Hello Suzanne, My father William Frederick BEAVIS [always known as Fred] was in the Royal Engineers and went to Normandy with the D Day landings.We then lived in West Street,Ventnor,with a good view of the Channel.I saw hundreds of ships passing and ran to tell my Mother,what we didn't know was that my Father could see our house as he sailed past. Before D Day my Mother,sister and myself were allowed to leave the Island to visit my Father in Chichester,[we had to have special permission to leave the Island] of course I was too young to realise that it might have been the last time that I saw my Father,thankfully he came home,though badly wounded in Holland.He never spoke about it but did go back to Normandy many years later and came home extremely upset.Not once did he ever complain about the pain that he suffered due to leg and stomach wounds. My Father built Bailey Bridges in the Royal Engineers. Kind regards Valerie