|
John Wintle’s
Photo Albums. Arborfield Army Technical School. Intake October 39. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
|
|
|
Legion D’Honneur. |
|
Editor’s note. |
|
On the 20th February 2015, The Honorary Consul of France in
Cardiff awarded the ‘Legion D’Honneur’ to |
|
ex Arborfield Army Apprentice John Wintle of the October 1939
intake. The event was reported by I.T.V. and Wales On Line. |
|
To read the full article by I.T.V. |
|
|
|
To read the full article by Wales Online |
|
|
|
The following article is a compilation of the details included
in both publications with the emphasis laid on John Wintle’s participation. |
|
|
|
The material used is acknowledged as the Copyright © of both
companies, as are the sources. |
|
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
|
|
|
‘Legion D’Honneur’. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cardiff, Wales. 20th of
February 2015 |
|
|
|
|
|
John Wintle receives the award of the Legion D’Honneur from
Marie Brousseau-Navarro, Honorary Consul of France in Cardiff, who said
that………. “The British authorities have allowed the French Government to
recognise the selfless acts of heroism and determination displayed by all
surviving veterans of the Normandy landings and of the wider campaigns to
liberate France in 1944.” “The whole of France, past and present, expresses its immense
gratitude to the youth which 70 years ago fought in Normandy and who are the
last living witnesses of that youth engaged in the war against barbarity and
Nazism.” “I always wonder what my life could have been, and what the
life of my family would have been, without these heroes who helped and came
to France to fight, and suffered great losses. They continued to fight to liberate us and
we are eternally grateful.” |
|
|
|
|
|
John Wintle, Marie
Brousseau-Navarro and the son of Ernest Stringer, accepting the award for
him. |
|
|
|
|
|
The presentation
party and recipients of the ‘Legion D’Honneur. |
|
|
|
|
|
Merville John
Wintle, Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers. |
|
|
|
Mr Wintle was a 20-year-old craftsman in the Royal Electrical
and Mechanical Engineers when he landed on Gold Beach in June 1944 to offer
mechanical support to troops in the D-Day landings. The D-Day landings were a turning point in the Second World
War. Though they were successful, they came at a cost of thousands of lives. |
|
|
|
“It's a mixture of
pride and gratitude in one way. I never expected it. When we were in Normandy
we did our duty, did what we were told, and that was it. There are very many still
in Normandy that did a lot more than I and deserve a medal like this. It is equivalent to a British Empire Medal.
It is a great honour, I will wear it with pride and gratitude with my British
medals.” “Our politicians may not always agree together but the medal
comes from the people of France through their President as shown by the warm
reception we receive whenever we return to pay our respects to the comrades
we left behind. It is still as warm as the reception received when first
landed in France in 1944.” |
|
|
|
Recalling landing on the central beach in the invasion area,
Mr Wintle said he was too young to be frightened. “We were young and a gang
together and did not know what we were going into. We had our heads and our
hopes high. Next morning when we woke
up to hear shells exploding the Germans were two miles away. You just got
your head down.” Checking for booby traps, recovering and mending equipment
after battle and setting up a hospital laundry Mr Wintle saw some of the grim
aftermath of fighting. Moving on to
the town of Caen he helped set up an emergency workshop across the river from
Nazi invaders before pushing on into Belgium and eventually Hamburg when
fighting ended. “The French people were very generous,” he said. “They didn’t
have much food but they gave us cognac. It is an honour to get this medal
now.” Merville John Wintle. _____________________________________________________________________________________ |
|
|
|
|
|
First Published: 1st March 2015. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
