Retired grandad, Ray Roscoe, won £7,000 in the Veterans’ Lottery August draw and is planning to take a trip to visit the British Normandy Memorial with his wife Carole.
Ray, who is 76 and lives in Calne, Wiltshire, plans to visit the memorial that records more than 22,000 British troops who were killed during the Normandy Landings on 6th June 1944.
The memorial was at the heart of events marking the 80th anniversary this year, including a ceremony attended by the King and Queen, with veterans, servicemen and women and members of the public.
“I’ve tried for a while to get to Normandy to see the landing zone and wanted to see this memorial,” said Ray.
“I’m not aware of anyone in my own family who lost their life in World War Two, but I feel it is important to remember the sacrifice people made and to show appreciation to all servicemen and women, veterans and their families.”
Ray was inspired to join our lottery after learning about the work his niece did with Help 4 Heroes, one of the charities supported by the Veterans’ Lottery.
“I’ve never won anything before, so it was a lovely surprise to get the call that I had won £7,000. I play the lottery to support the charities that help our armed forces community, but it is certainly very nice to win.”
Ray says he would have liked to have gone to visit the British Normandy Memorial, Standing With Giants, that had been installed in northern France in April but was unable to attend before it was relocated to UK in early September.
The installation featured nearly 1,500 silhouettes of British military personnel who lost their lives on D-Day in Normandy on 6th June, 1944, and led to the liberation of Paris in August the same year.
The memorial was dismantled and brought to UK to be installed and go on display at Stowe House in Buckinghamshire, where he now hopes to see it.
After their trip to Normandy later this month, Ray and Carole plan to meet up in Portsmouth with their son and his family to view the recently reconstructed D-Day landing craft.
Our Veterans’ Lottery has helped to raise more than £23 million since we launched it in 2016 and that money helps fund hundreds of great initiatives that support those currently serving, veterans, and their families.
We increased the top prize to £75,000 in June, from the previous £50,000, and there are more prizes than ever to win each month.
