Two 90-year-old D-Day veterans made their second tandem parachute jump in just five days - with one landing on the battlefield he was shot down over 72 years ago. Fred Glover and Edward 'Ted' Peri donned red jump suits as they hurtled towards the ground at Old Sarum Airfield in Salisbury on Thursday. It was their second jump in a week after parachuting into Merville Battery in north-west France, a fortified German bunker which saw fierce fighting during the 1944 Normandy landings. It was a familiar sight for Mr Glover, from Brighton, whose glider was hit over the battlefield by anti-aircraft fire more than 70 years ago, sending him crashing into a nearby orchard. After being injured he recouped at a Parisian hospital and later escaped with French Resistance support. Speaking before the jump, he said he was 'not at all nervous' and 'really looking forward' to jumping with the Red Devils parachute display team. He added: 'I've been returning to visit the area since the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994 and I have lots of friends in Normandy, they're a good crowd. 'I've been going for so many years now that some of the toddlers I've met are now grown up with families of their own.' Mr Pieri, from Kent, joined the 1st Airborne Division in 1943 while Mr Glover was a member of 6th Airborne 'A Company'. The jumps helped raise money for next year's charity D-Day trip to Normandy, which is aiming to take around 150 veterans and 80 black cabs to Normandy for four nights, according to a committee member. The London Taxi Benevolent Association For War Disabled was set up in 1947 in Fulham and relies on donations and volunteer London taxi drivers to provide their cabs and time for free. Mr Pieri said: 'I've been on a number of outings with the charity including a trip to Arnhem last year. At each event I have had a different taxi driver who hosted and looked after me throughout. 'Each showed a wonderful professional attitude and they go out of their way to do as much as they can. They do this in their own time, they are very special people.'
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk