Douglas Parish was just 18 when he formed part of the huge military operation to liberate France.
Douglas Parish from Salisbury was an 18-year-old midshipman on 6 June 1944, during a huge military operation to liberate France in WW2.
Eight decades later, Mr Parish, now 98, has described his diary as one of his most prized possessions.The invasion force, composed of the Royal Navy and navies of other Allied countries, included a colossal 7,000 ships and landing craft, crewed by nearly 200,000 soldiers from eight nations. Following in his father's footsteps, Mr Parish was a sailor training to be a naval engineering officer at the time of D-Day, and recorded what he saw in his diary.
He was serving on HMS Mauritius, one of the large warships using its guns to destroy German defences along the coast of Normandy. One of the diary entries for 6 June 1944 reads: “As we approached our position on the eastern flank of the assault, the roar of bombers overhead could be heard distinctly and the flashes of bombs on the beaches were visible.”Speaking of that fateful day, Mr Parish said: "I've never seen anything like it in my life."Landing craft, landing craft with guns, landing craft with rocket batteries all going off with bangs in all directions.
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