Eastbourne D-Day veteran, 97, passes away

Alf Wenham was awarded the Legion d’Honneur Medal at the Royal British Legion in Polegate in July 2017 watched by his family and friends.

When war broke out in September 1939 Mr Wenham was an apprentice painter working for Mark Martin and Sons builders in Eastbourne and when the bombing started in 1940, he worked with a roofer repairing damaged roofs.

In an interview with the Herald last year, Mr Wenham said, “In 1942 I was called up and joined the navy at HMS Collingwood at Fareham. After 10 weeks training and seven days leave, I joined the Battleship HMS King George Fifth, which was the flagship of the home fleet based at Scaba Flow.

“On January 1 1944 I joined LCT 656 lying in Gare Loch and after overhaul at Govan Dock sailed south to Saltash on the river Tamar and trained with the Americans for the DD landings. On June 5 we sailed across the Channel to land our tanks on Omaha beach. There was so much debris and bodies we laid off out of gun range and landed six hours later.

“Our home base was Portland and on the way back we were attacked by two e boats who set LCT 925 on fire but she managed to get back to the Isle of Wight and beach at Freshwater Bay. We did 19 trips to the beaches and one to Le Havre after it was captured.

“After leaving LCT 656 I joined LCT 1276 which was built for service in the Far East. We were ready to leave for Bombay in India when the atom bombs were dropped so we never sailed.

“I was then sent to join a troop landing craft which was being sent back to the USA but was demobbed before she sailed and finished my service after four and a half years in September 1946.”