D-Day Remembered
FLTLT (Retired) Mayston
New Zealand and British veterans who took part in the Normandy landings attended a commemorative service to mark the 66th anniversary of D-Day at the Garrison Church at Trentham Military Camp on Sunday 6 June.
The Hon Heather Roy, Associate Minister of Defence was in attendance while honorary Life President of the Normandy Veterans’ Association of New Zealand (NVANZ), David Christison laid a commemorative wreath on behalf of all past and present members of the Wellington NVANZ.
Among the veterans in attendance was FLTLT (Retired) Maurice Mayston of the NZ 485 Spitfire Squadron.
“I took part in shooting down the first two enemy aircraft shot down on D-Day. We were just one of thousands of Squadrons but we were proud that we were Kiwis and that our Squadron was cutting edge,” he said.
Around 10,000 Royal New Zealand Air Force and Navy personnel served with the British Royal Navy ships and Royal Air Force Squadrons that supported the infamous D-Day landings.