Story and Eulogy of Norman Prior

1st/5th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers

And 108th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (The Lancashire Fusiliers) 25th Feburary 1919 to 24th July 2018

From the 1st/5th Battalion page

Related Locations

Funeral

You just can not keep our Norman out of the News here he is just before Christmas getting a copy of the Book "A debt of gratitude to The Last Heroes" which Norman has a part in here he is with the Author GARY BRIDSON-DALEY and his friend Alan

Norman, GARY BRIDSON-DALEY and his friend Alan

Norman Prior and his mate Tommy Barron was with 1/5th LF at Dunkirk. He was bitten by an adder at Roman Way Camp Colchester following Dunkirk, and died there.

Taken on 9th June 1940 in the back yard of a house in Bristol after being invited to Sunday Dinner. This was one week after return from Dunkirk. Notice the state of that battle dress after prolonged exposure to seawater. Likewise, the boots. Memories are made of this.

Norman on the BBC Northwest tonight 30th June 2017

Dunkirk - Norman's invite to film World Premiere

Sadly, Norman did not go as it may take to much out of him

Dear Norman Prior

We are delighted to invite you and three guests to the World Premiere of Dunkirk at Leicester Square.

The premiere is in association with Contact, a charity supported by Prince Harry. Contact is a group of military charities working with the NHS and the MOD to support the mental wellbeing of the military community (see below for further information).

Prior to your attendance at the premiere, we are thrilled to advise that each Dunkirk veteran with one guest has been invited to afternoon tea with Prince Harry at Kensington Palace. Please find timings below:

Date: Thursday, 13th July
Location: Kensington Palace
Time: 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Transfer to Leicester Square

Location: Odeon Leicester Square for the World Premiere of Dunkirk
Arrival: 6:00pm
Guests seated by: 6:30pm
Film introduced: 7:15pm
Dress code: Smart

Following the screening you are invited to attend a drinks reception for filmmaker guests at the following address from approx 9:30pm:

2 Temple Place, London, WC2R 3BD

WB is happy to provide transportation for all the above - please do let us know if you would like us to book you a car.

For guests attending the premiere but not going to Kensington Palace, we will be serving afternoon tea at the Hampshire Hotel on Leicester Square. The hotel is a very short walk from the premiere. The veterans will be brought to the Hampshire to meet with their guests and can either walk the red carpet or take a shorter route to the premiere depending on mobility issues.

We are very happy for you to tell people you have been invited to the palace and to the premiere and ask that you please wait until after the premiere before sharing your thoughts on the film in order that we can protect the privacy of the veterans who attended the early screening.

If you do find you are receiving requests from the media, please do feel free to pass them on to us and we can handle on your behalf.

Please let us know if you are able to attend at the below number/address:

Angharad Janin

Dunkirk is directed by Christopher Nolan ("Interstellar," "Inception," "The Dark Knight" Trilogy) and stars Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D'Arcy and Barry Keoghan, with Kenneth Branagh ("My Week with Marilyn," "Hamlet," "Henry V"), Cillian Murphy ("Inception," "The Dark Knight" Trilogy), Mark Rylance ("Bridge of Spies," "Wolf Hall") and Tom Hardy ("The Revenant," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "Inception").

Awards

Congratulations to Norman Prior, one of our Lancashire Fusilier veterans. He has been honoured by the French Government for the part he played in the Liberation of France in WW2. Well Done Norman even if its a little late From the Manchester Evening News by Paul Britton

Veteran Norman Prior, 96, awarded France's highest decoration for bravery in recognition of Dunkirk heroics Norman becomes a Chevalier in the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur

He risked his life as a young soldier to help liberate France from Nazi occupation.

Now more than 70 years on, veteran Norman Prior, 96, has finally received the recognition he so richly deserves from the country he fought to protect.

He & rsquo;s been awarded France & rsquo;s highest decoration for bravery, becoming a Chevalier in the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur - and branded a hero.

The honour was personally recommended by French President Francois Hollande and equates to the title of knight. It’s the highest distinction in an order of chivalry created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.

In a letter to Norman, France & rsquo;s ambassador to the UK, Sylvie Bermann, thanked him for his ‘steadfast involvement’ in the Second World War. She added: & ldquo;As we contemplate this Europe of peace, we must never forget the heroes like you, who came from Britain and the Commonwealth to begin the liberation of Europe by liberating France. We owe our freedom and security to your dedication, because you were ready to risk your life.”

Norman, who lives in Middleton, is a former president of the Manchester branch of the Dunkirk Veterans Association. He served as a Fusilier with the 1st 5th Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers having joined at the age of 20 in 1939.

Norman was 21 and had only been in France for eight weeks when he found himself hemmed in on the beaches at Dunkirk alongside tens of thousands of his comrades.

Letter from the French Embassy

He recalls being camped on the Belgium border then being ordered to retreat to protect bridges and aerodromes from the threat of German paratroopers before his unit was switched to Tournai then Dunkirk.

Norman, a grandfather and great-grandfather, said: “We did not know the names of all the towns and places. We would always only move at night. We had been fighting rearguard actions across France and we were 30 miles outside Dunkirk when the evacuation began.

“There were so many people. I never thought I would get on a boat. I remember there being fishing boats loaded with men and making makeshift piers. I remember one night walking on the beach with another chap because we couldn’t sleep when a small boat came ashore.

“We rowed the boat out to sea in the hope of finding a ship and suddenly this huge black shape materialised in front of us. It was a destroyer.”

Norman went on to serve in North Africa and Italy with the King’s Own Hussars regiment during the war.

Friends at the Fusiliers Association in Bury recommended Norman for the honour.

He added: “I am please and proud. I feel that I have not been forgotten and that people are still remembering.”

Stories about Norman