:00:16. > :00:20.I am in Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, the heart of British
:00:20. > :00:25.operations in Afghanistan. In the lead-up to Remembrance Sunday, we
:00:25. > :00:30.will be celebrating the heroic jobs that our armed forces do, as well
:00:30. > :00:40.as reflecting on those who have given their lives both here and in
:00:40. > :00:58.
:00:58. > :01:04.past conflicts around the world. This Sunday is Remembrance Sunday,
:01:04. > :01:14.the day we all are those who have given their lives for our country.
:01:14. > :01:14.
:01:14. > :01:18.-- the day we honour those who have given their lives for our country.
:01:18. > :01:28.We followed D-Day veteran John Shanahan on an emotional journey
:01:28. > :01:29.
:01:29. > :01:36.back to Normandy. We had to run up the beach and get out of it.
:01:36. > :01:40.visit an Afghanistan school in the middle of the notorious Green Zone.
:01:40. > :01:48.Can we shake hands? And we hear the courageous story of
:01:48. > :01:57.a Royal Marine who survived a Taliban bomb. I thought, this is it,
:01:57. > :02:01.nothing is going to stop me now. The term band of brothers is often
:02:01. > :02:07.used to describe the camaraderie in the armed forces. Our next story
:02:08. > :02:13.shows how deep those bonds are and how they can last forever. In 1982,
:02:13. > :02:22.these four young lads were just 17 years old and were true brothers in
:02:22. > :02:28.arms. 29 years on, Mark Eyles- Thomas fondly remembers his friends.
:02:28. > :02:32.Jason Bert was an eastender, a Londoner, very good looking, a
:02:32. > :02:38.handsome chap. He knew that and could work that with the ladies.
:02:38. > :02:44.Neil Grouse - he talked to his family all the time -- talked of
:02:44. > :02:49.his family all the time. Neil Scriven is was from Yeovil in the
:02:49. > :02:54.West Country, top funny and had a tractor. But he didn't.
:02:54. > :02:58.Mark, Jason, meal and Ian were junior Paras, the first step to
:02:58. > :03:06.becoming part of one of the most elite units in the British Army -
:03:06. > :03:10.the Parachute Regiment. When you pass out it is the proudest day of
:03:10. > :03:15.your life. I am not sure a lot of people understand what you have
:03:15. > :03:25.gone through. It does not matter how bad the situation is, you are
:03:25. > :03:30.still expected to go one. There is still more you can do. I was part
:03:30. > :03:34.of one of the greatest regiment's the British Army has ever had.
:03:34. > :03:37.He in April 1982, at their unit was sent to the Falkland Islands, are
:03:37. > :03:42.remote UK or overseas territory in the South Atlantic which had been
:03:42. > :03:48.invaded by Argentinian forces. are with your friends. We were
:03:48. > :03:54.cocky little 16-year-olds. Imagine what we're going to be like when we
:03:54. > :03:58.wait -- when we get back - there will be medals, money...
:03:58. > :04:07.For these inexperienced soldiers, the reality of war was about to hit
:04:07. > :04:15.home. The command was given to secure Mount Longdon, a key
:04:15. > :04:19.Argentinian vantage point. Before the operation we managed to stay
:04:19. > :04:26.together in the morning just to say happy 18th birthday to Neil Grouse.
:04:26. > :04:31.All we had was a cup of tea and a quick chat, saying happy birthday
:04:31. > :04:35.and let's hope it's a good party this evening, that kind of thing.
:04:35. > :04:40.Because of what we're doing tonight, when we get back we will make sure
:04:40. > :04:48.it is a super special one. But, for this group of boys, success would
:04:48. > :04:52.come at a high price. As they prepared to go to battle, 3 Para's
:04:52. > :04:57.commanding officer addressed his men. It ended with the words, may
:04:57. > :05:02.God go with you. It was the first time I thought, some of us are not
:05:02. > :05:08.coming back. The realisation hit me like nothing else that hit me
:05:08. > :05:12.during the period I was there. Mount Longdon was six kilometres
:05:12. > :05:19.from their base, there for the element of surprise was vital. As
:05:19. > :05:26.they moved forward, they walked straight into a minefield. All hell
:05:26. > :05:33.breaks loose -- broke loose from that moment. The whole place
:05:33. > :05:38.erupted with fire. Your instinct is to go to ground and take cover, but
:05:38. > :05:43.you are in a minefield. My whole body knew what was going on. The
:05:43. > :05:53.weapon was shaking in my hand. Whether that was from the cold or
:05:53. > :05:57.from the intensity of the moment or fear, it does not matter. This is
:05:57. > :06:03.the biggest fireworks display you have ever seen in your life. There
:06:03. > :06:08.was no fun behind it. It was just sheer violence.
