A veteran of the 1944 Normandy landings has become a chart-topping musician, beating out the likes of Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift after releasing a sobering tribute to the World War II invasion, Fox News reported.
Jim Radford was just 15 when he stormed Normandy with his fellow British soldiers on June 6, 1944.
He was the youngest of three brothers , all of whom served in the British Merchant Navy.
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At the time of the storming, he was a galley boy serving on a tug boat, and was able to join the war effort because tug boat companies did not have to abide to the Merchant Navy rule which said recruits had to be 16 years old or order.
“I didn’t know when I went that my first trip was going to be the invasion of Europe.”
In an interview with ABC News, the now 90-year-old Radford explained that during the storming, soldiers weren’t thinking about their duty to their country.
“Your main concern is not to let your comrades down,” he said. “You’re not thinking about king or country, you’re not thinking about democracy. You’re thinking about, ‘My mates depend on me, as I depend on them.'”
He is now a member of an anti-war organization, Veterans for Peace.
The global organization is made up of military veterans and allies who work together to “inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars.”
Radford said he penned his song, “Shores of Normandy,” 50 years ago after returning to the site of D-Day.
At that time, it was the 25th anniversary of the invasion.
This year marks the 75th, and Radford’s song has been released by the Normandy Memorial Trust to raise funds for a new memorial on the same beach where so many lost their lives.
“I had been back to France, but I hadn’t been to Normandy.”
He said that revisiting the beach was an incredibly emotionaal moment for him.
“I remember [D-Day] very clearly, but I thought I’d got it all in perspective and I wasn’t going to be emotional about it,” he said in a video on the Normandy Memorial Trust website. “It wasn’t until I went back, saw the children playing on the beach, that I was sort of overwhelmed with recollection of what I’ve seen and moved to tears by the contrast, as a lot of veterans were.”
He said it actually took him several years to complete the song.
Recalling the devastating events of the invasion and those men who were lost is difficult for Radford. He told CNN it’s also taken him a long time to be able to sing it in public because it is such “a powerful recollection” for him.
“The song is to remember the brave lads that didn’t come back.”
The poignant ballad honors those who died in Normandy and describes the events of the invasion, from the actual storming to the legacy it has left behind.
“As the years pass by, I can still recall the men I saw that day,” Radford sings, “Who died upon that blood-soaked sand, where now sweet children play.”
Normandy Memorial Trust has released a video of Radford singing his song on YouTube.
The video shows the D-Day vet dressed in his regalia as he sings the sobering song, overlapped with footage of the storming paralleled with clips of the beach in present day.
The song has been at No.1 on Amazon’s singles chart for most of the week since its release.
The single has beat out other popular artists for number one spot, including Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber.
Radford said he is “overwhelmed” by the response his song has received from the public.
“I’m obviously delighted and extremely surprised to be at No. 1 on this particular chart, and I hope it does well because the more copies are downloaded, the more money we’ll have to pay for this wonderful memorial we’re building here,” he said in a statement to CNN.
The new memorial was inaugurated today by UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
French President Emmanuel Macron was also present for the inauguration, where joined May in laying wreaths at the Foundation Stone and the D-Day Sculpture , designed by British sculptor David Williams-Ellis.
