Remembrance 2024: Honouring their legacy
As a charity supporting thousands of ex-Servicemen and women, the National Service of Remembrance is one of the most important events in our annual calendar.
We commemorate the brave sacrifice of all those who lost their lives for their country. We also reflect on the huge challenges faced by veterans living with life-changing injuries from their time in service.
Our Remembrance campaign this year, Honouring their legacy, seeks to capture the stories of those who served, engaging both young and old in the tradition of Remembrance. Its so important to remember our history and ensuring that the sacrifices of veterans are remembered by future generations.
We're here for our blind veterans whenever they need us, providing rehabilitation and training to help them back on their feet until they are living full lives again. For as long as it takes.
Whether it is veterans who have lost their sight in service of their country or those whose sight was lost off the battlefield, often due to age-related conditions, the same feelings of isolation and fear are common to all.
Help us give blind veterans the support they need to live independently.
"This year marks important anniversaries for our veterans, not least the 80th anniversaries of key battles that turned the tide of the second world war and 25 years since Kosovo. With these in mind, we will be particularly thinking of all those tragically lost and wounded in these conflicts, and of their families."
Chief Executive
On Remembrance Sunday, 10 November, our blind veterans will come together to share their experiences and remember old friends and colleagues. We will be remembering those veterans we have supported who are no longer with us as well as all those who have given their lives in service of our country.
A proud contingent of over 80 blind veterans and guides will join the march past the Cenotaph in London, and many more will attend moving ceremonies in their own communities. You can read a selection of their stories below.
Meet George
“It’s so important that we commemorate anniversaries like D-Day. I hope people remember not only us who served on D-Day but also the millions of others who served during the war.”
99-year-old George served as a gunner on a torpedo boat during D-Day, tasked with escorting American forces to Omaha and Utah beaches, and protecting the fleet from German E and R-boat attacks.
He will be marching with us at the cenotaph and will be remembering the bravery and sacrifice of the young American soldiers he witnessed on the beaches of Normandy. He says: “The Germans were at the top of the cliffs and using the young Americans as cannon fodder. There’s still lots of people who think there’s fun in war. There’s no fun in war, no fun in war at all.”
George lost his sight due to Macular Degeneration much later in life and been supported by our charity since 2022.
Meet Michael
"My wife and I would always watch on television but I've never marched before. It's going to be very special."
100-year-old Michael joined the Royal Air Force in 1943 and was a Leading Aircraftman Flight Mechanic working primarily on Lancaster Bombers for the remainder of WWII.
He went on to serve in the middle east until he was demobbed in 1946. Much later in life, Michael started to struggle with his sight and he started to receive our support in 2021.
He says: “Losing my sight was very hard for me. I’ve always been very independent and being told I couldn’t drive or read the papers anymore was tough to hear. I’ve been given a special magnifier by Blind Veterans UK to help with the reading and I hope that means I can keep reading for longer.”
“I’ve never marched at the Cenotaph before. My wife and I would always watch it and the festival of Remembrance on television but it’s so special that I’ll be there marching at 100 years old.”
Meet Janet
"Remembrance is an opportunity to stop and think and to remind people why we don’t want war."
Janet will be marching past the Cenotaph alongside her 14-year-old great grandson, Dillon, who is in the Air Cadets. She says: "I'll be so proud to have my great grandson beside me holding my hand. Dillon has said he's honoured to be escorting his grandma."
Janet spent two and a half years with the Royal Air Force, eventually becoming a senior aircraftwoman. It was later in life that she started to lose her sight to macular degeneration. Luckily the Air Force Association put her in touch with us and she has received our support ever since.
She says: "I joined up and haven’t looked back; they’ve done so much for me. I’ve been loaned a magnifier for reading letters, I have a white stick, and talking scales to help me in the kitchen as I like cooking. The support I’ve had has given me back some of my independence."
Meet Graham
“I plan to go to my local war memorial. I will remember all the brave souls who fought, they gave their all to give us back our freedom. Without them, we wouldn’t be living the life we are today.”
Graham served in the Coldstream Guards as a musician for ten years. He says: “My music is the love of my life and the reason I joined the Army. I was young, healthy and fit and wanted to play so the Army fitted the bill."
He started to gradually lose his sight due to macular degeneration in his 50s. He says: "When I discovered I was losing my sight, I worried I wouldn’t be able to play anymore but I can still play the piano as my hands know where the notes are; as long as I start in the right position, I will end in the right position.”
He started to receive our support in 2010 and says: “Blind Veterans UK has been invaluable to me through all the years of my sight loss, there has always been someone there to support me and to offer advice. The moral support from the charity is as important to me as the material equipment. The charity is the reason I am living the life I am today.”
D-Day
This year is the 80th anniversary of D-Day and we are proud that blind D-Day veteran George will be marching with us at the Cenotaph.
To mark this anniversary we have captured the stories of several of our amazing D-Day veterans, in their own words.
This Remembrance Sunday please join us in remembering all those who sacrificed so much for our freedom.
Please give this Remembrance
Help us give blind veterans the support they need to live independently.
Need support this Remembrance?
We support veterans of all generations, regardless of how or when they lost their sight. If you or someone you know is struggling with sight loss and served in the Armed Forces at any time, including National Service, then please get in touch.
Read more
Military commemorations
As a military charity, commemorations are hugely important to us and our veterans. Find out about our events.
Gift a wreath
Gift a wreath so that blind veterans can be a part of Remembrance in their own communities.
Planning to remember
Plan an activity or event to ensure the fallen and those left behind are not forgotten.
Sign up for email updates
We would love to send you updates about our work and how you can support us.
You can change your contact preferences at any time by calling us on 0300 111 2233 or emailing us. See our privacy policy for more details.