:06:08. > :06:13.Mark, Jason, Ian and Neil made it through the minefield unscathed and
:06:13. > :06:16.continued their advance with the unit to Mount Longdon. The initial
:06:17. > :06:20.parts of getting up to Mount Longdon were chaos. It is pitch-
:06:20. > :06:24.dark. You would pick up the occasional silhouette moving. It
:06:24. > :06:29.could be an Argentinian or one of your own. You did not know. You
:06:29. > :06:36.could hear Spanish being spoken, or whatever, it was that close. It
:06:36. > :06:39.would be to the right and to the left. It was absolute chaos. When
:06:39. > :06:45.they reached the base of Mount Longdon, the atmosphere changed
:06:45. > :06:49.dramatically. It was a full moon that night and you could see the
:06:49. > :06:59.glint of the beer nets and the metal. You could see your breath in
:06:59. > :07:02.
:07:02. > :07:09.front of you. Time just stands still. There is no noise whatsoever.
:07:09. > :07:13.And then charge. This has to happen quickly and all the time you are
:07:13. > :07:20.running across that ground you are vulnerable. They were under attack
:07:20. > :07:25.from Argentinian snipers positioned on high ground. As we were running
:07:25. > :07:35.I felt Jason go down. I retraced my steps and there he was, lying with
:07:35. > :07:35.
:07:35. > :07:38.his face down. I turned him on to one shoulder. He had been shot.
:07:38. > :07:46.17-year-old Jason Bert died instantly but Mark had no time to
:07:46. > :07:53.grieve as another of his friends was badly winded. It was then that
:07:54. > :08:01.Scrivs called out again to say, he is in a bad way. Scrivs had
:08:01. > :08:08.stabilised him and the dressing over Derwent. -- all over the
:08:08. > :08:16.warned. Scrivs said, we cannot stay here. We are out in the open and
:08:17. > :08:21.eventually the snipers will get us. I put my hand on to say, we will
:08:21. > :08:29.move the mind what we will do is... And as I did that he was shot and
:08:29. > :08:33.he just slumped. Ian Scrivens had lost his life in
:08:33. > :08:38.the line of duty. On his birthday and in a life-threatening condition,
:08:38. > :08:43.Neil Grouse was stretchered off the mountain. I held Grouse and I think
:08:43. > :08:50.he knew that this was it. He spoke of his family, of how much he loved
:08:50. > :09:00.them. Incredibly brave with his impending fate. He actually thanked
:09:00. > :09:05.
:09:05. > :09:13.me. He said, thanks, Tom. Two words. Just personal moments. Very
:09:13. > :09:23.difficult. Mark's three best friends had all made the ultimate
:09:23. > :09:27.
:09:27. > :09:37.sacrifice. You know it is all over. Jason's bet, Ian is dead and Neil
:09:37. > :09:38.
:09:38. > :09:42.is dead. -- Jason is dead. Their lives and those of other
:09:42. > :09:47.soldiers are commemorated here at Aldershot Cemetery. I love coming
:09:47. > :09:57.here. I sit on a bench, have a drink, have a chat, tell them what
:09:57. > :09:59.
:09:59. > :10:09.is going on in my life. These are just their new bed spaces. That is
:10:09. > :10:19.where the rest. The truth is that you're coming to visit friends,
:10:19. > :10:23.
