Mervyn Kersh, a 101-year-old Jewish D-Day veteran, was awarded the British Empire Medal by King Charles in the New Year's Honours, according to major media reports. The medal recognized his commitment to teaching about racism and hate through Holocaust education. Kersh landed on Gold Beach in June 1944 with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps as part of the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, major media reports indicate. He later helped liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where he witnessed scenes of human suffering. British troops liberated Bergen-Belsen on April 15, 1945, finding tens of thousands of starving prisoners and thousands of unburied bodies.
Arnold Walton, a 100-year-old D-Day veteran, attended a commemoration ceremony honoring fallen soldiers in Arnhem, Netherlands, as guest of honor, according to major media reports. He is one of the last surviving Polar Bears, soldiers from the British 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division who freed Arnhem in April 1945. Walton visited the graves of two friends, Stanley Antcliffe and George Alfred Yorke, at Arnhem's Oosterbeek War Cemetery. The Forgotten Liberation of Arnhem group organized the event and a fundraiser to bring Walton to the Netherlands.
I was over the moon when I was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in 2015 but, as my daughter Lynne reminds me, that medal is France’s highest award to those who assisted in the liberation of France during the Second World War. The British Empire Medal is awarded to individuals in recognition for hands-on service to people who have made a significant difference to their local area in a voluntary capacity. In my case this is for all the talks I have given to schoolchildren of all ages, to adults at various clubs and events, and for the many articles and books I have written over the past 80 years since the war. My message has always been fervent and always the same – the importance isn’t to win wars but to avoid them by being too strong for anyone to dare attack, and it is as important and as vital today as it was back in the 1930s. Antisemitism reveals diseased minds and corrupt societies, and it eventually leads to the Holocaust, which we must not only learn about but never, ever forget so that it can never happen anywhere again. I am extremely happy that my efforts, which I've always found rewarding and enjoyable over these 80 years, have been appreciated and I am honoured to receive this medal.