Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

North-east veteran awarded France’s highest honour for WWII service

Jim Glennie was honoured by the French government with a medal for his role in the D-Day landings. Image: DC Thomson
Jim Glennie was honoured by the French government with a medal for his role in the D-Day landings. Image: DC Thomson

A north-east World War II veteran has been awarded France’s highest honour for the crucial role he played during the 1944 D-Day landings.

Former Gordon Highlander rifleman Jim Glennie has received the Legion d’Honneur medal in recognition of his service to the country during the infamous war.

The medal is the highest distinction offered by the French government, and pays tribute to the gallantry and bravery soldiers like him showed as they took part in the country’s liberation 70 years ago.

Mr Glennie, who lives at Danestone, Bridge of Don, was just 18-years-old when he took part in the D-Day landings in June 1944, where hundreds of thousands of troops invaded France and helped to turn the tide of war against the Nazis.

Turriff-born Mr Glennie was a prisoner of war for nearly a year after being captured by German forces.

Jim Glennie's medal
Jim Glennie’s medal

After surviving the onslaught of shelling and gunfire, he was shot and captured just a few days after arriving in France.

After Mr Glennie was released from hospital, he was transferred by cattle train along with hundreds of others to camp Stalag IV-B, near Muhlberg, Germany.

He would spend several months there before being transported to Leipzig, where he was forced to work filling bomb craters.

Eventually in April 1945, as the Russian forces advanced towards Berlin, Mr Glennie’s group returned to camp one day to find their German guards had “disappeared”.

Jim Glennie with his medal
Jim Glennie with his medal

They were liberated by American forces a short time later.

“When I was landing in France, I never thought I would be getting a medal all these years later,” he said.

“I’m glad I got this, I’m very proud of it – it’s really impressive.”

Mr Glennie, who turned 90 in August, now has 13 medals which he wears proudly on his blazer while he works as a volunteer at the Gordon Highlanders Museum.

France’s president, Francois Hollande, announced last year that every surviving British veteran of the D-Day landings would receive the award.

The medal was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, and was bestowed upon anyone who had either acted bravely on the battlefield or had served civil France in an extraordinary way.

“My family are all really chuffed with it,” said Mr Glennie.