WWII veterans enlist in scheme to revisit battlefields

Northern Ireland’s World War II veterans are signing up for a multi-million pound Lottery-funded scheme to revisit the battlefields where they saw active service.

The 'Heroes Return' scheme will allow every UK veteran to journey overseas to the sites of the battles they fought in and to remember the comrades they lost. The scheme has been created in the run up to the 60th anniversary of the momentous events that turned the tide of the Second World War.

The £10 million programme is being rolled out from today by the New Opportunities Fund, the Lottery's good cause distributor, in partnership with the veterans organisation Confederation of British Service and Ex-Service Organisations.

The programme will provide grants for veterans and their spouse and/or their carers to visit the countries where they served - such as France, North Africa or the Far East - at any time in 2004 and 2005. The Fund will help veterans to record their experiences on these visits so that new generations can learn from them.

One of Northern Ireland’s most well-known veteran’s Sir John Gorman, welcomed the scheme on behalf the hundreds of local veterans expected to take part.

Sir John, 81, served with the Irish Guards in North West Europe and won the Military Cross for his actions as a Lieutenant in France when he rammed and knocked out a German King Tiger Tank with his lighter Sherman tank.

Sir John said: “I can vividly recall the many men who died and the many who were grievously wounded then and earlier in Normandy. Hundreds of them – good friends and trained soldiers able to cope with triumph and disaster.

“The experience of returning to those places with former comrades and sharing the memories of a key stage of our lives has been absolutely vital over the years, so I am delighted that the New Opportunities Fund will enable many veterans to make that special journey through this programme.”

The proposal to develop a large-scale lottery-funded scheme enabling veterans to revisit the battlefields of WWII and the final resting places of their comrades, was proposed to the Fund by the Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell MP last autumn.

Through the 'Heroes Return' scheme, veterans will be able to link up with schools so that today’s young people can learn from those who experienced the horrors of war at first hand.

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