“Going back to Normandy means everything,” said Jack Mortimer, 102, a Leeds-born former corporal with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps who landed on Sword Beach on 6 June 1944. He welcomed a new government promise to help the remaining Second World War veterans travel to overseas remembrance events while they still can.

Announced on Sunday 9 November 2025, the Ministry of Defence confirmed the UK will fund travel support so Second World War veterans can attend commemorations abroad, with the scheme due to begin in 2026. The move comes ahead of a new Veterans Strategy, scheduled for publication on Monday 10 November.

Louise Sandher-Jones MP, the Minister for Veterans and People, said she understands the power of marking anniversaries alongside those you served with, and pledged government funding for veterans attending overseas remembrance “starting next year”. This, she said, is about helping those who “gave so much” to return and honour friends they lost.

Defence Minister Lord Coaker pointed to commemorations he attended this year, including events marking the Polish contribution to Operation Market Garden in Poland, the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands and the liberation of Bergen-Belsen in Germany. He said the support will help veterans “remember, reconnect and pay their respects”.

Time is tight. Veterans’ charity Blesma estimates that fewer than 8,000 British Second World War veterans remain alive in 2025, while the Times reported a RAND Europe analysis suggesting fewer than 8,000 in England and Wales, with the youngest around 98.

There is precedent for helping veterans make these journeys. The National Lottery Community Fund’s Heroes Return programme awarded £29 million to enable more than 58,000 veterans, spouses and carers to visit places where they served. A House of Commons Library note records Heroes Return 2 launched on 1 April 2009 to cover key anniversaries.

Remembrance has been marked across the country this year, far beyond the capital. The Royal British Legion hosted national events at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire for VE Day on 8 May and VJ Day on 15 August, the latter attended by Their Majesties and dozens of veterans.

Ministers say practical details on how to access the new travel support will come with the Veterans Strategy on Monday 10 November. Families and care teams across the North will be looking to their local veterans’ networks and RBL branches for help once the guidance lands.

For many in our region, the promise of funded travel could be the difference between finally standing again at a graveside in Normandy, a bridge at Arnhem or the gates of Bergen-Belsen, and another year of waiting. Age and mobility make these journeys hard; place and memory make them necessary.

Back in Leeds, Mortimer put it plainly: “We owe it to our comrades to be there.” If the scheme launches as planned in 2026, he and others across the North may yet get that chance while they still can.