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The Independent
6 days ago
- The Independent
Visit to Scotland ‘means the world' to 100-year-old veterans, says charity
A charity preparing to bring three Second World War veterans to Scotland said it 'means the world' to them to be revisiting sites linked with their wartime service. Donald Turrell, 100; Dorothea Barron, 100; and Eugeniusz Niedzielski, 101, are set to travel to Scotland in August in a trip organised by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans (TCMV). As well as visiting a number of sites linked with their service, the 'remarkable' trio will attend the Edinburgh Tattoo on August 12. Colin Mills, chairman of TCMV, said: 'We are incredibly proud to be taking three remarkable WW2 veterans to Scotland this August, and we are so grateful to everyone whose generous donations have made this trip possible. 'Don Turrell, Dorothea Barron, and Eugeniusz Niedzielski, each with extraordinary stories of service and resilience, will be visiting places that hold deep personal significance. 'Trips like this are only possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters, and it means the world to these veterans to be honoured in this way.' London-born Don Turrell enlisted in the army when he was just 17, having lied about his age, and joined the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). He intends to visit Dunfermline, where his mother was born, and also to return to Fort William in the Highlands where he spent time training before being sent to France in the weeks following D-Day. 'It was hard, very hard,' the 100-year-old recalled of his time training in Scotland. 'It made me fit. There are some photographs floating about with me with all my muscles showing,' he said with a chuckle. He added: 'We used to hang over cliffs on ropes. Just tapped in a six-inch nail on the ground, rope round it, down the side a cliff and swing about, (and) climb up. 'I enjoyed every minute of it.' Other destinations include a visit to the Low Parks Museum in Hamilton, which houses the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) collection. The visit is set to take place on August 8, when a parade with the standard will be held. Dorothea Barron enlisted in the Wrens when she was 18, having been a schoolgirl in London during the Blitz. Working as a visual signaller, she spent much of her time at naval sites in Scotland, initially at Port Edgar on the Firth of Forth and then Rosyth in Fife, Aberdeen, and Campbeltown on the Kintyre peninsula. The 100-year-old said she was especially looking forward to revisiting her old posting at Port Edgar. 'They're going back to Hopetoun, which was the rallying point for all the naval people,' she said. 'And from there we were sent off to various parts of Scotland. So, I'd love to see if my little tin hut of a signal station has survived the Scottish weather. 'I doubt it very much, but it's going to be such fun looking for it.' During her visit to Port Edgar on August 7, she will perform the sod-cutting ceremony at the old Port Edgar Barracks, which is set to be converted into a new housing scheme. Born in what was then Poland, Eugeniusz Niedzielski was deported to Soviet work camps during the invasion of Poland in September 1939. Released when Stalin joined the Allies in 1942, Mr Niedzielski joined the new Polish army, which was placed under British command, and took part in the Allied offensive in 1944 – including taking part in the liberation of the Dutch city of Breda. He served in the Polish 1st Armoured Division, which was formed in Duns, in the Scottish Borders, by General Stanislaw Maczek in 1942, and intends to visit the town as part of the trip. The 101-year-old will also visit the Polish consulate in Edinburgh on August 10, as well as travelling to Alnwick in Northumberland, Kelso and Faslane. Mr Turrell and Ms Barron both expressed their gratitude to the TCMV for arranging trips for veterans like themselves. 'This is what keeps me alive,' Mr Turrell said. 'Now I know I'm going on another (trip), I'll got to keep myself going. 'Otherwise, I just sit in a chair, fall asleep, wake up, look at a telly, fall asleep again.' Ms Barron said: 'The lovely London taxi drivers charity were the ones who found me out and gave me all these wonderful opportunities to meet other people who'd been in the war. 'Because, once my husband died and our local doctor died, nobody else, I think locally, had been in the war. 'So it was lovely. It was intriguing, and it's giving me a second lifetime.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Visit to Scotland ‘means the world' to 100-year-old veterans, says charity
A charity preparing to bring three Second World War veterans to Scotland said it 'means the world' to them to be revisiting sites linked with their wartime service. Donald Turrell, 100; Dorothea Barron, 100; and Eugeniusz Niedzielski, 101, are set to travel to Scotland in August in a trip organised by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans (TCMV). As well as visiting a number of sites linked with their service, the 'remarkable' trio will attend the Edinburgh Tattoo on August 12. Colin Mills, chairman of TCMV, said: 'We are incredibly proud to be taking three remarkable WW2 veterans to Scotland this August, and we are so grateful to everyone whose generous donations have made this trip possible. 'Don Turrell, Dorothea Barron, and Eugeniusz Niedzielski, each with extraordinary stories of service and resilience, will be visiting places that hold deep personal significance. 'Trips like this are only possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters, and it means the world to these veterans to be honoured in this way.' London-born Don Turrell enlisted in the army when he was just 17, having lied about his age, and joined the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). He intends to visit Dunfermline, where his mother was born, and also to return to Fort William in the Highlands where he spent time training before being sent to France in the weeks following D-Day. 