I had a job to do, says 98-year-old D-Day veteran on battling through 'hell' 80 years ago
A 98-year-old war hero has recalled what kept him focused on D-Day after watching his "two good friends" fall.
Talking to Forces News at the Staffordshire National Memorial Arboretum's D-Day Normandy 80 event, former Royal Marine Les Brown emphasised that he "wasn't frightened" and "even though hell was going on around" he "had a job to do".
Tributes have been held globally to remember those who fought and fell in the D-Day invasion and Normandy Landings on their 80th anniversary.
Mr Brown, who has received a Legion of Honour medal for his services in France during the Second World War, said that he felt like he was in "another world" when he fought on D-Day.
"It was rather strange actually. I felt as though I was in another world altogether, and I was just going forward taking notice of what I had to do," he said.
The former marine detailed how people were falling but "you couldn't help them, you couldn't stop at all".
As one of the first on the beach on D-Day, the veteran began to tear up as he recalled that is where he lost two good friends and emphasised the fact he was "only 17".
The veteran's role was to map out the beach in Normandy, so the soldiers knew the route they had to follow.
"They wanted to know where they were landing and what the objective was," he said.
Mr Brown has never been back to Normandy and recognised that he never will.
In response to being asked why he thought going to the National Memorial Arboretum event was important, he explained that he thought he "had to", after previously thinking the younger generation was not interested.
"I didn't realise the younger generation was interested in people like me," he said.
"But I found out they did. They were interested. It upsets me sometimes."
Mr Brown emphasised that he "wasn't afraid" to take part in D-Day.
"I can't explain it properly really. I'm only an ordinary elementary school boy," he chuckled.
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