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‘Extraordinary’ British D-Day veteran Ken Hay dies at 101
He devoted many years to teaching children about the conflict
A British Normandy D-Day veteran who spent years educating children about World War Two has died at 101 years old.
The death of Ken Hay, who took part in post-landing fighting in Normandy with the 4th Dorset Infantry, was announced by the British Normandy Memorial, for whom he was an ambassador.
Mr Hay was an "extraordinary gentleman whose remarkable life will never be forgotten,” said the organisation on social media.
"His passion for education was unwavering… the countless schoolchildren whose lives he touched with his stories of courage and resilience nicknamed him 'Grandad Ken'.
"We extend our most sincere condolences to Ken's sons Chris and Jeremy, all the Hay family and his very many friends."
Following the war, Mr Hay spent years educating children about the conflict across the UK.
For his part in the conflict he received a British MBE as well as the French Légion d’Honneur.
Veteran survived harrowing forced march
Mr Hay took part in fighting across Normandy following the D-Day landings, after his unit landed on June 23, 1944.
He was caught by German troops in July 1944, around two weeks after landing.
His unit was captured whilst out on night patrol by a German Panzer division, and he was sent to a labour camp in Zabrze, Poland, where he was forced to work in the coal mines.
As the Russians advanced towards the German border, the camp was abandoned in January 1945 and prisoners forced to march 1,000 miles west.
During the forced march many prisoners from the camp died, and at one point Mr Hay described how he lay down on the ground unable to go on.
But Mr Hay survived through the help of comrades, who carried him by the shoulders until he could walk by himself.
The second camp he was taken to was liberated by Allied troops soon after Mr Hay arrived, and he was sent home to the UK from Reims in May 1945, just prior to Nazi forces surrendering.