'It was hard, very hard,' the 100-year-old recalled of his time training in Scotland. 'It made me fit. There are some photographs floating about with me with all my muscles showing,' he said with a chuckle. He added: 'We used to hang over cliffs on ropes. Just tapped in a six-inch nail on the ground, rope round it, down the side a cliff and swing about, (and) climb up. 'I enjoyed every minute of it.' Other destinations include a visit to the Low Parks Museum in Hamilton, which houses the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) collection. The visit is set to take place on August 8, when a parade with the standard will be held. Dorothea Barron enlisted in the Wrens when she was 18, having been a schoolgirl in London during the Blitz. Working as a visual signaller, she spent much of her time at naval sites in Scotland, initially at Port Edgar on the Firth of Forth and then Rosyth in Fife, Aberdeen, and Campbeltown on the Kintyre peninsula. The 100-year-old said she was especially looking forward to revisiting her old posting at Port Edgar. 'They're going back to Hopetoun, which was the rallying point for all the naval people,' she said. 'And from there we were sent off to various parts of Scotland. So, I'd love to see if my little tin hut of a signal station has survived the Scottish weather. 'I doubt it very much, but it's going to be such fun looking for it.' During her visit to Port Edgar on August 7, she will perform the sod-cutting ceremony at the old Port Edgar Barracks, which is set to be converted into a new housing scheme. Born in what was then Poland, Eugeniusz Niedzielski was deported to Soviet work camps during the invasion of Poland in September 1939. Released when Stalin joined the Allies in 1942, Mr Niedzielski joined the new Polish army, which was placed under British command, and took part in the Allied offensive in 1944 – including taking part in the liberation of the Dutch city of Breda. He served in the Polish 1st Armoured Division, which was formed in Duns, in the Scottish Borders, by General Stanislaw Maczek in 1942, and intends to visit the town as part of the trip. The 101-year-old will also visit the Polish consulate in Edinburgh on August 10, as well as travelling to Alnwick in Northumberland, Kelso and Faslane. Mr Turrell and Ms Barron both expressed their gratitude to the TCMV for arranging trips for veterans like themselves. 'This is what keeps me alive,' Mr Turrell said. 'Now I know I'm going on another (trip), I'll got to keep myself going. 'Otherwise, I just sit in a chair, fall asleep, wake up, look at a telly, fall asleep again.' Ms Barron said: 'The lovely London taxi drivers charity were the ones who found me out and gave me all these wonderful opportunities to meet other people who'd been in the war. 'Because, once my husband died and our local doctor died, nobody else, I think locally, had been in the war. 'So it was lovely. It was intriguing, and it's giving me a second lifetime.'
ITV News
14-06-2025
- General
- ITV News
Battle of Arnhem veteran from Peterborough made MBE days before 100th birthday
A veteran who fought in the Battle of Arnhem has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours, just weeks before his 100th birthday. Geoffrey Roberts, from Peterborough, is being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem and to charity. Mr Roberts' daughter, Claire Welburn, said her father had been surprised when he found out about the news. 'His first words actually were, 'I'm not very happy about that',' she said. 'It's taken him a while to come to terms with it, because he always says, 'I didn't do anything'. 'I keep saying to him, 'it's not about what you did in the war, Dad, it's about what you've done since, it's about your act of remembrance'.' She added: 'He always says, 'the heroes are the ones lying in the cemetery', and he's just one of the lucky ones.' Ms Welburn said she was 'immensely proud' of her father, who she described as having been committed to 'keeping the story [of the Battle of Arnhem] alive'. She said they had been trying to keep the honour a secret from friends until Mr Roberts' 100th birthday on 28 June. Mr Roberts, who was born in the Chelsea Barracks in London in 1925, signed up in 1942. On 17 September 1944, he flew into the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden – depicted in the 1977 Hollywood film A Bridge Too Far – which saw 35,000 British, American and Polish troops parachute or glide behind German lines. While the operation succeeded in capturing the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Nijmegen, it failed in its key objective – securing the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem. A defensive battle was fought until the order to withdraw was given on 25 September. More than 8,000 British soldiers were killed, missing or captured in the offensive. Mr Roberts was captured on 26 September, with a German officer giving him some cigarettes and telling him, 'for you, the war is over'. He was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp and put to work in a coal mine until the end of the war. In May 1945, Russian troops came to release the soldiers from the camp, telling them to wait for the Allies to come. After a week of waiting, Mr Roberts and two other soldiers decided they had had enough. Ms Welburn said: 'My dad always tells the story that he and two friends 'liberated' some German officers' bicycles, and the three of them cycled to try and get back to the UK as quickly as they could. 'They got to a junction and the three of them had a discussion about which was the right way. 'One soldier went one way, and dad and his friend went the other, and they never saw the other soldier again.' Ms Welburn said her father goes back to the Netherlands to pay his respects every year. 'Every time he goes back, it's very emotional, every year we always go to Oosterbeek Commonwealth War Cemetery,' she said. 'He goes straight to his two friends Plummer and Brown, who died during the battle.' She said her father wanted to praise the Taxi Charity, which has been instrumental in helping him go back each year and 'help keep dad's story alive'.
