On 19 November, WWII veteran Peter Smoothy from Kent will celebrate his 100th birthday
On 6 June 1944, Peter Smoothy was one of the 156,000 allied servicemen that took part in the invasion of Normandy as part of Operation Overlord. Peter was one of a crew of 99 on a Landing Ship Tank LST 215 which headed across the Channel to Juno beach. His Landing Ship carried 28 tanks on the inner deck, 40-45 lorries on the upper deck, and 200 soldiers who were drivers and crew for the vehicles.
In June 2024, Peter visited Normandy with the Taxic Charity for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. He said of that day 80 years ago: "We were scheduled to unload our valuable cargo of vehicles and men on Juno Beach at 7:30am but the beach had not been cleared so we waited for an hour, two miles offshore for the beach to be cleared so that we could find space to unload. There were shells flying all around us and we were lucky not to be hit but of course we were just one of thousands of boats. We were all very young men and said at the time, if our names are on a bullet, it's our bad luck – we were lucky that our names weren’t.
“When we finally got to the beach, it took us 3-4 hours to unload, with shells whizzing over our heads, and when we were ready to leave, the tide had ebbed, and we couldn’t get off. Fortunately for us, an empty ship isn’t really a target for the enemy, so we spent the day on the beach without being hit and only heard two air raid warnings.
“During that wait by the shore, 200 German prisoners of war were brought to our ship. After searching them, we put them on the inner deck where they sat quietly smoking, and not causing us any problems, probably very relieved that for them the war was over, and they were safe.
“We finally got off the beach at 7pm that evening, returned to Southampton, dropped the POWs reloaded and headed straight back to Juno the next day.”
After the war, Peter ran the Four Fathoms Public House in Herne Bay for over 40 years for Shepherd Neame. The pub, which was Peter’s home for many years, had planned to throw a celebratory lunch for Peter, but sadly he has not been in good health recently and will spend this milestone birthday in hospital.
Peter has been part of the Taxi Charity family for many years, joining us on trips to the Netherlands and Normandy, and in October he enjoyed a day at the Chatham Historic Dockyard.
Dick Goodwin, Vice President of the Taxi Charity, said: "Peter is a wonderful gentleman who it has been an honour to get to know over the years. He played an important role on D-Day and it is a privilege to know the men who were there on the 6 June 1944. Peter is currently in hospital and I know all the charity volunteers and supporters will want to join me in sending him our very warm wishes as he becomes a centenarian."
Additional Coverage
Royal Navy veteran Peter Smoothy recalls D-Day heroics on his 100th birthday - Read article on express.co.uk
D-Day veteran celebrates 100th birthday - Read article on bbc.co.uk
D-Day veteran who ran Four Fathoms pub in Herne Bay High Street marks 100th birthday - Read article on kentonline.co.uk