10 July 2005
The Caen medal was presented to us at a church in Blackpool in about 1984 - 5. I belonged to the Normandie Veterans Association at that time and it was arranged that the mayor of Caen would come over and present these medals in this country. We were in the battle of Caen and were involved in a number of attacks to liberate the town. It suffered terrible damage and one of the few buildings that were left standing was the cathedral. The RAF avoided bombing it.
I went back to Caen in 1988 and I was amazed that it had been completely rebuilt.
The regiment I was in was The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment); the 3rd Regiment of Foot. The Buffs were formed on 1st May 1572; Captain Thomas Morgan raised a company of 300 men to fight the Spanish during Elizabeth I's reign. The Buffs were involved in Holland in the 1600s. The Dutch people presented them with a buff coloured uniform.
The Buffs are the only regiment which has the Freedom of the City of London: this means that they are the only ones who can march through the city.
Author: Fisher, Bill, 1922
Year = 2005
Month = July
Day = 10
Event = Historic
Gender = Male
People = Single
Extra = Military
Extra = 2000s
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