Enjoy Milford on Sea: A Personal Recollection of the D-Day Landings by Gordon Young

Wednesday 5 June 2024

A Personal Recollection of the D-Day Landings by Gordon Young

The members of Milford on Sea Historical Record Society (MoSHRS) recently had the privilege to watch a personal recollection of the D-Day Landings by Milford on Sea resident, Gordon Young who is in his 100th year.

Gordon was second in command of a Landing Craft-Tank (LCT), which was an amphibious assault craft for landing tanks on D-Day beachheads in Normandy, France.

Gordon was later to be awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honor (Légion d’Honneur) by the French nation for his part in the D-Day Landings on 6th June 1944. He can be seen wearing his medal in the video.

His experiences of the D-Day Landings are certainly worth watching in the video below.

To watch video, please click here.

In his memoirs, Gordon wrote:

"I joined the Royal Navy, signing up at 17 (1942), did my time on the Lower Deck serving in a Mine Layer as a very ‘ordinary ’seaman, doing sea time to qualify for Officer Training, commissioned as a Midshipman (1943) served on a LCT and was at the Normandy Landings in June 1944.

Then had a spell ashore to qualify in Navigation and Watch Keeping and was posted to an Escort Carrier and spent most of the rest of the war in the Far East and was at Singapore for the surrender of the Japanese. By this time I had got my first stripe and was now Sub Lieut. W G Young RNVR.

I was due to be ‘demobbed’ in the October of 1946 and spent the last three months at a Shore Base in Scotland where I met Lieut. Commander Saunders RNR and that is when my career with Pan started."

Gordon then went on to have a long career with the Publishing company Pan Books.

You can read his recollections of these times on the links below:

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The video was produced by Paul French, a trustee of MoSHRS.

Landing Craft - Tank (LCT)

Paul is also a professional, trusted and highly experienced photographer and videographer, and owner of Coolhat Photography.

paul@coolhatphotography.com

www.coolhatphotography.com

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About Milford on Sea Historical Record Society

The Milford on Sea Historical Record Society was founded on the 25th January 1909 and is the oldest historical society in Hampshire.

MOSHRS meet 5 times a year where you can hear an interesting historical talk and meet people from across the village. There is also an Occasional Magazine and annual visits to places of interest. Membership is just £10pp pa.

The society has an excellent website with an extensive archive of nearly 10,000 records and historical pictures featuring our village history.

MOSHRS is a registered charity run entirely by volunteers.

To find out more; please click here.

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Join Milford on Sea Historical Record Society

They are a friendly and social bunch, so why not contact MOSHRS on admin@milfordhistory.org.uk, then invest your £10 to join, and go along to the next meeting.

You can also register to join by clicking here.