Local WWII veteran honoured by France

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Wendover resident David Morgan, who celebrated his 100th birthday in February 2023, was given a surprise award of the French Legion d’Honneur at the beginning of December. 

This recognises his work nearly 80 years ago in WWII, when he worked on establishing a secure communication link from the Normandy beaches back to Britain on D-Day +5, which led to the liberation of France. 

When David was invited to a Christmas Lunch organised by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, he wasn’t expecting more than a good meal and the chance to meet his friend Mervyn, along with daughter Lynn. He was surprised, but pleased, that his step-daughter Alexandra was able to attend this year too. 

Once the black cab had delivered him to the Millwall Football Club Executive Suite, David was ushered into a little room where he was interviewed by a journalist and camera crew, but as a signatory at Aces High, a Wendover Business which recently moved to Oxfordshire, he is used to being interviewed as an example of a WWII veteran.

When the dinner was over everyone was enjoying informal chats around the table when a dashing officer addressed the assembled company and mentioned David by name. He was the Air Attaché from the French Embassy who had come to give David the Legion d’Honneur. 

It seems that Lynn had made the French aware that David was eligible for this honour and Black Cab Drivers have a special fondness for ex-servicemen. The President of France awarded his country’s greatest honour for “steadfast involvement in the Liberation of France.” The story was told on ITV and can be viewed here: www.bit.ly/4acgmhn. “It’s one of the proudest moments of my life,” he told ITV’s Sam Holder, “that the French are so grateful for what we did.”

Since then, David has been the centre of a media whirlwind with all sorts of organisations and family members telephoning since his appearance on TV. You may also remember David Morgan was the Local Face in the February Print edition of Wendover News in the month he celebrated his 100th birthday, www.bit.ly/3tcVZQs.