Andy Love MP congratulates WWII veteran on Heroes Return lottery grant

Edmonton MP Andy Love has congratulated constituent and Second World War veteran Stanley Nye on being awarded a Big Lottery Fund Heroes Return grant, which will enable him and his wife to go on a commemorative visit to France in May of this year.

Mr Nye, who was born in Tottenham, was called up to the army in 1942 as a medical orderly, based on his experience as a butcher in civilian life. He arrived in France only five days after the Normandy landings to scenes of utter carnage. He spent weeks in that area before following troops east and was one of the first people to go into the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany where he spent a month caring for the mainly political prisoners based there, with hundreds dying every day. Mr Nye was then located to Belgium until 1947 when he returned to London to continue his life as a butcher, then latterly as a painter decorator.

Having heard about the Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return grants, Mr Nye applied for funding via the internet and was successful. His allocation of £875 will cover costs for him and his wife to travel to France on an organised tour of the Normandy beaches and war graves. Mr Nye has only been back to the area once before and that was some time ago.

Congratulating Mr Nye on his grant, Andy said…

“It’s an absolute honour to meet veterans, like Mr Nye, who did so much during the war and who had to endure such unimaginable atrocities. It’s extremely important that we remember their effort and continue to credit them for it where possible.

“That’s why I’m pleased to be able to congratulate Mr Nye on his well-deserved grant to enable him to revisit France. Since the Big Lottery Fund was set up by the Government in 2006 it has facilitated many such trips and I hope this continues.”