Poundbury care home honours D-Day anniversary

The anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 prompted events, visits and get-togethers at all 12 Colten Care homes in the county.

It was especially poignant for those residents who experienced D-Day as young men and women themselves.

READ: Dorset marks 80th D-Day anniversary

99-year-old Freda Wade prepares to lay a wreath on behalf of her fellow residents at Castle View care home. Freda was serving in the Women’s Royal Naval Service at the time of D-Day. With her is the Poundbury home’s Companionship Team Leader Hayley Legg (Image: Colten Care)

In Poundbury 99-year-old Freda Wade laid a wreath on behalf of her fellow residents at Castle View care home.

Freda was serving in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) at the time of D-Day.

Known as Wrens, Freda and her colleagues worked as wireless telegraphists, electricians, mechanics, weapons analysts, radar plotters amongst many other occupations.

Freda was proud to wear her Wrens’ medal as she laid the wreath in the Castle View garden near to artworks depicting soldiers and poppies which residents made using recycled materials such as bottle tops.

READ: Weymouth remembers D-Day on 80th anniversary at Nothe

Freda pictured from when she was serving in the Women’s Royal Naval Service at the time of D-Day. (Image: Colten Care)

Freda said: “I chose to be a volunteer in the navy at the age of 17 due to my family’s heritage of serving in the navy.

“I remember that before the war the youngest volunteers were using broom handles to do drills as the country had not re-armed.

“I also remember there was a prisoner of war hut on what is now Poundbury.”

Fellow resident Pat Hills had a Land Girl billeted with her family during the war.

Pat recalled the lodger’s standard working uniform of corduroy trousers, thick socks and big boots, adding: “Land Girls worked on the land and did any other jobs that were needed.

“As a youngster, I felt jealous of the close relationship that built up between the Land Girl and my mum.”

READ: Echo reporter takes trip on My Girl for D-Day anniversary

Castle View's Companionship Team dressed as Land Girls, from left: Charlotte Musgrove, Sue Goodwin, Stephanie Jolliffe and Hayley Legg. (Image: Colten Care)

Richard Johns spent time on a farming camp as a teenager, living in a bell tent and doing jobs such as ‘stooking’, collecting corn in bundles.

He went on to do national service at the age of 18, serving in the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong and eventually training as a dental nurse.

Among other memories shared, Jill Kember remembered vividly that her brother was a Spitfire pilot.

Castle View's Companionship Team dressed as Land Girls, from left: Charlotte Musgrove, Hayley Legg, Sue Goodwin and Stephanie Jolliffe. (Image: Colten Care)

Joining residents for the commemoration and afternoon tea, and to lay their own wreath, were young visitors from the Combined Cadet Force at Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester.

Welcoming everyone and helping to turn the clock back, members of the Castle View Companionship Team dressed as Land Girls for the occasion.

READ: Weymouth woman shares memories of D-Day on Portland

Elaine Farrer, Colten Care’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “D-Day continues to inspire and act as a reminder of the bravery of our armed forces and the loved ones they left behind for the price of our freedom.

“With many of our residents having service histories themselves and even personal wartime memories, it has been a privilege to facilitate events and opportunities to commemorate the 80th anniversary on their behalf.”  

The Brook View party enjoy the community D-Day afternoon at Pinehurst Chapel in West Moors, Dorset. From left: residents Pam Clark, Trevor Clark and Pam Roberts; Companionship Team member Christine Dunscombe; and resident Ellen Holland. (Image: Colten Care)

In the east of the county, Jojo Cook, who is 102 and lives at Colten’s Brook View home in West Moors, was serving in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force at the time of the Normandy landings. 

Pictures: Beacons lit across Dorset marking D-Day's 80th

Having previously worked in the fashion industry, Jojo was initially recruited for a post involving sewing and needlework but it was scrapped by the date of her arrival and she was deployed directly on aircraft maintenance instead.

Jojo would apply layers of grease to the mechanical workings of planes along with other procedures to keep them safe, ready for the RAF pilots to board and fly.

She said: “I recall watching the planes come back in.

“The women would count them with fingers crossed and knots in their bellies. These were 18 and 19-year-olds going out and losing their lives. We’d see their mums go through agony.”