First Sea Lord and Portsmouth Captain honoured to be part of D-Day 80

The News, Portsmouth

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00:00First Admiral, we've obviously got the commemorations to start at Saint-Saëns Cross, can you give

00:05us your thoughts on the role that the Royal Navy played in setting up this event today?

00:09Well we're part of a whole UK Armed Forces commitment to the event. There's about 1,000

00:15service personnel here and about 2,000 across in France and all of us feel that it's really

00:21important to properly commemorate and remember what happened 80 years ago when we began the

00:27liberation of Europe and the courage, commitment, ingenuity of all of those who were involved

00:34in D-Day itself. So as you wander around you just see people smiling, we're engaging with

00:40the event, we recognise how important it is and I can't find anyone who hasn't been, feel

00:46very privileged to be part of the events here on South Sea Common as part of that memorial.

00:55You must have spoken to a lot of veterans and former personnel, some may have even taken

00:58part in D-Day itself, what were their thoughts ahead of today?

01:03Well they're very reflective, clearly there aren't very many of them left and often you

01:08will find remembering those of their mates who lost their lives in the early days of

01:15the invasion and therefore aren't around to share in the commemoration. But also I'm struck

01:20by their humility, their humour, they've got the wisdom of age about them and they're enjoying

01:28themselves and actually there's such a wonderful example that they set to us all about what

01:34service of the nation means and how that has been reflected through their lives. So I always

01:40enjoy my time with veterans, I leave with a smile on my face and they are wonderfully

01:44disrespectful of rank which I suppose they're entitled to be.

01:49You said those veterans set a proper example, do you think current personnel have learnt

01:54many lessons from them and how they've been acting ahead of today?

01:58I think what strikes us all when you talk to them and certainly the young people in the Navy,

02:03the young sailors, the young marines, when they talk to those veterans they're struck just how

02:08young they were at the time and that actually so many of those that were involved in the D-Day

02:14landings were, you know, were not much older than having left school. Some of them lied about

02:20their age to be there and so they were motivated by a very noble sense of what was important

02:27and that reflects through. The other thing that's striking when you talk to them is that same sort

02:31of bond, that camaraderie that we feel today was very much alive and present then so you can kind

02:38of see the threads of military service running through the decades.

02:42What are the thoughts of current personnel ahead of today or what emotions do you think they're

02:46going through and perhaps yourself? Well I think we just recognise that it's important to commemorate,

02:50I mean clearly none of us were there so we don't know what it was like, that fear that they must

02:54have felt as they approached the beaches, you know, the long periods of waiting as they before

03:00the fleet set sail, weather was a lot worse than it was today so that can't have been great

03:08so I think we weren't there but it's important that we remember and draw from those who were

03:16because the sacrifices they made 80 years ago and what that led to is so important for the sort of

03:22nation and Europe we are today. And finally Portsmouth is taking centre stage for the

03:26commemoration as you expect the city and its residents played a vital role in the D-Day

03:31landings, do you think the ceremony will be as poignant as you would expect for such an occasion?

03:36I have no doubt that the ceremony today will be poignant, it'll be

03:42laced with humour, it will have a sense of compassion, all of the right things. Portsmouth

03:48is a wonderful maritime city, it knows how to do these events really well and I'm sure

03:53that the city will do the nation and most importantly those veterans we have amongst us proud.

03:59So Lewis you played a vital role in the performance just there and it showed all the

04:05armed forces coming together, give us your thoughts on how you did. Yeah I think it went

04:11okay, a lot of feedback from the audience, the staff said it was a very emotional

04:16sort of piece that was put together so yeah it's been a pleasure to be a part of it really.

04:20How did you feel when you were asked to give the performance like that before, did you have any

04:24nerves before doing it? Yeah I mean it was a bit nervous backstage, there's a lot of people there

04:29and a lot of senior people especially the King being in there and all the veterans as well

04:35so yeah it was pretty nerve-wracking but yeah it all went well. What do you think of the armed

04:40forces role in putting the ceremony together, it was a proper moment to commemorate the veterans

04:44and those who lost their lives during the conflict in the first place? Yeah I mean it's been really

04:49good, I mean the whole tri-service coming together to put on this show and everyone's done it with

04:54such a big smile on their face because they know how important this moment is in history that

04:59yeah everyone wants to be here and wants to sort of show their gratitude for those that have

05:04laid their lives down for us. Did it give a bit more emphasis to yourself the fact that you

05:09reported that you saw some reports of coy at having a ceremony like this in your hometown?

05:13Yeah so being from this area and in my hometown it's a great honour to be on stage here and to

05:19a sold-out show as well, it's pretty impressive. What do you think of the ceremony itself,

05:26many people I spoke to thought it had a proper mix of being a ceremony but a poignant one where

05:32the memories of those who participated in the Second World War were put forward,

05:35what did you think of the overall ceremony itself and how it presented itself really?

05:42Yeah the ceremony is really really well put together, cross mixture engaging with the

05:48younger audience which is really important to get that message across about the history of

05:53this big moment in time and then obviously the ceremonial side mixing as well so it's

05:58a very good production. And finally how do you think your career in the Royal Marines has done,

06:03what made you join the force and what is it like to be part of the Royal Marines?

06:08Oh it's a great honour to be part of the Royal Marines, I mean it's our 360th birthday this year

06:15so 360th anniversary and it's been a great part of history all the way through and those that

06:22were on D-Day obviously set the foundation to what Royal Marines Commandos are and we're still

06:26run by the same ethos today, same mindset, same determination as those before us.

06:33That's what it is, thank you so much for your time.

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