“Why not bring a bit of Leicester Square here?”- Retired Colonel on screening of D-Day film for Military Veterans
A retired Colonel brought Leicester Square to Preston today, with an exclusive viewing of D-Day film, Pressure.
Colonel David Waters, President of the Lancashire Armed Forces Association, brought Military Veteran’s together at Arc Cinema for a Red-Carpet Screening of the film after a short notice invite to the premiere in Leicester Square.
“We met Lord Montgomery three weeks ago, who’s the grandson of General Montgomery, who you saw being a bit uppity in the film, let’s say.
“And he invited us to go down to Leicester Square to see the film with Damien Lewis (Actor of Montgomery in the film) and it was just too short notice, and it’s a long way to go on and spend a night away, when you’re 100, it’s a big thing.”
“And so, I just suddenly thought, instead of Leicester Square calling us, why not bring a bit of Leicester Square here?”
Second World War veterans Richard Brock and Ken Benbow (Credit: Heather Bancroft)
In attendance at the event was 102-year-old Preston veteran Richard Brock. As a 20-year-old he was in the second wave of landing craft which reached Gold Beach on D-Day and remembered the scenes portrayed in the movie very well.
He said: “Watching the film brought back some sad memories, I lost a lot of good friends out there.
“The film was very good, it showed just how it was. The weather was awful I remember, but we made it up the beach and were there for a few days before we started advancing towards Hamburg. We covered 2,000 miles over the next few months.”
The event had military standards on display, and a bugler signalling everyone to their seats.
Col Waters introduced people to the event before the showing of Pressure.
Reflecting on the film and its meaning to the Veterans he said: “The film is very powerful.
“I think it is quite emotional.
“The start of it and the end of is almost two disasters with something really good in between, but good in a way to see the other side of war, from an officer’s point of view.
“It’s not a bed of roses by any means.”
As part of his role as President of the Lancashire Armed Forces Association he helps run the Sandbag Café in Preston every Tuesday, bringing together veterans.
This began in 2023 in St George’s Parish Hall and as it got bigger they now go out on trips.
“I think one of the things is just not being too military and not poking them in the chest and saying, ‘sit down, fold your arms and shut up.’
“It’s just friendly. It’s relaxed.”
