Royal Navy veteran, 99, remembers men on ship who ‘never came home’

A 99-year-old Royal Navy veteran said he was thinking on Remembrance Sunday of the men on his ship who “never came home”.

Stan Ford served on HMS Fratton, which escorted ships taking people back to the UK and was stationed off Selsey Bill on the south coast on D-Day.

Weeks later, on August 18 1944, Mr Ford suffered lifelong injuries when the ship was sunk by what is believed to have been a midget submarine off the Normandy coast.

It's always a great honour to be back on occasions like this but I remember the guys that never came home on my ship when it was torpedoed

Thirty-eight members of the crew were rescued but 31 were killed.

Mr Ford has had to walk with leg callipers ever since and fractured his spine due to the force of the explosion.

Speaking in Horse Guards Parade after the Royal British Legion’s march past the Cenotaph, Mr Ford said: “It’s always a great honour to be back on occasions like this but I remember the guys that never came home on my ship when it was torpedoed.

“They never came home, and I always feel it’s my duty to put in an appearance and thank God for those that did survive, and to pray for the ones who didn’t.”

I ask the children as they grow old, not to forget, but to remember what the veterans done, and to endeavour to see if they have a possibility of avoiding it in the future to do so

Mr Ford, who lives in Bath, added: “I thank God every day that on the day the boat was sinking that I wasn’t strapped in.”

The veteran gives talks to primary school children to tell them of his experience and the importance of avoiding future wars.

Mr Ford, who is an ambassador for the British Normandy Memorial, said: “I ask the children as they grow old, not to forget, but to remember what the veterans done, and to endeavour to see if they have a possibility of avoiding it in the future to do so.

“It was a terrible thing for a lot of people.”

While a teenager, Mr Ford worked as a runner delivering messages for air raid wardens during the Blitz in Bristol, and subsequently served in the Home Guard.

The veteran turns 100 in May and said he thought the King would “remember” the occasion after they met in Normandy earlier this year.

Mr Ford said: “I think the King will remember me because in Normandy in June, the King came by where we were sitting in a big marquee with a lot of veterans on the tables – they were there having their morning coffee and a bun.

“The King and the Queen came by and we had two chairs vacant on my table. One was by the side of me, and the King came and sat down and we started nattering.

“Then he asked me how old I was, and I said: ‘I was 99 sir’.

I'm 99-and-a-half. And, well, they say that in 10 years' time, there won't be a veteran around

“He said: ‘Oh, when I go home, I must get your card out and start filling it in’.

“He was a very genuine person.”

Mr Ford said that all veterans “remember our family in our own way” and there was no need for any “government interference” to change how people should commemorate Remembrance Sunday in the future.

He said: “I’m 99-and-a-half. And, well, they say that in 10 years’ time, there won’t be a veteran around.

“In my particular case, on the mantelshelf, I’ve got a photo of the whole family – all of us. And I look at that every day and wish the boys the very best.”