Southborough Commemmorates D-Day 80th Anniversary

Southborough pays tribute and gives thanks

The term ‘D-Day’ is used by the Armed Forces to refer to the beginning of a military operation or important invasion. Eighty years ago, almost 133,000 troops from the United States, British Commonwealth, and their allies, landed on the beaches of Normandy on 6/6/1944. Casualties from these countries during the landing numbered 10,300, with almost 4,500 soldiers losing their lives for the freedom of others.

By 30/6/1944, over 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles and 570,000 tons of supplies had landed on the Normandy shores. .It was the largest seaborne invasion in history. On July 24-25, American forces launched Operation Cobra, breaking through German lines near Saint-Lô. This marked the end of the Normandy Campaign and the beginning of the Allied push to liberate northern France and Paris.

Here at Southborough, we recognised the importance of commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day via a variety of visits, lessons and events.

Earlier in the month, a services veteran from the Star & Garter, Michael Orbell, made a special visit to our school to share with our Year 7 boys his memories, stories and experiences about the end of the war and his National Service in the RAF. Our students were so ‘blown away’ with Michael and his stories that they took it upon themselves to put together a special ‘thank you’ card together, where they all wrote special messages of thanks to him. Michael then wrote back to our Headteacher Mr Smith to thank him for such a touching gesture –and to say how much he’d enjoyed talking to our Year 7 boys.

Along with informative assemblies, a comprehensive lesson on D-Day and its significance in ending the war was delivered to every single student at Southborough –and students got the opportunity to ask questions and find out more during structured tutorial sessions.

On Thursday 6th June, when the nation was marking the event and veterans and top dignitaries alike were in Normandy commemorating its 80th anniversary, our cadets and a number of other students were invited to join ex-veterans and residents of The Royal Star & Garter to join in with their special events for the day.

Our students sat and enjoyed a light lunch with them and then helped them into the garden where they all had more time to mingle with them and ask them about their experiences of D-Day and the war in general. It wasn’t lost on our boys that many of the veterans had been very young at the time – some only 18 or 19 years of age – and that they still remembered the people who didn’t make it home ‘”They were the real heroes” one veteran said. “They gave their lives for us. They died for our freedom.”

There was a wonderful ‘war time’ band that then played classics like ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’ and ‘We’ll Meet Again’, along with other uplifting music to make the celebratory afternoon go with a swing. It was an experience that our students will never forget.

We’d like to say a very big thank you to everyone at the Star & Garter Residential Home, Surbiton, for including us in their D-Day commemorations. It was an honour for our students to take part.