The former chairman of St John’s Wood synagogue has made a 30-hour trip across the English Channel in a kayak to take part in the re-enactment of the D-Day Normandy Landings - while "proudly” wearing a yellow pin for the hostages.
Keith Breslauer, 58, made the “epic” overnight journey from the Royal Marines Yomper statue in Eastney, Portsmouth, and almost directly southward to Port-en-Bessin, France.
Aiming to raising awareness of the Royal Marines Association, Keith was part of team comprising 19 serving soldiers and veterans from the RMA Paddle Group.
The kayakers and supporters before making the overnight Channel crossing to mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings
The 10 folding Klepper kayaks, holding two people each, ran into bad weather and “particularly rough seas” once they passed the halfway point of the 87.5-nautical mile journey, which, due to unfavourable currents and winds, ended up being more than 200km.
But Keith said that “at no point” did he feel unsafe because leading the group were Joe Maynard and Lee Waters of the Royal Marines Commando Unit, the “best of the best”.
The trip proved especially “emotional and meaningful” when they approached France the next morning to see the concrete remains of the Mulberry Harbour, temporary docks built in 1944 to facilitate the rapid offloading of Allied forces and cargo. “We paddled right up to them to touch them, and we had a very visual experience of what it took for thousands of people to die defending freedom,” Keith said.
Keith Breslauer was in one of a group of Klepper kayaks crossing the Channel to mark D-Day
The father of four, who is managing director of Patron Capital, a pan-European private equity firm, moved to the UK from the States over 30 years ago.
Vice patron of the Royal Marines Association (RMA), a charity for which he has helped to raise over £5.3 million, Keith is also a staunch supporter of Beit Halochem, which provides rehabilitation to IDF veterans.
He has completed two major paddles to raise awareness of RMA in the past, including one about 10 years ago, which was the opposite route of this latest journey, paddling from France to England.
This latest time was “quite a bit harder”, Keith says, “not least because I’m 10 years older, but the weather created a challenge for the last four hours or so”.
After getting into an accident two years ago, which broke his spine and pelvis, Keith’s training regiment ahead of this journey focused on ensuring he was strong enough to complete it.
Keith Breslauer was one of an international group of kayakers who crossed the Channel to mark 80th anniversary of D-Day and raise awareness of the Royal Marines Association
“And unlike the last time, this time I knew I would be paddling for 16 hours or more, and that I would be in the boat for more than a day from start to finish,” Keith said, “so, I knew how to pace myself, conserve my strength, make sure I ate and got rest when I could.
“But the major difference this time was having 19 soldiers and veterans with me, all of whom were very organised, incredibly positive and just got on with it.”
Keith wore a yellow ribbon pin for the journey and said he spoke to the veterans a lot about the situation UK Jewry is finding itself in. He said: “These guys, most of whom are veterans of Afghanistan, the Falklands, and Bosnia, have been through a lot and value peace and stability enormously. They are very supportive of the Jewish community in England and sympathise with the challenges it is facing.”
The team stayed in France for a couple of days to take part in a littoral paddle of the Allied landing beaches, beginning with the US Utah and Omaha sections, culminating in a re-enactment of the landing at Sword Beach featuring the 47 Commando Unit.
Keith is passionate about veterans’ affairs and does what he can to raise awareness of them and the RMA because he believes it is important that people “are reflective of sacrifice”.
Keith Breslauer was one of an international group of kayakers who crossed the Channel to mark 80th anniversary of D-Day and raise awareness of the Royal Marines Association
He said: “I think we live in a very fragile world, even more so these days than it’s been in a long time, and in order to keep the peace, we need to maintain civilised society and defend our freedoms. Those who fought for us to enjoy that freedom, particularly the great generation that landed in Normandy, should be honoured and respected, not least because of their deeds but also because it sets a tone for how we should all aspire to behave.
“I’ve always felt that veterans everywhere, particularly in England, are not appreciated enough by general society, and I feel it is part of my civic responsibility to try to remind people just how indebted we are to them. The Royal Marines guys represent the best of us, and they reflect in everything they do enormous strength and humility.”
On June 6, 1944, approximately 160,000 Allied troops landed on five stretches of the German-occupied Normandy coastline
Operation Neptune, the naval phase of Operation Overlord – as D-Day was codenamed – remains the largest amphibious invasion in history and was a crucial turning point in leading to the defeat of the Nazis.
