D-Day: wreaths, poems and pipes as Kirkcaldy veterans remember on 80th anniversary

A significant moment in World War Two, which heralded the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe, will be marked with ceremonies around the world.

Kirkcaldy and District branch of Royal British Legion Scotland held a low key gathering of local veterans groups at Kirkcaldy War Memorial on Thursday (June 6). It started with a piper playing Highland Laddie - the tune that John Millin played while marching up and down Sword Beach as commandos ran for cover 80 years ago. A member of the 1st Commando Brigade, his commanding officer asked him to ignore instructions banning the playing of bagpipes in battle and requested he play to rally his comrades.

Eight decades on and the same tune will carry across the Lang Toun’s War Memorial and gardens as veterans gather to pay their respects. There was a reading from Captain Andrew Manley, Kirkcaldy Salvation Army, and poems read and wreaths laid by Carla McDowall and Charlie Higginson from Viewforth High School.

Kirkcaldy was a very different town in June 1944. Ration books had just been re-issued, and the columns of the Fife Free Press featured a weekly rollcall of those who had died, were missing or wounded in battle. It had been running since the first weeks of war in 1939.

Men were still being called up. On June 3 - just three days before D-Day - a front page advert was placed by John Scott, painter and decorator, announcing that his Kirk Wynd business was in the hands of Mr Robert Taylor while he served his country.

The newspaper of June 10 raised hopes of a breakthrough as the huge military operation got underway.

“Hour by hour we have received further news but until we have further and more precise reports, and until we can see the strength and kind of defence to be overcome, we can only stand confidently in expectation, in awe, and with hope in our hearts and prayer on our lips. Our thoughts have been for many weeks past with our men, our kith and kin, our comrades and our Allies; our pulse throbs in unison with theirs.”

The Press said that people “must steel their nerves” with the caution: “We remember that our enemy has also made his plans. According to his boasting they are more formidable and more expansive than ours, We shall see.”

The war effort was all embracing. Kirkcaldy’s ‘Salute The Soldier’campaign bursts its target of £500,000 by more than £40,000 - maintaining the town’s good record in these especial savings campaign. It was a remarkable achievement in view of the fact that a larger burden was placed on small investors.Previous campaigns generated an average of £2 10s per head of population - this one raised the bar to £4. It was the most successful of the four wartime savings efforts organised in the Lang Toun.

The 8th Fife Battalion of the Home Guard paraded through town to mark the end of the appeal as Streets Groups collectors sold savings stamps, and organised a raffle with 101 prizes. Burntisland’s Salute the Soldier procession was hailed “the most impressive seen in many years”

But the impact of of ear lapped up to many local doorsteps as news came of grievous losses while D-Day continued.

One notice in the edition of June 3 caught the sense of heartbreak at home and the frontline that engulfed many families.

Private James Scott was repatriated. He had been taken prisoner at Dunkirk while a volunteer with the RASC – he was captured after volunteering to do mercy work, shot and became a prisoner. A well known cyclist and wrestler in the Lang Toun, his family in Kidd Street were notified for a third time that he was on his way home - “ “safely on board Gripsholm, hope to be home before long” he wrote in his last message.

His mother had not seen him since he signed up in 1939 - four and half years earlier. His ship docked two days after she passed away.

For other families there was more optimistic news. Kirkcaldy man CSM G. Bruce was declared “chief man of confidence” in Stalag XXI where he had been held since 1940. The honour was conferred by his fellow prisoners. His family - a wife and two daughters - stayed at Priory Lodge, Kirkcaldy. Pilot Officer William Robert Horne, from No 9 Squadron RAF, came as close as any to death as his aircraft came under fire. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross from bringing his defenceless craft home from Western Germany.

The Press explained: “His aircraft was struck by shrapnel and went into a steep dive, losing considerable height. The starboard engine and rear turret caught fire and the mid tower turret was badly damaged. Both gunners were wounded. He feathered the defective engine and the flames died away.”

That snippet from the frontlines underlined the enormous danger and incredible bravery of those who served.

The Press caught the mood of the town as it awaited the outcome of D-Day: “As our forces clash with the enemy in what must be the most vital battle in our history, we humbly pray for strength to give our utmost in the conflict. For strength we need. The standard of liberation has been raised, but it is not yet triumphant.

Our adversary is still like a wounded lion seeking whom he may devour.”

In the end D-Day - the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare - was decisive. While thousands perished it marked the beginning of the road to liberation. There were more D-Days across the war effort, but the events of 80 years ago were pivotal.