A Second World War veteran who served in the Normandy campaign after lying about his age has died at 101, according to a charity.
Donald Turrell was born in London in 1925 and enlisted in the Army at the age of 17 after forging a permission note from his parents.
He joined the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), spending the subsequent months stationed at UK sites including Bury St Edmunds, Newquay, Newcastle and Fort William in the Scottish Highlands.
His unit moved to France shortly after D-Day in June 1944, where Mr Turrell landed at Sword Beach and was involved in intense combat with occupying German soldiers.
The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans announced on Facebook on Saturday that it was "deeply saddened" to report Mr Turrell had died on Friday, surrounded by his family.
Paying tribute to the veteran, vice president for the charity Dick Goodwin said: “Don was incredibly special.
“He had a warmth and presence that lit up every room he entered, and he touched the lives of so many people.
“As a Second World War veteran, Don represented a generation whose courage and service we will never forget.
“It was a privilege for the Taxi Charity to know him, and he will be remembered with enormous affection and gratitude.
“My thoughts are with his family and all those who loved him at this very sad time.”
In an interview last year, Mr Turrell said of signing up to the army: “I did lie about my age. I pushed it up a bit, gave all the right answers, and I was in. I was happy.”
“I was 17. I told them I was 18. I wrote a letter out saying that ‘To whom it my concern, the bearer of this letter is my son, Donald Turrell blah, blah, blah’.”
He explained he had always wanted to be a soldier and that like “all the young lads” he had wanted to play his part in defending his country.
The veteran described feeling “excited and apprehensive” during the crossing to the Normandy coast, and said his “introduction” to the war was seeing bodies from earlier fighting washing back up on the beach as he landed.
His war came to an end a few weeks later on July 10, when he was seriously injured during fighting near the town of Eterville, and later medically discharged.
Mr Turrell spoke movingly of the close friends he lost during the campaign, some of whom he buried in the field, and who are now buried in Commonwealth war cemeteries on the continent.
The war also claimed his older brother Leslie, who had been a telegraphist on HMS Penelope and died when she was sunk off the Italian coast near Naples in February 1944.
The veteran previously lived in Frinton-on-Sea in Essex.
