Richard Hammond drives Rolls-Royce owned by General Montgomery to D-Day celebrations to give urgent anniversary warning

RICHARD Hammond drove Monty’s Rolls Royce to D-Day commemorations in France yesterday – amid warnings the 80th anniversary was a last chance to link youngsters with the heroes that won Europe’s freedom.

The legendary TV presenter revealed he had goosebumps retracing the journeys of Britain’s top wartime general Bernard Montgomery.

(Richard Hammond arrived at D-Day commemorations in a Rolls-Royce owned by Monty during the Second World War.Credit: Paul Edwards)

(The car itself actually landed in Normandy in 1944.Credit: Paul Edwards)

(It was lovingly restored by the team at Hammond's Smallest Cog workshop.Credit: Arthur Edwards / The Sun)

Monty’s gleaming Rolls Royce Wraith landed in Normandy three days after D-Day in 1944, on the orders of Winston Churchill, to reassure the newly freed French that the Allies wouldn’t retreat.

Hammond said the journey was “incredibly moving” as he met veterans and French civilians who remembered seeing the car 80 years ago.

He told The Sun:

“It was awesome turning up in Monty’s Rolls Royce, I had goosebumps.”

He added: “Not everyone who sees it knows it was Montgomery’s staff car but people see it and applaud.

More than 150,000 troops took part in the largest invasion in history on June 6 1944 that began the Nazi’s retreat from France, and ultimately led to Hitler’s defeat.

Today’s anniversary has added poignancy as so few World War Two veterans are still alive.

Soldiers in their teens on D-Day are all in their nineties today. There is only “a handful” still alive.

(The stunning motor has now arrived back in France to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.Credit: Paul Edwards)

(The TV star said that the journey was 'incredibly moving'.Credit: Paul Edwards)

(He added that it was a 'huge honour' to have made the drive.Credit: Arthur Edwards / The Sun)

Ref: Richard Hammond drives Rolls-Royce owned by General Montgomery to D-Day celebrations to give urgent anniversary warning (thesun)

Photo Credit: Arthur Edwards/The Sun, Paul Edwards