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D Day Veterans

  • Richard Cannon
  • Paul Hill

I try and complete a personal project every year. This is my 2024 effort. I was tasked to photograph D Day Veterans from all over the UK for the 80th Anniversary. I was completely honoured to be in the company of such amazing individuals who put their lives on the line to safe guard this country. I went to their houses or care homes as they are now into their 100's. Some recounted their time on D Day with complete clarity while others were feeling their age and were not so responsive. I shot them all on a white background which was tricky considering the space I had to shoot in. In total I photographed 17 veterans. Then I set about the difficult job of sourcing relevant images from the D Day archives. The imperial War Museum were very helpful and some of the veterans had pictures that they had kept in a box for all these years. I worked with retoucher Paul Hill and we found a creative way to overlay the images where they seemed part of that history whilst showing that they have had long full lives. Here are some of the results

George Chandler with an image shot from the bridge of his Torpedo boat at 6:15 am in the English channel on their way to Normandy
Harry Howortth , who fought his way up the beaches. The background image was from the IWM archive and shows vividly the scene he must of encountered
John Haddock, a gunner on a aircraft that searched for enemy vessels. This background image was taken from his plane whilst attacking a German Iron Ore ship.
Syd Podd, whi was part of the crew that towed gliders over normandy. The image is during a training mission just before D Day.
Alec Penstone who worked below deck on a ship. He remembers the day very well and remebered this aircraft tipping over vividly.
Jo Turpin was serving on HMS Ryde based on a man made harbour off the coast of Normandy delivering American soldiers to landing craft on D Day. The overlay image was of Mulberry Harbour you can see the difference between the calm waters against the rough channel.
Bill Gann was a driver and motorcyclist. aiding the war effort. The image is from the IWM and shows a scene with a motorcycle soon after D day.
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