Tuesday, June 4, 2024 Ken Cooke, WW II veteran, has begun a journey to Normandy to mark the 80 th anniversary of D-Day. The former soldier boarded LNER ’s special InterCity 225 train with commemorative loco ‘For the Fallen’ at one end. He’s making his way to France, travelling in the carriages behind the Class 91 locomotive, named in memory of those who have served, for his journey between York and London King’s Cross.
Ken is travelling with family and members of York Normandy Veterans (YNV) to pay their respects to his comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice. A series of major commemorations are planned in the UK and France on 5 and 6 June to honour the brave service personnel who risked their lives for freedom and peace. D-Day was the successful allied invasion of the beaches of Normandy on 6 June 1944.
The landings made up the largest seaborne invasion in history and played a crucial role in liberating Western Europe from Nazi occupation. Ninety-eight-year-old Ken, from York, served in the Green Howards Regiment from 1943 and went ashore on Gold Beach on 6 June 1944. After his military service Ken returned to York, where he worked in the Blacksmith’s shop at Rowntree’s until he retired.
Normandy Veteran, Ken Cooke, said: “It is so important that we remember and pay our respects to those who never came home. They are the real heroes.” During his time in France Mr Cooke will remember his great friends Flying Officer Douglas Petty and Trooper Sid Metcalfe, .