons of Texas.

Some of the veterans on their return to Normandy
Some of the veterans on their return to Normandy

During another year the party were serenaded by a 17-year-old baritone tenor from America and Harold met Prince William in a later trip.

First World War veterans were among the guests on some of the first pilgrimages but the trips became especially important to the men who had served in the Second World War.

During this time Harold, who is known throughout the world for his work and received a gold medal from the White House some years ago, was privileged to hear the stories from the veterans.

Ernie Covill
Ernie Covill

He said: “One man was 17 and behind enemy lines before the invasion. He was told not to be captured at any cost and you can make your own conclusions of that.

“We had a memorable experience taking Steve Pooley back to Canada House. The last time he was there was on D-Day. He was piloting a landing craft full of Canadian soldiers and it suddenly came to a halt. The first man jumped off and went under so he hadn’t reached the beach. Despite heavy fire, he swam to the beach and pulled in the craft.

“When we get on the boat from Portsmouth and they start to talk, they would go back to being teenagers.”

For the 75th anniversary of D-Day, Harold was able to take three veterans out to sea in his amphibious landing craft to pay a special homage.

Harold, who has thanked Morrisons, Tesco and Chosen for their support, said: “We took her out to the Mulberry Harbour and let 1,000 red roses go for the boys who never made it home. What a privilege to do that.”

Remembering the sacrifices of the past for future generations

GEORGE WING

The efforts of Bourne man George Wing and his colleagues were vital in helping to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe.

George was a member of the 23rd Advanced Workshop Unit and was among the engineers who built the Mulberry Harbours.

The floating harbours were designed to protect supply ships off the coast of France from storms and enemy attacks to ensure that their vital cargoes were able to be unloaded to support the invasion force.

George also recalls repairing anything that was broken as the force made its way through Europe following the D-Day landings in June 1944.

He recalls that the first workshop was built at Arras and that it covered a wide area.

George had given 10 years of service to the British military, having joined the territorials in 1937. He had also served at Dunkirk.

ERNIE COVILL

Ernie Covill was another veteran who played an important part in the war and here he shares his story.

He said: “I landed at Gold Beach on D-Day plus 1. We made it across the beach and on to the road. I was a lorry driver with the RASC and our job was to supply ammunition, petrol and food to where it was needed.

“Our first job was to unload the ammo we brought over and then we started to work from the beach as the front line started to move further forward. The goal was Bayeux, Tilly-sur-Seulles, where there was heavy fighting. The next town was Caen and it had been hard going and did not get any better but in the end it was taken.

“On the front line went, but came to a full stop at the Falaise Gap, a little place called Montormel where thousands of Germans were enclosed.

“After breaking out of Falaise the front moved very fast and had to stop at Amions. We could not keep up with supplies.

“Once going on again, we went through Rouen, Vernon and many other towns next to the Belgium border. The front line was moving well through Bauges, Brussels and onto Antwerp.

“Next it was the Dutch border. The Dutch people had been treated badly by the Germans. They had no food and were starving and by this time it was getting near Christmas. The Americans got pushed back in the Ardennes and we got sent to help them out. It was snowing, freezing fog and so cold we had to shave in hot tea as the water would freeze on your face.

“I had my Christmas dinner on the front of an American Jeep in the town of Bastogne and they treated us better than anyone would wish for and I thank them for how they looked after us. “So back into Holland and on we went though Eindhoven, Helmond, Overloon, Hertongenbosh, Nijmegen, Arnhem and Breda.

“We went with the front line now in Germany, enemy country. Hate on each side. We wen taking but giving nothing I have never seen so much hate. Those cities were flattened to the ground with nothing standing. From being the ‘master race’, they were now begging for food, even looking in bins.

“My journey ends between Hamburo and Berlin as the war ends with victory at such a big cost in lives.”

SID BARNES

Veteran Sid Barnes has also shared the story of his war.

“I volunteered at 16 but didn’t tell my parents at the time. In May, 1943, at the age of 17, I was called to service at Chesterfield Barracks in Derbyshire and here I met my mate George Balls. We would go onto serve the war together.

“After more than 12 weeks of training , we were posted to Chatham. Following more training in convoy work in August 1943, we were posted to 197 Coy GT RASC for transfer to France.

“Prior to D-Day we transported troops from the railway station to ‘J’ camps. We were not allowed in the camp because if ‘you went in, you did not get out’.

“We were transferred to Radford to form 917 Coy RASC, we were given 10-ton Macks, Whites and Foden lorries before being sent to Walthamstow to load up with supplies. From there we went to King George 5th Docks where we were loaded onto a Liberty ship for the journey to Normandy and Gold Beach. We landed on the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches, transporting supplies and arms to forward bases in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

“We eventually arrived in Brussels. What a welcome we had from the people - we were treated like heroes Then onto Nijmegen in Holland and from there it was on to Arnhem.

“The Germans allowed us through into Utrecht to take food and supplies to the starving children and families. We then had a spell moving pit props from the Reichswald Frost to coal mines in the area. One one trip we had to pick up some dynamite. An old chap with a stick and a cigarette met us and we had to get this dynamite with him. He was telling us he had an accident in the mines, that was why he had the stick.

“We then moved onto the Ardens. I was on guard duty when the Germans broke through, this was known as the Battle of the Bulge.

“We had to move non-combat troops out. After a rough spell we moved back to Nijemegen in Holland and then on to a place called Cleves in Germany. As we crossed the Siegfried line, some wag had put a line of dirty pants out with a note saying ‘this is the washing on the Siegfried Line’. After that we moved into barracks at Deuschburgh.”

JOHN SUMMERSON

John Summerson served with the RAF during the Second World War. He was awarded the Africa Star and the Italy Star.



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