Ex-soldier from Wick ‘deeply touched’ by Normandy cycling experience
Former soldier Kev Stewart felt “immense gratitude, pride and respect” when he took part in a charity cycling challenge around the Normandy beaches.
Kev, from Wick, was raising funds for the Royal British Legion by covering an 218-mile route over three days in mid-July to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Around 50 cyclists joined in the trip, taking in Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah beaches in northern France, and collectively raised more than £188,000 for the Legion.
Kev (45) is a committee member and flag-bearer for Legion Scotland’s Wick, Canisbay and Latheron branch.
He said touring the beaches, as well as memorials and cemeteries, had been a powerful reminder of the courage shown by Allied troops. The large-scale invasion of Nazi-occupied France in 1944 ultimately tipped the course of World War II in the Allies’ favour.
“It was an honour to have the opportunity of visiting the Normandy beaches, a journey that has deeply touched my heart and spirit,” Kev said.
“As an ex-frontline soldier, standing on the very ground where so many brave souls fought and sacrificed their lives filled me with immense gratitude, pride and respect.”
Kev is studying for a Christian theology degree through the Highland Theological College in Dingwall. His goal is to enter the army chaplaincy.
He has taken a couple of services in St Fergus Church in Wick and has another scheduled there soon, as well as one in Pulteneytown Parish Church.
In the build-up to Normandy, Kev had completed several long-distance cycle events in Britain. He tackled the Etape Loch Ness (66 miles) in April, the Etape Caledonia (85 miles) in May and the Dragon Ride Gran Fondo (132 miles) in Wales in June.
He also rode in an 80-mile commemorative D-Day cycle in London on June 6, the actual D-Day anniversary, with the veterans’ charity The Not Forgotten.
All the money is going to the Legion and Kev has surpassed the £1000 target he set on his online fundraising page.
After a visit to Pegasus Bridge, Kev went to the nearby Ranville War Cemetery and, in pouring rain, located a number of Seaforth Highlanders’ graves. He said: “As I knelt and prayed over these graves, the rain stopped and the sun started shining – a very moving moment.”
A visit to Omaha beach, where around 2000 American soldiers lost their lives on D-Day, gave him another profound experience. “Standing on the actual location where this horrific bloodshed happened made me feel very humbled and moved,” Kev said.
At the British Normandy Memorial, overlooking Gold beach, Kev led a prayer and read out the remembrance exhortation during a short service.
At Sword beach there is a statue of Bill Millin, Lord Lovat’s personal piper, who was ordered to pipe Lovat’s commandos ashore. “The thought of being piped into battle like Lovat’s commandos filled me with a powerful emotion of pride and passion,” Kev said.
He added: “Let us never forget the bravery of those who fought on the beaches of Normandy and the impact their actions had on the world.”
Kev served in Northern Ireland in the mid-1990s with The Highlanders, leaving the regular army with the rank of lance-corporal. He then joined the Territorial Army and had two tours in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2003.
Kev’s experiences in Afghanistan left him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In July 2023, Kev raised more than £1200 for the Legion by cycling around World War I battlefield sites and cemeteries in France and Belgium in the three-day Pedal to Ypres.
In September he was among a group of 10 who cycled almost 400 miles across 14 counties in England, raising more than £10,000 for The Not Forgotten.
Kev undertook the Ypres challenge after coming through two physical ordeals in the space of 18 months. First he contracted a near-fatal case of meningitis, then suffered a freak accident that left him with a broken tibia and fibula and a dislocated ankle.
He had to have his ankle rebuilt and he has a metal plate down the side of his right leg.
At the end of 2023 Kev and his partner Annemarie Simpson attended a Christmas lunch at St James’s Palace in London where they met the Princess Royal, patron of the Not Forgotten Association.
