D-Day veteran awarded British Empire Medal says Britain today is ‘disappointing’

A D-Day veteran awarded a British Empire Medal has said Britain today is “disappointing” and warned the country risks repeating mistakes made before the Second World War.

Mervyn Kersh, 101, from Cockfosters, north London, said being honoured for his school talks on Holocaust remembrance and his wartime service is a “wonderful thing”.

Mr Kersh likened the honour to being awarded the Legion d’honneur – France’s highest military award – but said it was significant to be recognised by his own country.

He told the Press Association that efforts to speak about the Holocaust “not always work”, telling of his concerns about rising antisemitism in the UK.

Mr Kersh said he believes his service during the Second World War “was worth it”, but added: “It’s disappointing what’s turned out now.”

He went on: “What’s disappointing is the antisemitism that I see everywhere, hear everywhere, or read.”

Mr Kersh arrived in Normandy aged 19, three days after the start of the D-Day invasion in June 1944, serving as a technical clerk for the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, organising vehicle support.

He was later stationed near Bergen-Belsen when the camp was liberated by British troops in April 1945.

Mr Kersh said he tells schoolchildren during his talks about how the conflict began, adding: “There’d be no need for a war now, we’ve got the wrong attitude.”

The veteran said he “absolutely” sees comparisons between now and the period just before the Second World War, adding that Russia is “threatening the west.”

He went on: “The top budget should be defence, there’s nothing there for anything else. That’s all there is.

“Defence must come first, second, third, fourth and fifth, because only if you’re strong, you won’t be attacked.”

Mr Kersh compared today’s Western leaders to Neville Chamberlain, whose 1930s appeasement of Hitler failed, saying: “They think they’ve just got to hope and make speeches.”

He added: “We’ve got to either have another leader who’s more aggressive, I don’t mean start a war, but aggressive.

“We’ve got to defend, that’s the first concern.”