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Commander
Jim Speed, commando who cleared the beaches on D-Day – obituary |
Under
intense fire he ensured a steady flow of men, vehicles and supplies off Sword Beach, and was awarded the DSC for his courage. |
By
Telegraph reporter 5 June 2020 • 12:43pm |
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Commander
Jim Speed |
Commander
Jim Speed, who has died aged 96, was a beach commando who landed on Sword
beach before H-Hour on June 6 1944, leading a two-man “underwater clearance
marking party”. |
Before
dawn, the 19-year old newly-promoted Sub-Lieutenant Speed RNVR was one
of the first men to set foot on red sector of Sword Beach. He was part
of “Roger” Royal Navy Commando, the specially trained beach commandos
whose task on D-Day was to hurry men, vehicles and supplies off the landing
beaches – where otherwise they were subjected to enemy fire – and to prevent
bottlenecks which might stem the flow of reinforcements…. |
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Of
course we see a lot of these at the moment, but thank you to those of you that shelved your childhood to the effort required.... |
The
article is available at: |
