Prince Charles pays tribute to Scottish D-Day veterans

The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, paid tribute to heroes of the Normandy landings as he met D-Day veterans in Scotland yesterday.

The Prince, known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, met with three veteran soldiers from Glasgow who recounted their memories of the Normandy landings and the battle in which many of their comrades fell.

The meeting at the Albert Halls in Stirling came on the last day of a three-day long series of engagements north of the border.

After the meeting, Roy Edmundson, 79, who served in the Kings Own Royal Regiment, said: “We lost a lot of our regiment. I was wounded and reported killed in action but I’ve now had another 60 years of life.

“We boarded the ship on June 3, and sailed June 4, and the worst part I remember was we had to get over the side of the ship, down a rope ladder and onto a landing craft in a storm. The seas were pretty rough.”

Aided by a walking stick, Mr Edmundson - who has two sons, one grandson and two granddaughters - said he had previously met the Duke of York and the Princess Royal and that he was “delighted” to have met The Prince.

Gordon Motherwell, 80, who served in the 15th Scottish Infantry Division of the Royal Engineers said it had been “an honour” to meet The Prince.

“He seems to be genuinely interested which is quite something," he said.

The Prince also met Second World War veterans from other countries, young servicemen and women, and six children from Queen Victoria School, whose parents are currently serving in the Armed Forces, including one whose father is in the Gulf.

Earlier, The Prince met seven cadets from the Sea Cadet Corp, the Army Cadets Force and the Air Training Corp, aged between 13 and 17.

The Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell, who originally planned to attend a gala dinner celebrating the 250th anniversary of St Andrews golf club, will now be attending the commemorations.

(gmcg)