Two Royal Navy veterans who saw action during the D-Day landings met face-to-face for the first time in more than 80 years.
Ronald Hendrey, 101, from Clacton, and Henry Rice, 100, from London, served in the Royal Navy and took part in the Normandy landings in 1944.
Both men had fought in the invasion but had never met until getting together in Clacton.
The meeting was organised by Jay Hawkins, a 29-year-old Second World War history enthusiast from St Ives, Cambridgeshire.
Mr Hawkins said: "They shook hands for quite a while and almost immediately just started talking about which ships they'd served on even before either one of them even sat down.
"They both hugged each other despite never even meeting before.
"They talked about where they grew up and what life was like for each other, because they both had different upbringings in different parts of the country.
"They also talked about where they both served, what they did after the war and where their lives took them."
Mr Hendrey served on HMS Ulster, while Mr Rice was aboard HMS Eastway.
Mr Hawkins became friends with Mr Hendrey during one of his trips around the UK to meet and record the experiences of wartime veterans and has known him for three years.
When he learned both men were Royal Navy veterans who served on D-Day and had not met, Mr Hawkins spent around 10 months working behind the scenes to organise a get-together.
Mr Rice had to travel from London and with both men in fragile health, the reunion took months of careful planning.
Mr Hawkins has dedicated the past six years to recording the stories of Britain’s surviving Second World War veterans as part of the Lee Enfield Project.
"Just after lockdown, I purchased a World War Two British Lee Enfield rifle, and started travelling up and down the country, visiting the UK's last World War Two veterans," he said.
More than 160 veterans have signed the rifle including Mr Hendrey and Mr Rice.
Mr Hawkins said: "It was the first time I've managed to get two veterans together.
"It was very heart-warming to find them and make that happen."
The moment meant a lot to Mr Hawkins, not just as a piece of living history, but on a personal level due to his own dedication to preserving veteran memories.
"I'm just going to keep going until they sadly are no longer with us and try and get as many stories told."
Mr Hawkins travels up and down the UK in his spare time meticulously documenting the life stories of the UK's surviving Second World War veterans.
He posts about it on his Instagram, and plans to upload the videos on YouTube and launch a website.
Mr Hawkins said: "Hopefully the videos can be used in schools."
The project has racked up 40,000 miles, taking him to Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Wight, and hundreds of smaller towns where veterans now live.
He was invited to Buckingham Palace in May because of his work with veterans.
The video of Mr Hendrey and Mr Rice meeting can be found here.
Share