BBC News
13-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Peterborough WW2 veteran recognised in King's Birthday Honours
The daughter of a World War Two veteran recognised in the King's Birthday Honours said it took "a while" for her father to come to terms with the Roberts, 99, from Peterborough, will become a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem and to daughter, Claire Welburn, said: "It's taken him a while to come to terms with it, because he always says, 'I didn't do anything'."Mr Roberts was captured in the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, in which more than 8,000 British soldiers were killed, missing or taken prisoner. The battle was a failure, as the Allies did not secure a bridge over the Rhine at the Dutch city of Roberts was sent to a prisoner of war camp and put to work in a coal mine until the end of the Welburn said her father went back to the Netherlands every year to pay his respects."Every time he goes back, it's very emotional, every year we always go to Oosterbeek Commonwealth War Cemetery," she said."He goes straight to his two friends Plummer and Brown, who died during the battle."She said her father wanted to praise the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, which helped him with his annual visit. Mr Roberts, who was born in the Chelsea Barracks in London in 1925 and celebrates his 100th birthday later this month, joined the Army in Welburn said her father was surprised when he found out he would become an MBE."His first words actually were, 'I'm not very happy about that'," she said."He always says, 'the heroes are the ones lying in the cemetery', and he's just one of the lucky ones." Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mirror
04-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
Heartbreaking moment WW2 veteran salutes graves of 'friends who didn't come back'
Geoff Roberts, 99, is one of the last few survivors of the Battle of Arnhem, which saw 1,754 Allied sailors and airmen killed, and has returned to his friend's graves every year for 60 years The daughters of a heroic World War II veteran soldier have shared a tearful plea after helping their dad place a cross on the graves of his two friends ahead of VE Day. 'Tell every child what my dad did and about his friends who didn't come back,' the daughters said. Geoff Roberts, 99, who saw unbearable horrors during World War II, tried to steady himself before he saluted his fallen comrades who died as he fought alongside them in the trenches at Arnhem. As he leaves the cemetery, with a tear streaming down his face, he points behind him and says: 'The heroes are here'. The dad-of-two is supported by daughters Claire Welburn, 58 and Nicola Roberts, 61, during the trip to the Airborne Cemetery Oosterbeek, in the Netherlands. He is one of the few remaining survivors of the disastrous Battle of Arnhem which saw 1,754 Allied sailors and airmen killed in September 1944. For 60 years Geoff has loyally returned to his pals' graves but every year it is getting harder. The veteran has to make a herculean effort to leave his wheelchair behind and walk the 20 yards to the graves of Lance Corporal Leonard Plummer, 24, and 25-year-old Private Robert Brown. He touches each grave for support and in love, then steps back five times, before placing his walking stick in his left hand and saluting each man individually. 'I was the lucky one I survived. That's where I'm going to die when I pop my clogs,' he adds, pointing behind him at his friends' graves. Claire explains: 'We knew he'd lost friends there but he only told us two years ago how they died. "He was in a trench next to them and he could hear them firing and he could then hear one of the guns had gone quiet and Brown shouted 'Plummer's had it!' Two minutes later Brown's gun stopped and dad was the only one left in the trench. He left his pack behind and ran, that always stays with me because his life was in that bag. " As Geoff heads for the London cab that brought him there with the Taxi Charity for military veterans, he is surrounded by Dutch families wanting to thank him for his service and shake his hand. His daughters have to carry cream round with them as their dad's hands are black with bruises. This week in the UK the country is being urged to remember all those who fought for freedom 80 years ago, just as Geoff did. Our VE Day, the end of the war in Europe, remembrance events begin with a magnificent military procession and a Red Arrows fly past over Buckingham Palace, where the King will then host a Tea Party for 30 veterans aged between 98 and 104. The Armed Forces of NATO nations will join the United Kingdom 's VE Day 80 procession in central London on Monday. Geoff was in the prisoner of war camp in Czechoslovakia on VE Day after being captured by the Germans on September 26 1944, nine days after landing in Arnhem. He was told by the Nazis: 'For you, the war is over." He had been just 19, when he was a private in the 7th Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers, and part of a crack team sent to help liberate the Netherlands, flown in by glider, towed by the RAF. They found themselves at the gruesome heart of the bloodiest battle of World War II, where things got so desperate they were ordered to take part in a suicidal bayonet charge. There were 765 men from the battalion dropped on to the Continent. By the end of the Battle of Arnhem, 112 were dead, 76 evacuated back to Britain and 577, including Geoff, reported missing. He had been put to work down the mines until suddenly all the machines stopped and they were marched back to the camp from the coal face. 