Suffolk Son Reflects on Father’s Legacy this VE Day
Today marks the 80th anniversary of when Germany unconditionally surrendered
Last updated 10th May 2025
Today, 80 years ago, former Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the nation in a speech that announced, "The hostilities will end... today is Victory in Europe Day."
Celebrations are being held across the country to commemorate the anniversary.
To mark the occasions, a Letters to Loved Ones campaign by Imperial War Museums and the DCMS is encouraging the public to share letters sent by relatives during the war
One such person sharing letter is Robert Goodwin from Bury St Edmunds.
"I'm rather invading a love story here"
Today, he remembers his father a Suffolk Regiment officer who landed on Sword Beach on D-Day and was severely wounded just days later. But not just that, he remembers his bravery and love, discovered through a suitcase of hidden letters found decades after the war.
“Yes, my name is Robert Goodwin, I’m the youngest son of Lieutenant Colonel Dick Goodwin as he was during 1944,” Robert begins, speaking about his father, who served as Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment during the D-Day landings.
It wasn’t until the death of his mother in 2003 that Robert and his brothers discovered the letters his mother Anthea Goodwin and father sent during the war.
“When my brothers were clearing out her house, we came across a suitcase that we hadn't seen before, and it contained a huge number of letters that my father had written to my mother from about when they met in 1939 right through until the early 60s.”
"Most of those letters were written during the Second World War,” Robert said. “Initially, I started to read them and I thought no, I'm rather invading a love story here. But when I saw on the Imperial War Museum about Letters from Loved Ones, I started looking again.”
Robert told us what stood out when reading the letters was "The deep love that clearly existed between" his parents.
"his (his father's) concern that she (his mother) shouldn't be too worried by what was about to happen,” Robert said. “She had two very young children at the time, just before D-Day. One-year-old and a two-year-old, so he felt very tenderly toward her and very protective."
The Suffolk Regiment: "He was a humble man but totally dedicated to his profession.”
He told us Lieutenant Colonel Goodwin was no ordinary soldier. “He was a career soldier. He was born in 1908, and he was commissioned into the Suffolk Regiment in 1928 and initially went out to India.
"And returned from there just before the beginning of the Second World War. He was posted to Bury St Edmunds and he took command of his battalion — the First Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment — a year before D-Day in June 1943.”
That battalion would go on to play a critical role in the Normandy landings. “The battalion itself landed on Sword Beach one hour after the first troops, and they had a major battle about a couple of miles inland, capturing a major German defensive position.
Robert’s father was in an armoured command carrier when a German gun struck.
“There were only three people in it. One was killed. He was badly wounded and knocked unconscious. One of his companies saw it happen and rescued him. He nearly lost his right arm. He was stretchered back to a first aid post, then taken to a hospital in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.”
"He was very badly wounded... and came back to England. Fortunately, he recovered and later carried on and had a full career, finishing as quite a senior general when he was 60.
He didn’t speak a great deal about it,” Robert tells us. “But in 1976, I had some friends up who were also soldiers. They quizzed him about what happened and how he was evacuated from Normandy. That’s when he opened up — the first time I really heard him talk much about it.”
“He was awarded the DSO for his actions,” Robert adds. “He was a humble man as well but totally dedicated to his profession.”
"He was a very loving father. He was keen to support"
We asked Robert if he could tell us more about his father. He said ,despite his military discipline, at home he was a doting father. “He was a very loving father. He was keen to support me, whatever I did. I played quite a lot of sport and he was always keen to support me in that."
Robert also joined the military, serving for 12 years. “I understood that world, having grown up wherever he was posted. I wasn’t as committed as he was, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time.”
"His battalion’s D-Day position is now a battlefield memorial"
Now, Robert has donated his father’s wartime letters to the Imperial War Museum. “It’s nice that it’s recorded — that others can read it. His battalion’s D-Day position is now a battlefield memorial. Members of the public can visit it.”
On the importance of sharing stories like this for VE Day, he says: “We’re all here because of what our forebears did. The world could’ve been very different.”
Robert plans to spend the day reflecting. “We might watch the parade on TV. But last year was the main celebration for me — I visited the German defensive position with my brother and nephews. A kind of family memorial.”
He remembers his father as “humble, affectionate — especially with the soldiers he commanded.”
His memorial service was packed. “It wasn’t in the cathedral but Saint Mary’s Church in Bury St Edmunds. It was absolutely full — at least 500 people.”
Inside the church, there’s a stained glass window commemorating members of the Suffolk Regiment — including Robert’s father. “It’s a lovely legacy. It particularly remembers him for what he did on D-Day.”