DAWLISH Community College welcomed a group of D-Day veterans to one of its Year 11 history lessons.
The five men, members of the Normandy Veterans Association, arrived sporting their regimental berets and insignia, wearing their medals proudly, to speak to students about their experiences as enlisted soldiers in the second world war. Roy Hamlyn told of his early days in training when he was just 18, spending two years becoming a signaller, learning semaphore and Morse code, and being trained to drive an amphibious vehicle.
He spoke calmly about his front-line experiences of delivering ammunition to the Canadian and Polish troops, and of driving an unreliable vehicle through enemy fire on the beaches.
Despite the danger, he maintains there were no heroes, just that all were involved in acts of survival and mutual support, and that everyone was brave.
Since the end of the war, the veterans make annual visits to Arnhem in the Netherlands to visit the cemeteries of those men who gave their lives to maintain our freedom.
Above all other nationalities, it is the Dutch who, he feels, are the most appreciative of the sacrifices made for them.
During the annual Armistice service the Dutch children, from local towns and villages, walk through the woods to the gravesides, bringing a flower for every serviceman.
This is something that their mothers, and their grandmothers have been doing for the past 60 years.
The veterans' talk at the school follows a trip that a group of Year 11 pupils made to Normandy last autumn.
The visits are to complement the studies of war, and in particular the first and second world wars, which the students undertake every year.
Despite the number of years that have passed since the events of D-Day, the students were moved by the stories the veterans had to tell, and had a lot of questions.