Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Mr Mike McErlain, is planning to run for nearly 40 miles along the Normandy beaches where the D-Day landings took place to raise money for the British Limbless Ex-Service Men’s Association (BLESMA).
The “D-Day Course” Run will take place on June 6 – the day when thousands of allied soldiers landed in France to begin the liberation of Europe in 1944. Mike and his brother-in-law, Giles Barnes, will start the run at Pointe du Hoc, where the rangers climbed the cliffs under fire, continue along the beaches and end at Pegasus bridge, a total of 37 miles.
They hope this will be the start of a yearly event and invite members of other countries’ armed forces to take part.
Mike, 40, an Orthopaedic and Trauma surgeon in the Royal Army Medical Corps, is deploying to Iraq for the second time in July. He was in a forward surgical unit in the second Gulf War, moving with the troops into Basra. He has already done a number of charity events, including cycling back from Bosnia after his tour of duty and the Marathon des Sables.
“The run is in commemoration of all those who gave life and limb on D-Day,” said Mike. “The main point is that they knew they would be facing heavy enemy resistance and probable death, but still got in those landing craft.
“Their sacrifice changed the world and the same is still happening in Afghanistan and Iraq where our Service personnel are in conflict situations. As a very junior doctor I dealt with a few military amputees and I could never get over their courage at facing the loss of a limb. I always stand in honour of those chaps as I don’t think I could ever have their courage.”
Mike joined the Army in 1990 and served with 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment as the Regimental Medical Officer and completed both P-Company and parachute training. Giles Barnes, an accomplished historian, works in Bristol as a property developer.
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