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My parents, Katherine (Kitty) and Bob Cubitt were from a generation who grew up in the aftermath of one war, only to have to fight in another.
My mother joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) and enjoyed the excitement of working at Dover Castle, where she thought she was in the thick of the preparations for D-Day. She later discovered she had been engaged in one of the biggest deceptions of the war: Operation Fortitude.
My father volunteered to join the commandos and had seen action in Norway, Dieppe, Sicily and Italy before D-Day.
His unit, 3 Commando, was tasked with marching from Sword Beach to Pegasus Bridge to relieve the paratroops of 6th Airborne Division. He was then in the front line for 84 days non-stop. After the breakout from the Normandy beachhead, he was in the thick of the fighting all the way to the Baltic Sea.
My mother left the ATS before the end of the war to have her first baby, but my father had enlisted as a regular soldier in 1938, so he had to ‘soldier on’.
In the immediate aftermath of the war Dad didn’t do too well. He’d get promoted and then lose his rank over some incident or another. Alcohol was often involved. The Army didn’t know about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) back then, but he was almost certainly suffering from it. Consequently, Dad wasn’t treated sympathetically or offered any help.
To cap that, because my father had been a commando he just didn’t ask for help. Big boys don’t cry, do they?
The Army didn’t know about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) back then, but he was almost certainly suffering from it. Consequently, Dad wasn’t treated sympathetically or offered any help.
Son of Bob and Kitty
My father did, eventually, find a way to deal with his demons. He finished his career in 1960 as a Warrant Officer 2 and always looked back on his Army life with fond memories. But he never forgot the friends he had lost, and he kept returning to France with his old comrades to pay tribute to the fallen.
Later in life my father volunteered with the Royal British Legion, raising funds to help ex-service personnel. He and my mother never forgot that they were the lucky ones. They got to come home, raise a family and lead relatively normal lives.
Dad never forgot the friends he had lost, and he kept returning to France with his old comrades to pay tribute to the fallen.
Son of Bob and Kitty
Both my parents left legacies to continue helping service personnel. Following their example, and as an ex-serviceman myself, I support Help for Heroes in their memory and have left a gift in my own Will.
Because as much as we would like to think otherwise, there will be more wars and more injured service personnel who need help.
My oldest grandson has just applied to join the Royal Navy. While I hope he never needs to call on Help for Heroes, I would like to think that if he does, the money will be there to make sure he gets whatever help he needs.
Like Bob, we believe the best way to honour our D-Day heroes is to make sure those who follow in their footsteps and serve our country get the support they need and deserve.
If you feel the same way, please share your family’s D-Day story on our special dedication page and donate to help today’s veterans in their name. In return we’ll send you a limited-edition tinned candle to light in their memory.