:10:23. > :10:26.Afghanistan has been a war zone for over 30 years and, as a result,
:10:26. > :10:32.local communities have been destroyed. Everything we take for
:10:32. > :10:36.granted back home, like running water, electricity and education,
:10:36. > :10:41.are non-existent here. There is a team in the British armed forces
:10:41. > :10:47.working alongside the local people to change this. I am flying to
:10:47. > :10:51.Checkpoint Jeka in the heart of Helmand's infamous Green Zone. In
:10:51. > :10:56.the past, areas like these have been ruined by brittle fighting, so
:10:56. > :11:00.I am here to find out from Sergeant Neil Shinner how the British troops
:11:00. > :11:06.are helping to rebuild these local innocent communities. Back home in
:11:06. > :11:12.the UK, we hear a lot about the bad news, the fighting, the kinetic
:11:12. > :11:17.activity. It is not all negative, is it? You are part of the positive.
:11:17. > :11:22.It can be positive. I operate as a stabilisation operator.
:11:22. > :11:27.Stabilisation seems to be the big word here - what does it mean?
:11:27. > :11:34.put it in context, in the UK we take everything for granted. We
:11:34. > :11:40.have schools, hospitals, medical centres decent roads. In this
:11:40. > :11:44.country, there is nothing. British troops like Neil are walking hand-
:11:45. > :11:49.in-hand with Afghan soldiers and civilians in a number of community
:11:49. > :11:56.projects. They build roads and drilled wells, but the most
:11:56. > :12:05.important thing is education. Neil is taking me to see a newly built
:12:05. > :12:11.school. We're going to be on foot patrol. We still have to be in all
:12:11. > :12:18.the gear. My particular favourite is the nappy. It might not look the
:12:18. > :12:24.best but it is all about protection. It is just up there. That is
:12:24. > :12:29.Helmand, that is where the danger is. We have a team around us, just
:12:29. > :12:36.in case. The moment we walk out of these gates we will be exposed to
:12:36. > :12:42.the threat of attack. We are in the heart of the Green Zone, then.
:12:42. > :12:46.Very peaceful, isn't it? At the moment! However, I would probably
:12:46. > :12:54.say that, two years ago it would have been a different story around
:12:54. > :13:04.this area. It is predominantly a farming community. A lot of them
:13:04. > :13:06.
:13:07. > :13:13.have fruit trees, pomegranates. This is the school. This is it?
:13:13. > :13:19.It is not the kind of standard you would probably see in the UK. This
:13:19. > :13:23.is a typical classroom. As you can see, anyone looking at this in the
:13:23. > :13:30.UK will probably think that it does not look much, but once we have
:13:30. > :13:40.carpets down, pillows that they sit on, the drawing board and a teacher,
:13:40. > :13:41.
:13:41. > :13:45.we have kids learning. The school is a massive part of any community.
:13:45. > :13:55.Restoring trust in the local authorities and local police, you
:13:55. > :13:59.
:13:59. > :14:08.can do that through a school. I think we have our first pupils.
:14:08. > :14:14.Hello. Shake hands? When you can count to 10 I will give you my
:14:14. > :14:18.watch! The children I have met today will
:14:18. > :14:25.finally have a base, somewhere to come to every day to get their
:14:25. > :14:29.education. Hopefully they will not be influenced in the future by the
:14:29. > :14:39.Taliban and they will take a different route. That route will be
:14:39. > :14:51.
:14:51. > :14:58.As we head back to the base, the atmosphere changes around us. Have
:14:58. > :15:05.you seen something? Just to be on the safe side. The guards have been
:15:05. > :15:10.spooked by something. It is such a strange thing, but such a peaceful
:15:11. > :15:16.community can change just like that. But improvements are being made, so
:15:16. > :15:25.hopefully, these children will have a safe place to live very soon.
:15:25. > :15:28.have a saying, the people are the prize. Everybody here believes that.
:15:28. > :15:38.Eventually, we will be able to leave this country in a better
:15:38. > :15:40.
:15:40. > :15:44.During the Second World War, the role of women was vital, whether it
:15:44. > :15:51.was delivering Speck fires or working the fields for the Land
:15:51. > :15:58.Army. But there was another theatre nurse and they were indispensable.
