Page 8 - Devon and Dorset 2024

6 THE DEVONSHIRE AND DORSET REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
2024 was dominated by the 80th anniversary
of the D Day landings and was commemorated
by a huge number and range of events at home
and abroad in which many of our members
were directly involved.
One of the very first of these took place on 23rd
February at Bodmin Crematorium following the
death on 7th January of Richard Robert Dunkley
(Dick). Richard served in the 3inch mortar platoon,
D Coy, 12 DEVONS, 6th Airlanding Brigade, 6th
Airborne Division and was involved in the intense
fighting around Ranville; he wrote in his diary:
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2024
under attack. Nine of his comrades were killed,
16 escaped (including Ken’s brother) and 5 were
captured including Ken.
Ken then spent 6 days and nights in a train
with the most basic of facilities travelling from
Chartres to Aachen and a further 5 days and
nights from Aachen to Zabrze in Poland (near
Katowice) where he was put to work in a coal
mine.
‘Close Combat D+1 Ranville
aged 19:
my first taste of fighting the
Germans was in the evening of
8 Jun 1944; I distinctly recall the
range being called down from 1,200
yds to 400 yds and then jumping out
of my mortar pit and unholstering
my big American .45 pistol with my
left hand while fumbling for a No.
36 grenade in my ammo pouch,
but fortunately neither was needed
as the attack failed. Then static
positions until that dreadful day, 12
Jun 1944, when D Coy 12 DEVONS
with 12 PARA attacked and
captured Breville. As the headstones
in Ranville cemetery will testify,
both units were decimated on that
day.’
Towards the end of the war and with the
Russians approaching, the prisoners were
marched out, having been told that they were
en route to a new location. This became known
as the long march (approximately 1,000 miles),
during which many of the prisoners died. Ken
almost did not make it as he “lay down to die”
when he fell during the three-month march, but
his friends came back to help.
They continued marching until 20th April 1945
when they heard the sound of guns at which
point the prisoners refused to march any further.
They were liberated by American troops and Ken
returned to the UK via Rheims, arriving in the UK
on 4th May, just in time for VE Day on 8th May.
Later, Ken became a British Normandy Memorial
Ambassador and shares its message with the
public, especially the younger generations.
Association members attended and supported
many D Day landings 80th anniversary
commemorative events across the two counties
as well as conducting a battlefield tour to
Normandy from 24th to 28th June. This well
organised trip enjoyed outstanding weather,
first class accommodation and an excellent
programme all masterminded by two members:
Steve Keane and Ken Chivers.
It is difficult to single out one particular day
but the visit to Asnelles Le Hamel, where 231
Infantry Brigade comprising Devons, Dorsets
Richard Robert Dunkley
Regimental standards, including that of 12
DEVONS, were paraded by Association members
at Richard’s funeral and this event, so early in
the year, set the scene, context and atmosphere
for subsequent D Day/Normandy Landings
commemorative events and activity.
It is interesting to note that Richard, like many
of our WW2 veterans, was still a very young
man when he first saw combat. He remained
intensely loyal to his Regiment even after demob.
Photographs in his album show him and other
veterans visiting the Battalion in Germany on
commemorative trips; indeed, readers may even
have met him on one of these occasions.
I am sure many readers will have watched the
TV coverage of the inaugural event at the British
Normandy Memorial overlooking GOLD beach.
One of the D Day veterans who spoke was Ken
Hay MBE, Legion d’Honneur who served with the
DORSETS.
Ken landed at Courseulles-sur-Mer on D Day
+5 and with his unit made their way towards
Hill 112. On the night of 7-8th July, Ken was on a
night patrol when they were cut off and came
Ken Hay MBE, Legion d’Honneur
Denis Bounsall DCM
Hill 112