Oscar Robert Black, from Balderton, returns to Normandy on the anniversary of the D-Day landings

A veteran had an emotional return to Normandy on the anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Oscar Robert Black, known as Robert, served as a marine in the second world war and was one of many veterans to travel to Normandy last weekend for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Robert and his wife Ros, from Balderton, travelled over to Normandy on Sunday aboard the cruise ship Bouddica with hundreds of other veterans, and they all got along famously on the boat.

“There was a real sense of camaraderie on the boat,” Ros said, “They were sitting chatting like family members and everyone was so friendly.”

During their stay, the veterans took in several commemorative events during the week, including a trip to Normandy beach and the Bayeux Cathedral for a memorial service and to the adjoining war cemetery.

They were serenaded by 1940s style singers as they arrived, singing classics including ‘White Cliffs Of Dover’ and ‘Jerusalem’, and were applauded disembarking the coaches as they arrived at Dover.

Ros said: “We were looked after so well and we were treated like royalty, everyone was lovely. There was such a togetherness about the trip.

“They took great care not to make it traumatic for them, but thinking about what they must have been through really puts things into perspective.

“It was a really memorable experience and I’m glad it was something we were able to do. Robert really enjoyed it.”

Robert was born in 1926 in Arbroath, but was evacuated to Wales as a child and eventually moved to Nottingham.

He joined the Nottingham and Derby Home Guard at the age of 14 as a runner organised by the Sherwood Foresters brigade when he was inspired by General Kitchener’s “Your Country Needs You” poster and wanted to serve his country.

He then enlisted in the Navy at the age of 16, but was found to be under age so he was sent to Russia to work on the docks there.

Robert then trained at the Commando Basic Training Centre (CBTC) in Achnacarry in the Scottish Highlands and enlisted in the 47 Royal Marines Commando, part of the Special Service Brigade who searched for mines on the Normandy coast before the invasion.

He was wounded in Normandy and blinded in one eye and was in hospital for two weeks. After the war, he worked in sales and marketing for a subsidiary for Shell.