17-Mar-2023

Death of Normandy Veteran David Mylchreest

The Trust is sad to announce the passing of Normandy Veteran David Mylchreest Leg d’Hon, at the age of 99. He died on Wednesday 8 March 2023. David, who lived in France, was the first British Veteran to visit the completed British Normandy Memorial.

Captain David Mylchreest was 20 years old when he landed on the beach at Arromanches-les-Bains on 12 June 1944 with the 43rd Wessex Infantry Division.

Over the course of the Battle of Normandy David was involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the campaign around towns like Argenten, Caen and Falaise as well as the battles for Hill 112 and Mont Pinçon. After the liberation of Normandy, David went on to fight through Belgium and on to the Netherlands where he was wounded and the war ended for him.

At the inauguration of the British Normandy Memorial on 6 June 2021 we were honoured to welcome David as the sole British Veteran, representing all those Veterans who could not join us in Ver-sur-Mer and instead attended the ceremony from the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire due to Covid travel restrictions.

David meeting then Ambassador of France Lord Edward Llewellyn, at the official opening on 6 June 2021.

He spoke of his honour of being the sole British Veteran present and the powerful sense of emotion being surrounded by the names of the 22,442 fallen.