Ralph was billeted at the German coastal resort of Travemunde and liked it so much he took his family on holiday after the war!
Ralph and Doreen Jackson with the present Mayor of Thury-Harcourt 08.06.09
...Like most Veterans, Ralph discusses his experiences of D-Day and the fighting which followed in a modest manner, without a hint of any bravado. It was simply something which had to be done at that time. As much as the D-day Landings were about the Liberation of Europe, Ralph recalls the seven days they spent in the sea off Kent and jokes that D-Day was also about "getting off that bloody boat!".
"We were proud of what we achieved in helping to win the French people their country back. As I recall there were few casualties at the landings in the British Sector, although I know the Americans took a beating at Omaha Beach. D-Day is well remembered and commemorated but for most of us, certainly for the 59th Division, it was the fighting afterwards which was the tough part. Many fine men did not make it through like I did.
As we broke out East, we had help from the Free French, Poles and Canadians.
After years occupation the French people then had to suffer the destruction of liberation. Once the enemy had been forced to withdraw from Caen, there was very little left standing in the city. Even at Thury Harcourt, enemy resistance unleashed a destructive force which wrecked the town and no doubt caused civilian casualies too. At least Paris survived mainly unscathed, unlike London."
After the War, Ralph settled on the Wirral, not far from Dale Camp where he had been based for military training. By any measure the War changed Ralph’s life; he settled 200 miles from where he’d grown up, married and raised two sons, now with families of their own.
"Another funny thing. We moved into our house when it was first built in 1955. Quite recently I found out that our house was built on the actual military training ground used by our Division!"
In 2009 Ralph was able to return to Thury-Harcourt once again and at last he could show his wife, Doreen, the town he fought for all those years ago. As a group we were all privileged enough to share the experience with him. The entire D-Day Revisited group attended a Reception with the Mayor at the Town Hall, where the local school children sang 'God Save the Queen' to honour the Veterans.
Sadly Ralph died in June 2010. He was a lovely man and our thoughts remain with his family.
