The Travelling Trio visit the Normandy battlefields in October 2015

We only had a couple of days, so there is plenty left for a second visit. Frankly, you'd need several weeks to do it justice. It was very moving to visit places one had read about for so long and seen in the war film masterpieces - and I think they are masterpieces. I am thinking in particular of "The Longest Day", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Day of Days" from "Band of Brothers". The enormous sacrifice for freedom made by so many young men is hard to take in.

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MONDAY, 5 October

TUESDAY, 6 October

Ivor Anderson, a grandfather of two, was dropped at Pegasus Bridge, near the village of Ranville, overnight on June 5. British airborne troops had to hold the objective in order to prevent German reinforcements from reaching the beaches.

Mr Anderson, who lives in Worsley, Greater Manchester, said: “We were all in pretty good spirits and there was a good singalong during the first part of the flight. Once over the Channel we all quietened down and made ready for the jump into darkness. Our job was to clear the landing ground for the Allied gliders. We had been told there were broad areas of heavy upright posts all around the bridge region, and it was down to us to wrap explosive charges around these so that gliders could land unobstructed."

“When I jumped out I had the Bren gun strapped to my ankles. This broke free on the way down. Funnily enough, looking back, I was more concerned about being put on a charge for losing the gun than I was about what the enemy might do to me. We only had 20 minutes and the gliders were coming in at all angles. Our job then was to protect the landing site from anyone who was going to attack it. It was a bit threatening because we were being shelled and mortared the whole time.”

Despite repeated German attacks, the bridge – and another nearby – was successfully held by the airborne forces until reinforcements arrived. After the mission, Mr Anderson spent five weeks laying mines and helping the infantry, before suffering a shrapnel injury. “It was a mortar or a shell,” he said. “We were holding a position and we were hit. The next thing I remember is waking up in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. It turned out I had been half buried with shrapnel in my leg, and I was pulled out.”

He had joined the Royal Engineers as an apprentice in 1938 – aged just 14 – but later became part of the 591 Parachute Squadron. (OTHER PERSONAL STORIES)