Soldiers to travel for D-Day event

Thursday 4th June 2009, 11:53AM BST.

A group of Shropshire-based soldiers will be following in the footsteps of their forefathers today when they travel to Normandy to mark the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment, who are based at Tern Hill, near Market Drayton, were leaving for France today.

They will visit Sword Beach and Pegasus Bridge and will meet up with veterans from the Royal Ulster Rifles – the only regiment to have dual battalions arrive by air and sea.

Between 50 and 60 soldiers were making the journey and they were being joined by northern Irish military historian Richard Doherty.

Captain Andy Shepherd, from the Royal Irish Regiment, said: “This is the final opportunity to actually link up and meet them. We can talk about our experiences in Afghanistan and they can talk about their experiences of D-Day.

“Soldiers are going back to visit where their forefathers fought. The Royal Ulster Rifles recruited mainly from Belfast so there is quite a big link between guys from the Royal Irish.”

View more: Market Drayton news.