:15:58. > :16:06.It has been 70 years since Jane took to the season as part of the
:16:06. > :16:11.war effort. And she returns to where it all began, at the Royal
:16:11. > :16:14.Naval College in Greenwich. I was just an ordinary country girl, and
:16:15. > :16:18.to come here, to something so special, it really took my breath
:16:19. > :16:23.away. All these windows were blacked out, and there was a
:16:23. > :16:31.minimal of lighting. I don't know, it's just as wonderful memories,
:16:31. > :16:36.I'm just so lucky to be back here. In 1939, Jane Eldridge was just 19
:16:36. > :16:40.years old, working as a driver on the Isle of Wight. The war had not
:16:41. > :16:46.actually started, but everybody was prepared. It was while I was
:16:46. > :16:55.ambulance driving, I thought, one wanted to do more than this. And so
:16:55. > :17:00.I applied to join the Wrens. I did not know anything about it. My
:17:01. > :17:07.mother was most upset. She said, you're living at home, earning �3 a
:17:07. > :17:13.week, what more do you want? Jane's application was successful.
:17:13. > :17:20.You went straight to work. You had these awful thick tights, and you
:17:20. > :17:26.had a great big knickers with elastic around the knees, they were
:17:26. > :17:32.called Taxi cheaters. We had to carry gas masks and tin hats. You
:17:32. > :17:42.used your gas mark as a handbag, for your lipstick. Jane originally
:17:42. > :17:47.
:17:47. > :17:57.joined as a driver, and after only 18 months, her talent was obvious.
:17:57. > :17:58.
:17:58. > :18:02.I think it was the best promotion one could possibly have. Wrens,
:18:02. > :18:05.Jane had married early, before their husbands were sent to fight
:18:05. > :18:10.for their country. They did everything they could in order to
:18:10. > :18:16.meet their husbands, or to know how they were getting on. Jane's
:18:16. > :18:21.husband, Jim, was posted to Italy. Then, an amazing opportunity arose.
:18:21. > :18:25.They asked for volunteers to go and work on troop ships. I thought, it
:18:25. > :18:32.sounds wonderful, I might see my husband. But they had to have a
:18:32. > :18:36.naval officer on board to button up or unbuttoned messages, because it
:18:37. > :18:44.had to be an officer for secret messages. And so it meant if we
:18:44. > :18:48.went, it would release men to go and do rather more serious jobs.
:18:48. > :18:53.Suffering was decoding covert communication, and now Jane was an
:18:53. > :18:58.officer, she readily accepted. In 1943 she received instructions for
:18:58. > :19:07.her first mission. A signal came through to say, would I take a
:19:07. > :19:13.fortnight's leave, collect tropical kit and report to King's Cross
:19:13. > :19:19.station? The train was in, so we were sent to a particular carriage,
:19:19. > :19:23.which I did. I found two or three other girls like myself, and none
:19:23. > :19:28.of us knew why we were there, none of us had a clue. And so we just
:19:28. > :19:33.watched. As we watched, it got later and later, and rather more
:19:33. > :19:37.important people kept on passing us as we looked out of the window.
:19:37. > :19:41.little did she know just how important this entourage would be.
:19:41. > :19:46.She soon found out, when she arrived at her destination and
:19:46. > :19:51.boarded one of the largest ships in World War II. Queen Mary, which had
:19:51. > :19:58.been an ocean liner, she was now a troopship. She had thousands of
:19:58. > :20:05.people on board. On board there was a great big lady's bicycle,
:20:05. > :20:11.extraordinary, we used to call them sit-up-and-beg bicycles. It was
:20:11. > :20:15.rather strange. But when we got on board, we found that we were with
:20:15. > :20:21.Churchill and his chiefs of staff, and the bicycle had been a decoy,
:20:21. > :20:25.to think that we were probably taking Queen Wilhemina from Holland,
:20:25. > :20:30.we were going on board as her staff, and she was being evacuated to
:20:30. > :20:35.Canada. Queen Wilhemina was famously known for cycling around
:20:35. > :20:39.Amsterdam. Although the chiefs of staff were on board, we did not see
:20:39. > :20:46.them at all. There was really no communication, except the signals
:20:46. > :20:51.that came through. We had to put all of this into cipher, all their
:20:51. > :20:56.discussions, and send it back probably to the Cabinet in England.
