Clare Metcalfe and Andy Denholm will be travelling to Normandy on 14 August.
Clare is visiting Normandy as a token of respect and gratitude to her grandfather, William Kennedy, who served during World War II with the 6th Durham Light Infantry. William took part in Operation Overlord – the invasion of mainland Europe on 6 June 1944. They will be visiting D-Day locations and all the D-Day landing beaches along the Normandy coastline as well as seeing the site of the Pegasus Bridge glider landing and where the Band of Brothers fought near St Mere Eglise.
Whilst there, they will be visiting Bayeux War Cemetery to place crosses on local soldiers’ graves and memorials, on behalf of two Royal British Legion Branches: Ferryhill Station and West Cornforth & District. Four of the ninety-four local men buried at Bayeux War Cemetery are Sgt Obediah Matthew Stewart [Ferryhill], Private Robert Wilson Fleetham [Tursdale], Corporal John George Walton [Coxhoe], and Private Harrison Knowles [Spennymoor]. There are also twenty-eight local men remembered on the Bayeux Memorial.
If you have a relative buried or listed on a memorial in the Normandy area and would like Clare and local historian Andy to possibly visit, please email andydenholm[@]gmail.com, or contact the Chapter to pass on your details.
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
