Britain says farewell to a D-Day giant as emotional funeral held for WW2 hero
EXCLUSIVE: Henry Rice, who survived the 1944 Normandy Invasion but lived for 82 wracked with guilt, has been laid to rest.
Veteran Henry Rice was given a farewell fit for a hero as he was laid to rest today. The Royal Navy braveheart, part of the mighty Normandy Invasion to liberate Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944, died last month aged 100. His funeral cortege was escorted by two fire engines in a nod to his post-war career.
At Guildford Crematorium where 200 mourners gathered to say their goodbyes his coffin was given a guard of honour by the Royal Naval Association, Royal British Legion, HMS Collingwood, the naval training establishment, and Surrey Fire and Rescue Service.
Great grandfather-of-five Henry from Cranleigh, Surrey, served aboard the landing ship HMS Eastway as part of Convoy ETM13, and arrived off Juno Beach on D-Day +5.
His job was to ferry soldiers and supplies to blood-drenched beaches during the Normandy Landings which started on June 6, 1944.
He was awarded the Legion of Honour, France’s highest order of military merit, for his service.
After the war Henry joined the fire service and was one of the first men called to what was thought to have been a catastrophic gas explosion at a pub in Guildford on October 5, 1974.
Henry arrived shortly after two 6-pound (2.7kg) gelignite bombs were set off at two pubs by the IRA in an attack which killed four off-duty British soldiers and one civilian and wounded 65.
His son Stuart, 70, who followed in his father’s footsteps and also became a firefighter, led a series of tear-jerking eulogies and said: “He was quite simply the best father anyone could wish for. We owe him everything.
“He was kind, loving, and generous to a fault. Behind the facade of jokes and leg-pulling was a man who cared and worried about other people - all at the expense of himself. But no amount of telling him would have changed that.
“The Royal Navy made him into the man he was - and if someone thanked him for his service his whole body filled with pride.”
Among 200 mourners was Henry, Viscount of Alamein, the grandson of British D-Day commander Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, and Chris Hay, whose D-Day hero father Ken, a close pal of Henry, died in September, aged 101.
Surrey’s Chief Fire Officer Dan Quin read The Firefighter's Prayer while Richard Palusinski, Chairman of Spirit of Normandy Trust of whom Henry was an active member, paid tribute to his mischievous streak.
Since the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in 2024 his chums from the greatest generation including Richard Aldred, John Dennett, Stan Ford, Jim Grant, Ken Hay, Alan McQuillan, Alec Penstone, Reginald Pye, and Joe Randall have all died.
Mr Palusinski said: “Henry was a great character with a cheeky smile that endeared him to everyone he met. Stand down Henry, your duty is done. We will miss you.”
Born in Battersea, south east London, Henry joined the Senior Service aged 17 in 1943 and served until 1947.
He then worked for the Orient Shipping Line and later Cunard until he met his future wife Gwen who issued him with an ultimatum: “It’s me or the sea.”
They wed in 1951 and were married for 59 years until her death in 2011. The couple had two children Stuart and Ian, who died in 2001.
It was played at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral on April 17, 2021, and when US President John F Kennedy’s casket was carried up the steps of the Capitol Rotunda in 1963 in honour of his heroic service with the US Navy in the Pacific during the Second World War.
The D-Day Darlings, a favourite of Henry, sang The Longest Day and We’ll Meet Again, while the service ended with The Last Post and Somewhere over the Rainbow.
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We cannot ever hope to repay the debt
Henry Rice was no different from the tens of thousands of men who sailed across the English Channel and into the unknown in June, 1944.
He was 18 and the year after he signed up with the Royal Navy he cast off as part of the invading Allied armada to free Nazi-held Europe.
It was an act that will be incomprehensible to most of us.
In the decades that followed Henry and all the brave men who answered the call of duty - many of them cut down in their prime - have rightly become known as heroes.
But if you said as such to Henry he would get cross because to him it was unthinkable that anyone would not stand up and fight for freedom.
It was this unflinching sense of duty - others before self - that sets the greatest generation apart. And as if to reiterate the point, after the war Henry joined the fire service, helping others in their hour of need.
What Henry witnessed during the D-Day invasion and its bloody aftermath haunted him for 82 years.
His job on the landing ship HMS Eastway was to ferry soldiers and supplies to the blood-soaked invasion beaches. He saw the sea turn red.
So when he was called a hero his reply was striking.
He said: "Hero? No, not me. The real heroes are the boys who charged up the beaches.”
But great grandfather-of-five Henry was a hero - he was awarded the Legion of Honour by France for his service - but remained wracked with guilt because he survived the war.
He returned to Normandy every year to remember those who never came home. And, rightly, he was feted by the French.
This year was to be his valedictory salute. His chum Ken Hay, with whom he shared a warm embrace on Sword Beach, died aged 101 in September. Henry passed a fortnight later.
During his farewell pilgrimage Henry was asked how he felt returning to a place where the gates to hell opened.
He said: “When I am here I look skywards and think, 'boy, I am lucky'.
"I close my eyes, look up, and just say, 'thank you, mate' because I am sure someone up there was looking after me."
We cannot ever hope to pay the debt we owe giants like Henry, but we must always remember them.
With war continuing to rage in Europe, and as the number of Second World War veterans dwindles with each passing year, his death is yet another stark reminder that we take freedom for granted at our peril.
And, of course, each and every one who served will forever be a hero.
Giles Sheldrick is Chief Reporter for the Daily Express.
