British veteran John Roberts was a 20-year-old sub-lieutenant aboard a destroyer, HMS Serapis, during the allied D-Day landings in northern France on 6 June 1944. In an interview with AFP, he recounts his memories of that time, from protecting minesweepers during the slow crossing of the Channel to near misses with Nazi shells. "At that age, one was oblivious to the dangers", he says. "And one wouldn't have missed being in this for the rest of one's life." Roberts also draws parallels between Russian soldiers' allegiance to Vladimir Putin in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and German soldiers' allegiance to Adolf Hitler during World War II. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES