Line of Duty’s Vicky McClure reenacts the D-Day heroics of her veteran grandfather Ralph

Her gun-toting, hardened cop Kate Fleming is as tough as it gets.

But the Line of Duty’s Vicky McClure seemed out of her depth as she waded in and out of the sea in full combat gear as she tried to experience what it was like for troops during the Normandy landings.

In a thick woolen uniform and World War II helmet, backpack and rifle in hand, the actress tried to better understand what her D-Day veteran grandfather Ralph, 98, was going through on June 6, 1944, when he was between the more than 150,000. soldiers and sailors sent ashore under murderous shelling and gunfire.

In a clip from the forthcoming ITV documentary My Grandad’s War, Ms McClure, 40, walks as far as she can into the sea before turning and trying to wade back to the beach.

Historian Stephen Fisher said that many landing craft could not get close to the beach, so soldiers were forced to wade through cold waters, with many failing to reach shore.

In a thick woolen uniform and World War II helmet, backpack and rifle in hand, the actress tried to better understand what her D-Day veteran grandfather Ralph (pictured left with Vicky McClure, right), 98, was going through on June 6. 1944, when he was one of more than 150,000 soldiers and sailors sent ashore under murderous shelling and gunfire

Ralph left school at age 14 and became a butcher. Two years later he joined the navy and became a signalman, although he had never been to sea. On a visit to the British Normandy Memorial, which Daily Mail readers have donated more than £1 million to help build, Ms McClure fought back tears

“For the average infantryman landing on D-Day, in addition to that combat clothing, which would absorb a lot of water, they wear very heavy webbing gear loaded with ammunition and their little backpack on their back with 48 hours worth of weapons. supplies,” he said.

“And of course their boots pretty much filled with water as soon as they stepped into the sea.”

Nottingham native Mrs McClure struggled to land and said, ‘My God, this is the hardest feeling. Ah, he weighs more than me. How did they do? I tried to run as fast as I could, but the weight of it all…

‘It’s not that turbulent there. It’s shallow. It’s flat. It’s sunny. It wasn’t that cold. But trying to run back, you know, I would have died for sure.’

Ralph left school at age 14 and became a butcher. Two years later he joined the navy and became a signalman, although he had never been to sea.

On a visit to the British Normandy Memorial, which Daily Mail readers have donated more than £1 million to help build, Ms McClure fought back tears.

She told the Radio Times: ‘When you feel so connected to someone who’s been through what he’s been through in the war, you’re going to feel emotionally charged all the time. The journey was a joy, but I struggled to keep it together.”

“There were people who had come on a really long journey, some of whom had connections to the war, who were honored to be in Grandpa’s presence,” she said. ‘There are only a limited number of people left from that day and my grandfather is one of them.

“I was like, ‘Grandpa is the problem.’ Nobody wants another selfie with me!’ I hope that young people will engage with the documentary and also learn things – there is a war going on right now and thousands of people have volunteered to fight whether they are from Ukraine or not.

“There is still a desire to protect humanity. Maybe My Grandad’s War will give people a chance to think about where we would be if the Allies hadn’t won.”