D-Day: The veteran who disobeyed his captain to save a comrade's life

A D-Day veteran told how he disobeyed his Captain's orders to save a young soldier's life as troops stormed the beaches of Normandy more than 75 years ago.

Ron Wilson, 94, is among about 300 veterans, aged in their 90s and some aged over 100, who set sail from Dover to France to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day operation in 2019.

When he set sail 75 years earlier, he played a part in the largest seaborne invasion in history that included a fleet of more than 7,000 vessels storming across the English Channel.

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The D-Day Battle for Normandy cost thousands of Allied forces' lives but was a decisive turning point in the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

Ron joined veterans from all over the United Kingdom to make the journey to Normandy for the anniversary commemoration – sailing to France aboard the cruise ship MV Boudicca, charted by the Royal British Legion.

Describing how he felt now as the cruise ship sailed across the English Channel, Ron said the journey was: "Emotional of course."

Ron, who joined the Royal Navy in 1942 at the age of 18, told how he had been on board the Landing Craft Tank LCT-571, which carried nine tanks at a time, when it was hit by a bomb and badly damaged as he and a unit of troops made their approach to the Normandy beaches.

Despite coming under fire from mortars and bombs falling from enemy aircraft, he said: "We still managed to deliver our troops."

In one of his most emotional recollections of D-Day, however, he told how he went against his Captain's orders to save the life of a young soldier.

Ron told how he had seen the "young lad" go overboard and could see that the man was drowning.

The veteran told how he felt he had to step in to rescue him, saying he simply "could not let him die".

Ron said: "This poor boy, he was only my age, 19 years old, was struggling in the water and about to go under."

The Captain ordered Ron to leave the drowning man and wind the landing craft door, threatening to shoot him if he disobeyed saying: "If you don’t do what I tell you, I’ll shoot you!"

Despite actions that many would consider heroic, Ron understands the importance of following orders to complete a mission.

He said the "skipper was right" because "our duty was to save the ship and go home."

But Ron felt compelled to save the drowning teenager, saying he also felt he had a duty to his comrades in arms.

He said: "So, I disregarded my skipper's orders… I could not leave him."

Ron described himself as a "very skinny little boy" weighing just 8.7 stone. Despite that, he managed to "lean over, hang on and pull [the soldier] aboard."

He added: "We saved him against all the odds."

Ron said he does not remember the "young lad's" name and says he had no regrets about his actions because "we saved him from the Germans."

He added: "If he had been in the water another two minutes he would have drowned."

The young man was taken on board the LCT-571 to an Army depot near Poole in Dorset, from where he would no doubt have been sent back to Normandy.

Ron said: "He must have been kitted out and sent back again. That's what they did in those days.

"If you survived, they got you ready, gave you new kit and sent you back."

The veteran added: "I never ever knew his name. Where he came from, whether he lived a long life or a short time."

Understandably, Ron does not know what eventually became of the man he saved, thinking that it is not beyond all possibilities that the soldier could be among the veterans commemorating D-Day 75.