諾曼地登陸老兵唐納德·謝潑德去世，享年 104 歲

1944 年 6 月 6 日，皇家工兵部隊派遣騎手唐納德·“唐”·謝潑德 (Donald 'Don' Sheppard) 乘坐一艘登陸艦坦克登陸朱諾海灘。

Donald ‘Don’ Sheppard, a dispatch rider for the Royal Engineers, has died aged 104.

皇家工程師派遣騎手唐納德·“唐”·謝潑德 (Donald ‘Don’ Sheppard) 去世，享年 104 歲。

He landed on Juno beach on June 6 1944 in a landing ship tank, as part of the D-Day landings, which saw some 156,000 British, American and Canadian troops launch from the sea and air on to French soil in one of the most successful military operations in history, which this year celebrated its 80th anniversary.

1944 年6 月6 日，他乘坐坦克登陸艦在朱諾海灘登陸，這是諾曼第登陸的一部分，大約156,000 名英國、美國和加拿大軍隊從海上和空中登陸法國領土，這是最成功的登陸行動之一歷史上的軍事行動，今年慶祝了 80 週年。

On Sunday, the British Normandy Memorial account posted on X: “We are saddened to hear of the death of 104-year-old D-Day veteran Donald Sheppard.

週日，英國諾曼第紀念館的帳號在 X 上發文表示：「我們對 104 歲諾曼第登陸老兵唐納德謝潑德去世的消息感到悲痛。

“Donald attended the virtual opening of the Memorial in 2021 & features in the Winston Churchill Centre @PoppyLegion exhibition.

「唐納德參加了 2021 年紀念館的虛擬開幕式，並在溫斯頓邱吉爾中心 @PoppyLegion 展覽中展出。

“Thinking of Donald’s wife Sandra & family. Rest in Peace Don.”

「想到唐納德的妻子桑德拉和家人。唐，安息吧。

Speaking to the PA news agency in 2019, Mr Sheppard, from Basildon, Essex, described D-Day as a “waste of life” but recognised the landings as being “so important”.

來自埃塞克斯郡巴西爾登的謝潑德在 2019 年接受 PA 通訊社採訪時稱，諾曼第登陸是“浪費生命”，但也承認登陸“非常重要”。

He said: “I know we had to defend ourselves… but young guys like me 20, 21, who never lasted five minutes, some of them got killed before they got off the boat.

他說：「我知道我們必須保衛自己……但是像我這樣20歲、21歲的年輕人，他們從來沒有堅持過五分鐘，其中一些人在下船之前就被殺了。

“Tragic, absolutely.”

“絕對是悲劇。”

When he arrived at Juno beach around 4.30pm, Mr Sheppard said the Germans had “really got the distance and shells were coming over like rain”, with battleships also firing over their heads.

當下午 4.30 左右抵達朱諾海灘時，謝潑德表示，德國人“確實已經拉開了距離，砲彈如雨般襲來”，戰艦也在他們頭頂上開火。

“We lost quite a few guys,” he said. “We (the survivors) were lucky really.”

「我們失去了很多人，」他說。 “我們（倖存者）真的很幸運。”

After breaking through Nazi lines in the August, he continued through to Belgium, Holland and eventually Germany – including to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

八月突破納粹防線後，他繼續前往比利時、荷蘭，最後到達德國，包括貝爾根-貝爾森集中營。

Speaking of his experience, Mr Sheppard said: “I shall never forget that for the rest of my life. How one human could do that to another.”

談到他的經歷，謝潑德先生說：「我一生都不會忘記那件事。一個人怎麼能對另一個人做出這樣的事。

The only wound he received during the war was a cut to his leg as he took cover in a ditch as German bombs fell.

戰爭期間，他唯一受的傷是在德國炸彈落下時，他躲進溝裡，腿部被割傷。

But after medical tests and scans some seven decades later, it was discovered he had a sliver of shrapnel sitting in his lung.

但大約七十年後，經過醫學檢查和掃描，發現他的肺部有一小片彈片。

Mr Sheppard said the piece of metal had never caused any health problems.

謝潑德先生表示，這塊金屬從未造成任何健康問題。