'And when he got back to camp, all the German guards had left, they'd all when he realised the war was over," Claire said. The Russian forces were the first to reach the camp and 'weren't interested', telling them to 'wait for the Americans'. Geoff and two others were not prepared to wait and decided to leave and try and find their way home. 'They 'liberated' some bicycles and the word liberated is really important to Dad,' Clare laughs. Geoff ended up getting picked up by some Americans in the end and then got flown back to France then the UK. On his return home to Bishop's Stortford he found happiness and stability, only for his wife to then die, leaving him to look after two young daughters. His daughters talked to The Mirror about their father and how he brought them up with compassion and care. Claire can't hold back the tears as she explains: "He's just my hero.' It's hardly surprising she feels that way, the nation should too, as Geoff, who turns 100 next month, is an incredible man. Geoff always tells his family 'I'm home' when he arrives back in the Netherlands to pay his respects. He has left precise instructions that his remains be buried in a small box, placed behind the two headstones of his lost friends. Nicola said: 'Our mum died in 1972, so I would have been eight, Claire would have been five. It wasn't until we were a little bit older when we started going to Arnhem with him, we got to see what he'd done. He'd joined the Arnhem Fellowship and they put on a coach trip in September so dad went and obviously didn't have anyone to look after us so we went too and it became our summer holiday.' Clare jokes: 'Most kids go to Majorca and we were at Arnhem!' Nicola says over the years more details have slowly emerged about his ordeal during World War II. 'One thing that sticks in my mind, when he was fighting at the White House,' which was a hotel in Oosterbeek. 'They were out of ammunition and the Germans were approaching and they were told to fix bayonets and charge. To do that at 19! That's younger than my son! I think that was the last bayonet charge because they didn't really do that in the Second World War, that was a First World War thing, but their officer in charge was a First World War man and so he just sort of resorted back to that.' 'Another horrifying tale he opened up about was how he had to hide during the day and then go out and night to bring in the wounded and dead, taking the dressings off those they'd lost to reuse. He was a stretcher bearer. I remember him telling me that when we went back to the White House having a coffee and dad just sat there and suddenly he pointed to the far wall at the end of the room and said that room was just full of bodies. 'And all this and he was just a baby aged 19. I can remember him saying he was cold, he was tired, he was hungry, and then he was scared. And when I look at my son at 19, I know he would just want his mum. ' Claire adds: 'It's heartbreaking because they were just all so young, I mean Dad was one of the youngest.' Nicola reflects: 'He's our dad and we've only ever known him as our dad and he's the person that looks after us and cares for us and it's just really hard to marry up those two different images of the same person. " Describing their dad, a grandad of three, Claire said: 'He's just my hero. He's shy, he's self-deprecating and he cares deeply and he loves his family.' Urging the nation to keep the memories of World War II alive, she says: 'I think it's shameful, the way our veterans are treated and how we don't educate our young people. I'd like parents to tell every child what my dad did and what my dad gave. And about his friends that didn't come back.' Claire says coming back to visit his lost friends has been 'his life'. She explained: 'It is so important to him because he lost so many good friends here. He loves coming back, he comes about twice a year, it's all he lives for. ' Geoff is one of only three veterans left who took part in the biggest airborne invasion ever, 60 miles behind enemy lines was called Operation Market Garden, and focused on the capture of three key Nazi-held bridges over the River Rhine, but it ended in heroic failure.