:20:56. > :21:00.Working in pairs, Jane was among those translating secret messages
:21:00. > :21:04.to the Prime Minister, who was on his way to a secret conference in
:21:04. > :21:09.Canada. And then we had messages back from the Cabinet which we had
:21:09. > :21:13.to decipher for the Chiefs of Staff. You read the message afterwards to
:21:13. > :21:18.see if it made sense, but you did not really take it in, because you
:21:18. > :21:22.had to get on with the next one. And some of them were very long,
:21:23. > :21:25.because they were beginning to plan the invasion. Preparations were
:21:25. > :21:34.already under way for D-Day, so these messages were vitally
:21:34. > :21:39.important. We had these huge books which we had to refer to, and these
:21:39. > :21:48.books had covers that were made of lead, so that they were desperately
:21:48. > :21:55.heavy. So, if they had these books at sea, they would sink. If you
:21:55. > :22:01.made one mistake, that could mean a whole ship, for some reason or
:22:02. > :22:06.another, could be identified by the enemy. The Royal Navy fought
:22:06. > :22:10.admirably in the Second World War, but it came at a high price, with
:22:10. > :22:15.over 50,000 souls lost at sea. did not think about danger, you
:22:15. > :22:20.were too busy. You just joined in with it. When you think, there were
:22:20. > :22:26.hundreds of other people all in the same boat, as it were! It did not
:22:26. > :22:34.worry you. Being at sea for months at a time, it was important to keep
:22:34. > :22:44.fit. We used to go for exercise on board, and it was a long way around
:22:44. > :22:45.
:22:45. > :22:49.the ship, it really was. And it was very windy, I don't know how many
:22:50. > :22:54.knots we were doing an hour, but it was pretty fast. Jane has
:22:54. > :22:59.successfully completed her first tour of duty, and she then went one
:22:59. > :23:03.step further to spend time with her husband. All leave had been stopped,
:23:03. > :23:09.and I thought, how am I going to get back down to Camberley to meet
:23:09. > :23:12.him? We hardly ever saw each other. I had this sore throat business, so
:23:12. > :23:18.I went to see the local doctor and said, do you think it would help if
:23:18. > :23:25.I had my tonsils out? He said, yes, I do. He said, when can you come?
:23:25. > :23:30.So I said, next week. For four years, Jane sailed around the world
:23:30. > :23:39.decoding messages, and then some unexpected news came, to put an end
:23:39. > :23:45.to her OC adventures. I found there was having my daughter, so I came
:23:45. > :23:52.out of the Wrens. And that was the end of that. I had never dreamt
:23:52. > :24:02.that I would have the privilege of doing things like this. It is a
:24:02. > :24:04.
:24:04. > :24:11.This year marks the tenth anniversary of the British mission
:24:11. > :24:15.here in Afghanistan. And for many, it has changed their lives for ever.
:24:15. > :24:20.This couple met when they were just 16 years old. Little did they know
:24:20. > :24:25.it would be the beginning of a very special journey. As corny as it
:24:25. > :24:29.sounds, I was the waitress and he worked in the kitchen. I really
:24:29. > :24:36.enjoyed working with her, she had a great personality and sense of
:24:36. > :24:40.humour. And good looks, which always helps! We had a little bit
:24:40. > :24:46.of an involvement then, but it never became anything special. So,
:24:46. > :24:51.we go back a long way. But they soon drifted apart, and Peter
:24:51. > :24:56.decided he needed a serious challenge. I don't know what, it
:24:56. > :25:04.just went off in my head, what about the Marines? Why not? Let's
:25:04. > :25:09.give it a go. I definitely felt I was bulletproof, I was 6 foot tall,
:25:09. > :25:12.I think every Marine feels like that. In 2008, he was nearing the
:25:12. > :25:17.end of his second tour of Afghanistan when his life was
:25:17. > :25:23.turned upside down. That morning we were literally just packing up the
:25:23. > :25:28.vehicles, the mission had been finished, and we were on the move
:25:28. > :25:35.back to Camp Bastion. And then it would have been just 10 or 11 days
:25:35. > :25:42.and we would have been flying home. Ours was the second to last vehicle,
:25:42. > :25:46.and military just started to move off, and that's all I can remember.
:25:46. > :25:54.Peter's vehicle had driven over a buried bomb. He lost both his legs,
:25:54. > :25:59.suffered severe burns and had a fractured spine. I first real
:25:59. > :26:04.memory of it, I was lying in Selly Oak Hospital, and obviously I could
:26:04. > :26:11.not sit up. In my head, I was just thinking, this is it, that's me,
:26:11. > :26:17.done and dusted. What have I got, got no legs? Can't even sit up,
:26:17. > :26:21.can't do anything, who's going to love me? Despite being a double
:26:21. > :26:28.amputee, the first hurdle he had to face was a major back operation,
:26:28. > :26:34.which was successful. After that, I knew, this is it, nothing's going
:26:34. > :26:38.to stop me now, simple as. This is done, I'm getting out of here.
