D-Day veteran shares memo proving he knew WWII was ending before anyone else
A D-Day hero was sworn to secrecy after being told the Nazis had surrendered 48 hours before the official announcement.
And Bernard Morgan still has the historic telex which said: “The German war is now over.” He was working as an RAF codebreaker in May 1945 when the message arrived on his Typex machine.
It read: ”The German War is now over. At Rheims last night the instrument of surrender was signed which in effect is a surrender of all personnel of the German forces - all equipment and shipping and all machinery in Germany.
"Nothing will be destroyed anywhere. The surrender is effective sometime tomorrow. This news will not be communicated to anyone outside the service nor to members of the press.” Bernard could not tell his friends the good news and he kept both the note and his role in the war hidden for 50 years, because of the secrecy documents he had signed, which elapsed in 1994.
Now the ex-serviceman, who celebrates his 100th birthday on Wednesday has vowed to keep the document in his family. Bernard, from Crewe, Cheshire, said: “The Imperial War Museum in London and in Manchester both wanted the original copy - they weren't interested in a photocopy - but I'm keeping it for my family."
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The RAF sergeant had landed on Gold Beach in Normandy at 6.30pm on D-Day, June 6, 1944, aged 20, after he had joined the force on his birthday two years earlier. Later he was stationed in Germany, where he got the secret message.
D-Day veteran Bernard Morgan celebrates his 100th birthday by dressing in his WW2 uniform (Lee McLean / SWNS)
Bernard Morgan, pictured 1st May, 1944 (Courtesy Bernard Morgan / SWNS)He said: “It was a surprise. We couldn’t tell anybody until we got the final message to say the war in Germany was now over. We had to decode it - it was in code. It was great when we got that. I was in a little place called Schneverdingen, near Hamburg. It was nice to see that no more soldiers, sailors or airmen were giving their lives... and also to thank the civilians who gave their lives for the same reason.”
After the war Bernard worked on the railways and at Crewe Alexandra, where he was a turnstile operator for 57 years. The widower is also a Royal British Legion Ambassador and said: “I am always keen for the younger generation to know exactly what went on during the war and to appreciate the sacrifice that our lads made so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today.”
He is planning to return to Normandy with the RBL to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June. His daughter Sheila, 71, said: “We are incredibly proud of dad. He will always be a war hero but he is a brilliant dad, grandad and great-grandad, too.”
Nancy Kay, Branch Chair for the RBL in Crewe, added: “Our D-Day veterans are a dwindling band of brothers, so it is incredibly important that we take every opportunity we can to celebrate the achievements and the bravery of those people who helped to liberate Europe 80 years ago.”
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