A veteran of the D-Day landings has welcomed modern-day colleagues from 39 Engineer Regiment who will based in Scotland for the first time.
Burghead man Andrew Robertson was a sapper deployed with the Royal Engineers during the Second World War and was one of the first to land on the Normandy beaches.
The 88-year-old was delighted to chat with Scottish members of the Regiment who will this month officially take over the RAF base at Kinloss in Moray.
They met at the ‘Slappy’ in Burghead, a local beach used by troops rehearsing landings ahead of their day with destiny in 1944.
It is a day remembered well by Mr Robertson. He said: “The sea was really rough with six foot waves - everything was delayed and we had no idea of time, we were all very lucky as well.
“Rommel had gone back to Germany the day before for his wife’s birthday, he thought that the weather was so rough that we would not dare invade so that was a great advantage for us.
“We were all just pleased to get back on land as a lot of us were sea sick, but I remember it as being a very long day.”
Mr Robertson said he was delighted to see soldiers from his former brigade returning to Scotland for what is the first time an Engineer Regiment has been permanently based here.
He told the troops: “Ahead of the landings we did a lot of training on beaches like the one in Burghead - but all of these exercises were wasted really because the sea was very different on D-Day than what we experienced in practicing the landings.”
39 Engineer Regiment will formally take over RAF Kinloss on July 26, when it will become known as ‘Kinloss Barracks’.
More About Drawdown of RAF Kinloss/Army Arrival
- A barracks is born as RAF say their final farewell to Kinloss
- Tributes as the RAF end their 73 years at Kinloss
- People have nothing to fear from Army presence
- Home from home as Army sapper settles in at Kinloss Barracks
- Final charity cheque presented as the band plays on
- Robertson: Moray will remain centre of independent Scotland defence force
- Outgoing CO ensures Morayvia has the bottle to carry the Nimrod legacy
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