:26:38. > :26:43.in an awe-inspiring three months, he was ready to be fitted with two
:26:43. > :26:48.prosthetic legs. When I put them on for the first time, it was
:26:49. > :26:55.brilliant, I just felt, nothing's going to get in my way. He quickly
:26:55. > :27:01.mastered the art of walking, but this was just the beginning. I had
:27:01. > :27:09.the offer of doing two weeks skiing in Bavaria. So I thought, why not
:27:09. > :27:12.try it out? It took a lot of messing about to get the balance.
:27:12. > :27:20.At the start we were trying to guess how many falls I had each
:27:20. > :27:27.week! But now, it is just brilliant. I loved flying around the piste at
:27:27. > :27:33.stupid miles an hour, and getting told off for going too fast.
:27:33. > :27:37.Through the grapevine, Laura had learned of Peter's injuries. I just
:27:37. > :27:41.wanted to be friends again, because I realised that actually, life is
:27:41. > :27:46.too short, and it was very nearly him not coming home. So I thought,
:27:46. > :27:53.right, stop being too proud. So I dropped him a message and very
:27:53. > :28:02.quickly got a reply back. I replied, of course I remember you, could not
:28:02. > :28:07.really forget you. We just started chatting, then we met up. When he
:28:07. > :28:14.gave me a hug outside the pub, it was like we had just rewound a
:28:14. > :28:20.couple of years, and we could still be 16. When we first met up, I felt,
:28:20. > :28:25.yes, I do still have feelings for her, obviously, otherwise I would
:28:25. > :28:29.not be feeling like this right now. It did not take long for a bit of a
:28:29. > :28:35.romance to start-up. Then he told me that the ski season was about to
:28:35. > :28:39.start. Although we went on our first proper date, and we could
:28:39. > :28:45.officially be a couple, he was going to leave the country for the
:28:45. > :28:50.best part of six months to learn how to ski, and to ski race, and
:28:50. > :28:58.that was going to be a big turning point in my life. Peter was
:28:58. > :29:08.learning to take part in the original. And Lawro would be there
:29:08. > :29:08.
:29:08. > :29:12.for him wherever he was in the world. -- Laura. If I was ever
:29:12. > :29:17.feeling low, I would phone up, and within five minutes I would have a
:29:17. > :29:22.big smile back on my face. highs were him picking up gold
:29:22. > :29:27.medals. I have had phone calls at work to say, I have just won a gold.
:29:27. > :29:31.You want to be there to give that person a big hug and kiss. Whenever
:29:31. > :29:40.possible, she travels to be by his side. The cheering him on from the
:29:40. > :29:47.sidelines is not always easy. I heard that he had crashed out and
:29:47. > :29:50.the doctor was with him, it was very much just basically waiting
:29:50. > :30:00.for every minute to take by until I saw something that showed me that
:30:00. > :30:01.
:30:01. > :30:06.In March 2010, Pete was asked to carry the Paralympic torch in
:30:06. > :30:16.Vancouver. I couldn't ask for anything better, really, to be
:30:16. > :30:17.
:30:17. > :30:22.honest. I had a proper, cheesy, proud girlfriend grin.
:30:22. > :30:27.Pete had a sudden change of plan. Next minute, he gets off the bus
:30:27. > :30:37.and I am thinking, what are you doing? We have already said goodbye
:30:37. > :30:40.
:30:40. > :30:45.I am just waiting -- goodbye,... texting a couple of the lads on the
:30:45. > :30:50.coach to say, do me a favour, get everyone to look this way. He was
:30:50. > :30:56.texting on his telephone and I was thinking, I am upset, we're going
:30:56. > :31:06.to have to go through all the rigmarole of goodbye again and you
:31:06. > :31:06.
