100-year-old veteran of Normandy landings receives honorary degree

A 100-year-old veteran of the Normandy landings has been awarded an honorary degree from the University of Aberdeen.

Jim Glennie was just 18 when he took part in the Normandy landings on June 6 1944, when thousands of Allied servicemen stormed five beaches in occupied France.

The largest amphibious invasion in history, the landings paved the way for the eventual liberation of western Europe from the Nazi regime.

What we have seen only on the screen, Jim lived through in the flesh with his fellow Gordon Highlanders on Sword Beach

Scott Styles, University of Aberdeen law lecturer

The degree was awarded at a special ceremony at the university’s King’s College Chapel on Tuesday, which was attended by Mr Glennie’s family, local dignitaries and members of the Aberdeen University Officers’ Training Corps.

After the ceremony the veteran laid a wreath at the university war memorial, becoming the last living Gordon Highlander veteran of the Second World War to do so.

Giving an address at the degree ceremony, senior law lecturer Scott Styles said Mr Glennie had been just “an ordinary Turra (Turrif) loon who was called up at 18 like most young men of his generation.”

The academic recalled the opening scene of 1998 film Saving Private Ryan as he described Mr Glennie’s experience on D-Day.

“What we have seen only on the screen, Jim lived through in the flesh with his fellow Gordon Highlanders on Sword Beach,” he said.

“He staggered through the hail of bullets and the screech of shells, seeing comrades fall down beside him, but like the well-trained soldier that he was he just chaved awa up the beach until the Gordons achieved their objective.”

Mr Styles said Mr Glennie’s luck ran out a week later, when his unit ran into the 21st Panzer Regiment.

He was badly wounded in an exchange of fire before being taken prisoner and treated in a German field hospital in a ward with German patients, who called him “Scottie” and gave him food and cigarettes.

Following the ceremony Jim Glennie laid a wreath at the University of Aberdeen war memorial (Nick Forbes/PA)

On his 19th birthday Mr Glennie was transferred to camp Stalag IV-B near Munich, before being moved to Leipzig where he was forced to work filling bomb craters before being liberated by American troops in April 1945.

Mr Styles became visibly emotional when he concluded his address with the words: “This is a moment when memory turns to history.

“We shall not meet Jim’s like again.”

Mr Glennie then moved through the church to the university war memorial, where a piper played the lament Sleep, Dearie, Sleep as he laid a wreath.

The wreath was inscribed with the words “RIP chums” and the Scots word “Bydand” – meaning “steadfast” – which is the motto of the Gordon Highlanders.

Speaking to the PA news agency after the ceremony, Mr Glennie’s daughter Juliet Gallacher said she had not expected the ceremony would only be for her father.

“We didn’t actually realise that was just for dad,” she said.

“We thought there would be others getting their degrees at the same time, and when we arrived and it was just for dad, it’s quite an amazing thing for them to do for him.”

Jim Glennie (front) with son James (left), daughter Juliet Gallacher (middle) and son-in-law Paul Gallacher (right) (Nick Forbes/PA)

Ms Gallacher, who works as a wedding planner, added that the family were “very proud” of their father, and that he himself was “very happy”.

She also reflected on her father having become a “minor celebrity” due to being one of the last remaining survivors of the Second World War.

Recalling a trip to Normandy 10 years ago, Ms Gallacher said: “Walking down the street with dad in Normandy, it was like walking down the street with Brad Pitt.

“Literally, people were coming up to him, shaking his hand and asking him questions, wanting photographs with them.

“So even back then, we realised dad going anywhere with his Legion of Honour medal, it’s a big deal, and people recognise that and want to speak to him.”

She added: “I don’t really think he realises what a big deal it still is for people. It was something they just did at the time.”

Mr Glennie’s son James echoed this, saying: “He doesn’t think he deserves anything like that. He’s a very quiet man.”

He also described his emotions at seeing his father receiving an honorary degree, saying: “I’m thinking, my God, that’s my dad. I hope he realises how good an honour it is.”

We wanted to honour not just him, but his entire generation for freeing Europe from Nazi tyranny. (It's) as simple as that

Scott Styles, University of Aberdeen law lecturer

He added: “The family are totally delighted. This has been amazing. We’ll never have anything like this again. It’s been a great day.”

Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Styles described Mr Glennie as “the last of his generation”.

“When I was a young boy at school, lots of my teachers had served in the war, but inevitably, time has taken its toll, and Jim is now the last living Gordon Highlander who fought at D-Day, one of the great battles of the 20th century,” he said.

“We wanted to honour not just him, but his entire generation for freeing Europe from Nazi tyranny. (It’s) as simple as that.”