09/21/2021
People with dedication like this are now told to leave the military over an unlawful mandate!
On the evening of 06 June 1944, Roy Hayward – then only 19 – landed on the beaches of Normandy. This is his story:
“I remember an Infantry sergeant saying they were being held up and could we help them. He came on board our tank but we were hit as we moved up a lane. There was a thud but nothing else.
Seconds later, a second shell penetrated the tank and exploded close to my legs. The tank immediately started to burn and everybody got out except for the sergeant. It was his first time in a tank, so I had to push him out. Another minute and I think I would have had it, but I somehow got him up and out of the hatch, and dropped down onto the lane after him.
I crawled away and then turned over to see that my right leg was completely smashed and the front of my left leg had disappeared. There was just a bit of heel left, and I think that is what enabled me to stand and get out of the tank. I had burns to my right hand and forehead that hurt more than my legs. It was pretty bad and at one stage I thought: ‘I have a revolver; is this the time to use it?’”
When I crawled down the lane and turned over onto my back I realised that my right leg had been shattered below the knee and my left foot had been blown off leaving me with just a part of the heel which I think enabled me to stand."
The veteran is now 96! Thank you Roy 🇬🇧