Wreaths laid (From Herald Series)

Wreaths laid

9:00am Wednesday 17th June 2009

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Sir, It was good to see your report of Ernest Powdrill’s memories of D-Day. He is right to expect that we all remember what he and many others went through on D-Day and throughout the war.

You also report the Royal British Legion service at Woodstock. Nearer to home, a service at Harwell was well attended by Army and Air force veterans, British Legion branches, local villagers and representatives of the research laboratories, and wreaths were laid around the commemorative obelisk which stands near the end of a wartime runway at Harwell.

This service takes place every year on the Saturday nearest to June 5 to commemorate the airborne assault on and before D-Day. RAF 48 Group pathfinder aircraft took off from that runway on the eve of D-Day, carrying parachutists whose job it was to mark out the dropping and landing zones for parachutists and gliders on D-Day itself.

The first three of the many wreaths laid on Sunday were laid by a veteran glider pilot, a veteran member of RAF 38 Group and a veteran parachutist who took off from Harwell on the eve of D-Day.

We hope to see any of your readers at the service next year. It starts at 5.30pm on June 5.

John Rayson and Ken Frere (former 38 group pilots) Kingston Close Abingdon

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