:31:06. > :31:10.are texting somebody. I said, of course, darling, I am going to miss
:31:10. > :31:16.you very much. I was keeping an eye out and she could see me. She said,
:31:16. > :31:23.what are you looking at? Everyone was there. I got down on one knee
:31:23. > :31:28.and asked her to marry me. And I was just so blown away. Obviously,
:31:28. > :31:34.the answer was yes. And the next thing was, you better be able to
:31:34. > :31:38.get back up of that need! I cannot live duo of the floor!
:31:38. > :31:46.Then Pete was offered the chance of a lifetime - to be part of the
:31:46. > :31:50.British Paralympics ski team. offered a challenge. We will just
:31:50. > :31:56.need to wait and see what happens. Obviously, he is representing his
:31:56. > :32:02.country again, this time on the ski slopes rather than the battlefield.
:32:02. > :32:05.I am proud of that, proud of what he does. It has been a roller-
:32:05. > :32:10.coaster ten years for Peter and Laura, and it doesn't look like
:32:10. > :32:16.stopping. In February this year, they found out they were expecting.
:32:16. > :32:23.If we have a lot going on. We have the baby arriving at the start of
:32:24. > :32:32.the ski season and a wedding at the end. Lots to get organised. It is
:32:32. > :32:42.brilliant -- Laura is brilliant. just love having p 10 my life. I
:32:42. > :32:45.
:32:45. > :32:49.could not imagine not having him around. I just love her to bits.
:32:49. > :32:55.The largest seaborne invasion ever assembled landed on the Normandy
:32:55. > :32:59.coast on D-Day. And the huge loss of life on Omaha Beach is probably
:32:59. > :33:02.the story that gets told most of them. There were four other beach
:33:02. > :33:12.landings and next we follow the story of a British veteran on a
:33:12. > :33:13.
:33:13. > :33:17.journey he made 67 years ago. 90-year-old John Shanahan is
:33:17. > :33:21.turning the clock back over six decades to remember his comrades
:33:21. > :33:31.who gave their lives in one of the biggest battles of the Second World
:33:31. > :33:39.
:33:39. > :33:49.War. They shall grow not all as we that are left grow old.... We will
:33:49. > :33:56.remember them. The memories of that time come back
:33:56. > :34:01.now that I am actually sailing over and approaching the coast of France.
:34:01. > :34:05.Or 6th June 1944, over 160,000 allied troops stormed the beaches
:34:05. > :34:12.of Normandy. This was the beginning of the invasion of German-occupied
:34:12. > :34:16.Europe. Feeling rather nervous, not knowing what was waiting for me
:34:16. > :34:22.when I got there, but knowing I had a job to do and hoping I would not
:34:22. > :34:27.fail. It is the first time John will be returning to the village
:34:27. > :34:30.where his battalion lost so many lives. If I had never wanted to go
:34:31. > :34:40.back before but I am going this time because there is a memorial to
:34:41. > :34:45.
:34:45. > :34:50.my regiment, who liberated Cans, and paid a big price in doing it.
:34:50. > :34:54.D-Day had taken almost four years to plan, so 23-year-old John and
:34:54. > :35:00.his fellow soldiers were given orders that would not compromise
:35:00. > :35:10.the operation if they were captured. We were told that we had to take a
:35:10. > :35:14.big town and that the enemy would have fled because all of the
:35:14. > :35:21.pounding that we would have given them beforehand they would not have
:35:21. > :35:24.put up with. They would all retreat into Germany. Like his comrades,
:35:24. > :35:32.John was weighed down with equipment. If that was not enough,
:35:32. > :35:36.they were also issued with a folding bicycle. The impression was,
:35:36. > :35:41.once we get in there they will all run away and we will need our
:35:41. > :35:50.bicycles to catch up with them. weather had delayed the advance,
:35:50. > :35:56.but two days later the conditions had improved. You wondered whether
:35:56. > :36:04.it was right of whether you were going to do another exercise. Gore
:36:04. > :36:09.around a bit, lads and get used to it. But we were going.
:36:09. > :36:13.Like every soldier Renton, John arrived off the coast of Normandy
:36:13. > :36:23.in a landing craft, and his foot step in history was about to be
:36:23. > :36:25.
:36:25. > :36:29.made. The ramp went down with a lot of noise. We got the order to get
:36:29. > :36:38.off. We jumped into the water, not knowing how deep it was going to be.
