Page 26 • The HERALD • 18th April 2024 v SAY YOU SAW IT IN THE HERALD v MASTER DRIVEWAYS Masters in block paving Tarmac - Red or Black Resin Bound, Resin Bonding Patios, Paths Pressure Washing Services FREE Estimates and Advice 14 Years’ Experience Registered Waste Carrier Tel 0800 6965677 or 023 8098 7907 Email: masterdriveways3@gmail.com 10/10 on reviews Acorn Building Contracts Ltd u Reliable, local builders offering affordable, quality workmanship u Our employees are fully qualified and fully insured u All aspects of building undertaken including extensions, structural alterations, roofing, ground works, kitchens, bathrooms, carpentry and plastering u Drawings arranged u Insurance work undertaken u Local Authority Approved Contractor For free quotations and friendly advice please call Office: 023 8024 3336 Mobile: 07786 656865 Email: acornbuilding@gmail.com or visit our website: www.acorn-builders.co.uk You will not be disappointed DECORATING Interior and Exterior Established 1985 07867 528307 mark.blake.decorating@gmail.com TROOPER CECIL NEWTON by Patricia Hedley-Goddard, Secretary to the D-Day Lepe Heritage Group On Wednesday 20th March, 100 year old veteran of WW2, Cecil Newton, visited Lepe Beach to hold a special remembrance gathering for a group of 12 visitors. e group, led by Gary Weight, were on a tour visiting various venues which played signi cant roles during the build up to the embarkation to Normandy in 1944. Gary is a professional military historian and tour guide for ‘Pegasus Tours,’ which specialise in providing tours of the European Battle elds of WW2. Gilly Drummond, matriarch of the Drummond Estate, attended, and gave the group a brief explanation on how the D-Day Remains still survive at Lepe. is is thanks to her late husband, Maldwin Drummond, refusing to let the government destroy the remains. is was possible because they are on the private land belonging to the Cadland Estate. Fortunately, the weather, miraculously, was a windless, pleasant March day and the little ceremony went well. Cecil read out the names of his fallen comrades, the last post was played, and a short eulogy read out. Wreaths were laid by members of the Pegasus Tour Group. Cecil Newton, who le Lepe Beach in 1944 was a trooper in the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards. 4th into a nearby terraced house, where he was helped onto a bed on the ground oor. By then the tank was well ablaze in front of the house where the window frames were burning, preventing the Germans from entering the house. By this time Cecil had ‘blood coming out of his mouth due to a chest wound’. Fortunately stretcherbearers arrived in the evening and he was loaded onto a Bren gun carrier and carried out of Tripsrath. anks to injections of morphine, the following days were hazy but he woke up in hospital with gunshot wounds in the back and a compound fracture of the tibia and bula. e bullet was still in his chest. e miracle is that Cecil is still here with us, and able to tell his story. Every year he returns to Lepe Beach on 3rd June, and holds a service at the Royal Dragoons Memorial to remember his fallen comrades and commemorate his departure to Normandy as part of the embarkation. This year is a very special year as it is the 80th anniversary of the embarkation to Normandy and many events will be held between 3rd and 9th June 2024. Look out for the ‘D-Day 80’ publicity. Cecil will be here again on the 3rd June at the Royal Dragoons Memorial on Lepe Beach. The simple service starts at 11am and is very moving. Cecil will then be taken to Normandy for the 6th June Celebrations. Everyone is welcome to come and join us on the 3rd with ‘our’ special veteran. We hope he will be with us for years to come. We look forward to seeing you. Troop, B Squadron. At the age of 20, he su ered serious injury at Tripsrath in Northern France. He was inside his tank with the crew when there was an explosion and he felt that his le leg had been hit. He hauled himself out of the tank, ‘standing on top of the turret with the lower part of my leg waving backwards and forwards’. Before he could descend from the tank a German infantryman shot him in the back. Cecil fell from the tank onto the track, ‘with the enemy on the other side of the tank’. Cecil was pulled to safety Cecil with the Pegasus Tour Group
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