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Len Bloomfield, a 92 year old former Royal Marine, served on HMS
Mauritius in June 1944 where he was Captain of a four inch gun crew
tasked with the mission of destroying the German batteries that
were defending Sword Beach. Mr Bloomfield returned to Normandy
on June 6th with the Royal British Legions Remembrance travel
tour.
Following the emotional remembrance service at Bayeux Commonwealth
War Graves Cemetery, Mr Bloomfield mingled with dignitaries from
across Europe, including British Prime Minister David Cameron,
before the proudest moment of his personal tour came. Mr Bloomfield
said: “First of all I met Mr Cameron, I thought he was very good,
he then introduced me to The Queen. I said ‘Thank you for very much
for coming Ma’am’ and she replied that it was a pleasure”.
Len continued: “I mentioned to The Queen that I served with Prince
Philip in the Mediterranean in 1940 and she said to me ‘Oh he
was a sub lieutenant then’, she turned around and said ‘Philip
there is someone here who wants to meet you'”.
Mr Bloomfield then spoke to the Duke and told him he was on
HMS Resolution on H Force in Gibraltar in 1940. During the rest of
the trip Mr Bloomfield visited some smaller
cemeteries and laid wreaths and poppies on behalf of Swanton
Morley and his home town of Beetley. He also said that
another emotional moment came when, on his return to Normandy, he
was greeted by the people of France as he moved between
services at Bayeux Cathedral and Bayeux Cemetery.
On D-Day itself, Len Bloomfield played a key role in the naval
bombardment which carved a path for the advancing allies.
After beginning the onslaught in the early hours of June 6th,
his ship kept pounding enemy positions until August. As the
invasion progressed, the aiming of the bombardment moved further
inland and his crew were eventually ordered to target the city
of Caen, where Mr Bloomfield’s brother was serving as a military
policeman.
Mr Bloomfield also took part in the landings at Sicily, Salerno and
Anzio, but he recalled that the crucial factor on D-Day was
the air cover. He said: “When I saw the RAF up there, I knew we
were going to win, by the same token I knew how catastrophic
it would be should we fail. I was happy though that we were going
in to France at last, to help those people who were under
suppression”.
Mr Bloomfield is one of the few soldiers to have been awarded six
campaign medals during a military career which took him from
the Artic to the Mediterranean, and from the Far East to
Australia.
Photo credit: theharv58 via photopin cc]]>