:36:38. > :36:42.It turned out that it was around four feet deep. It was every man
:36:42. > :36:49.for himself, just keep going until you were at the beach. You could
:36:49. > :36:59.not run because of the weight of the water pushing against you. We
:36:59. > :37:02.
:37:02. > :37:10.waded, I suppose. It has been over 67 years since John stepped foot on
:37:10. > :37:16.Sword Beach on just after 10am on 6th June 1944. As we came to the
:37:16. > :37:26.beach I was feeling afraid about what was going to meet me. The
:37:26. > :37:32.noise was absolutely deafening. All the ships at sea were sending this
:37:32. > :37:39.terrific bombardment over. The enemy mortars and shells were
:37:40. > :37:45.coming the other way. The crackle of machine guns. The sea was
:37:45. > :37:51.covered in ships wherever you could look, and all of the landing craft
:37:51. > :37:56.coming in, and some of them wrecked. You thought, well I ever be able to
:37:56. > :38:02.get there, run up the beach can get out of it? There were people
:38:02. > :38:08.shouting and people falling down. The invasion of Normandy was the
:38:09. > :38:14.largest and biggest assault ever launched. There are 75,000 British
:38:14. > :38:24.and Canadian troops landing on the beaches. It was like a whole world
:38:24. > :38:25.
:38:25. > :38:31.was coming to an end. I felt lucky every hour that I hadn't been hit.
:38:31. > :38:37.When I felt the beach under my boots, I thought, right, I have got
:38:37. > :38:43.this far, I will get on with it. There were people on the beach,
:38:43. > :38:49.called beach masters, swearing at you. It soon became clear that not
:38:49. > :38:56.all of the equipment was essential. I realised that we were not going
:38:56. > :39:04.to cycle anywhere. We were told to throw our bicycles at the side of
:39:04. > :39:08.the road. And we did. It was another lump off your back. Within
:39:08. > :39:18.a few hours, John left Sword Beach behind him and was then tasked with
:39:18. > :39:22.
:39:22. > :39:26.liberating French villages. We were liberating towns. We drove them out.
:39:26. > :39:36.If they had already gone out, we did not mess about, we followed
:39:36. > :39:42.
:39:42. > :39:47.them. We advanced to a place called tier Kyi. -- Cambes-en-Plaine. We
:39:47. > :39:50.had to advance through open ground, fields of corn.
:39:50. > :40:00.Cambes-en-Plaine was a village situated in the heart of a dense
:40:00. > :40:04.
:40:04. > :40:09.wood. We were dug in at certain points which would be available for
:40:09. > :40:17.attacking Cans. We thought the enemy was not all that strong there.
:40:17. > :40:22.We thought that one company would attack and overcome the enemy.
:40:22. > :40:29.the Germans were prepared and the battle was bloody. After retreating,
:40:29. > :40:39.it was decided to send in the old Italian, a force of 1,000 soldiers.
:40:39. > :40:43.
:40:43. > :40:47.-- the whole battalion. The enemy fire was coming towards you, going
:40:47. > :40:57.through the fields with a few dropping down amongst the corner
:40:57. > :41:05.
:41:05. > :41:15.The enemy decided that we were too powerful and they retreated to.
:41:15. > :41:15.
:41:15. > :41:25.Eventually, by the end of that day, we had liberated Cans. It was our
:41:25. > :41:26.
:41:26. > :41:31.first big battle and it sort of showed us what was likely to come.
:41:31. > :41:40.I realised then that maybe I would not get through another battle like
:41:40. > :41:44.that. So many did not. This battle claimed the lives of a 44 riflemen,
:41:44. > :41:54.the largest loss in John's battalion during the Second World
:41:54. > :42:01.War. This is the first time in 67 years that John has felt able to
:42:01. > :42:09.return to the village to pay tribute to his fallen comrades.
:42:09. > :42:19.They gave their lives in the battle but we fought together. -- that we
:42:19. > :42:21.
:42:21. > :42:28.fought together. I am very pleased that I have been able to come back
:42:28. > :42:38.today and do them the honour of remembering them in this sport. --
:42:38. > :42:43.
:42:43. > :42:46.For so many like John, the memory of being part of such a historic
:42:47. > :42:53.event will never fade. And the courage of his fallen comrades