On 19 November, WWII veteran Peter Smoothy celebrated his 100th birthday.
On 6 June 1944 Peter Smoothy was one of the 156,000 allied servicemen that took part in the Invasion of Normandy as part of Operation Overlord.
Peter was one a crew of 99 on a Landing Ship Tank LST 215 which headed across the Channel to Juno beach. His Landing Ship carried 28 tanks on the inner deck, 40-45 lorries on the upper deck, and 200 soldiers who were drivers and crew for the vehicles.
In June Peter visited Normandy with the Taxic Charity for Military Veterans for the 80th anniversary of D Day. He said of that day eighty years ago:
“We were scheduled to unload our valuable cargo of vehicles and men on Juno beach at 7.30am but the beach had not been cleared so we waited for an hour, two miles offshore for the beach to be cleared so that we could find space to unload. There were shells flying all around us and we were lucky not to be hit but of course we were just one of 1000’s of boats. We were all very young men and said at the time, If our names are on a bullet it’s our bad luck – we were lucky that our names weren’t.
“When we finally got to the beach it took us 3-4 hours to unload with shells whizzing over our heads and when we were ready to leave, the tide had ebbed, and we couldn’t get off. Fortunately for us, an empty ship isn’t really a target for the enemy, so we spent the day on the beach without being hit and only heard two air raid warnings.
“During that wait by the shore, two hundred German prisoners of war were brought to our ship. After searching them we put them on the inner deck where they sat quietly smoking, and not causing us any problems, probably very relieved that for them the war was over, and they were safe.
“We finally got off the beach at 7pm that evening, returned to Southampton, dropped the POW’s reloaded and headed straight back to Juno the next day.”
After the war, Peter ran the Four Fathoms Public House in Herne Bay for over forty years for Shepherd Neame. The pub which was Peter’s home for many years had planned to throw a celebratory lunch for Peter but sadly he has not been in good health recently and will spend this milestone birthday in hospital.
Peter has been part of the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans family for many years, joining them on trips to the Netherlands and Normandy and in October he enjoyed a day at the Chatham Historic Dockyard.
Dick Goodwin, Vice President of the Taxi Charity for Miliary Veterans said:
“Peter is a wonderful gentleman who it has been an honour to get to know over the years. He played an important role on D Day and it is a privilege to know the men who were there on the 6 June 1944. Peter is currently in hospital and I know all the charity volunteers and supporters will want to join me in sending him our very warm wishes as he becomes a centenarian.”
To find out more about the support the Taxi Charity offers to veterans or to donate visit www.taxicharity.org
