Arthur proudly holding his Legion d’honneur medal
France’s highest military honour has been bestowed on Army veteran, Arthur Ogden. The prestigious Legion d’honneur medal was presented to Arthur for his contribution to the liberation of France during the Second World War. Arthur is a resident at The Royal Star & Garter Homes in Solihull, a Charity that provides specialist care for veterans and their partners who live with disability or dementia.
To celebrate Arthur’s award, the Home organised a tea party in his honour. During the party, the medal’s accompanying letter and Arthur’s awe-inspiring military history were read out to staff, volunteers and fellow resident’s all keen to offer their congratulations.
The prestigious Legion d’honneur Medal
Arthur joined the Army in 1939 and served as a driver in the Signal Unit for the 1st Armoured Brigade. His regiment was attached to the Royal Dragoons and served in Europe and North Africa, where he recalls: “Shelling you can get used to, but not Stukas.” During his service in North Africa, Arthur fought at the battle of El Alamein. As eight hundred guns began to fire, Arthur recalls that: “They lit up the desert sky and the noise was terrific.” It is reported that the gunners’ ears bled.
In July 1944 Arthur’s regiment crossed the English Channel and to France. The regiment moved across France into Belgium, Holland and then Germany where Arthur was involved with the Allied crossing of the Rhine.
Arthur remains extremely humble about his contribution to the liberation of France and says, “I didn’t do anything extraordinary, I just got my feet wet! I was simply doing what needed to get done… What happened to me happened to hundreds of others and there is nothing special about my life in the Army – I was just a very ordinary soldier who was very lucky!”
Arthur wearing his Second World War British campaign medals
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For further information please contact: Diane Fisher, Press Officer, e: diane.fisher@starandgarter.org, t: 0208 481 7669
Cally Madden, Marketing & Communications Manager, e: cally.madden@starandgarter.org, t: 020 8481 7692
Michelle Danks, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager, e: michelle.danks@starandgarter.org, t: 020 8481 7691
About The Royal Star & Garter Homes:
The Charity provides award-winning care for veterans and their partners who live with disability or dementia.
The Royal Star & Garter Homes is a charity founded in 1916 to care for the severely injured young men returning from the battlegrounds of the First World War. Today we provide specialist care to the whole military family in our friendly, state-of-the-art Homes. Disabled ex-Servicemen and women, and their spouses, can all benefit from our pioneering approach to nursing, dementia and therapeutic care.
We are in the process of building new Homes around the country to provide specialist nursing care for disabled ex-Service people in the best modern surroundings, including dementia care facilities to address this growing need. The Charity has award-winning Homes in Solihull, West Midlands, and Surbiton, Surrey, which also enables the Charity to offer interim care for young disabled Service personnel. Following the successes of the first two Homes, a third Home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, is being built, with a planned opening in 2018.
We are proud to have enjoyed Royal patronage since our foundation, including that of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II from 1953 to the present day.
The Charity celebrated its centenary in 2016: providing specialist care for disabled veterans since 1916.
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- Website: www.starandgarter.org
