British veteran of D-Day landings in France dies aged 104
Don Sheppard was among troops which liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Donald 'Don' Sheppard pictured at his home at the age of 98.
PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
One of the last remaining D-Day veterans has died at the age of 104 in the UK.
Donald "Don" Sheppard was one of the 156,000 Allied troops who landed in France as part of combined operations to begin liberation of the country on June 6, 1944.
The British Normandy Memorial announced the death of the former member of the Royal Engineers via social media on Sunday (September 8).
He attended the virtual opening of the memorial in 2021 and, this June, was given a police escort to a UK commemoration service marking 80 years since the landings.
He was unable to travel to this year’s commemorations in Normandy due to his age, but was present in 2014 for a 70-year remembrance ceremony.
Alongside landing in Normandy, Mr Sheppard saw fighting throughout 1944 and 1945 in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, and was part of the British forces that uncovered the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Read more: 'Live each day like it’s your last', says D-Day veteran from Normandy
‘Waste of life’ on Normandy beaches
Mr Sheppard called the D-Day landings “tragic” when interviewed in 2019, saying they were “a waste of life” of young soldiers.
He landed with fellow Royal Engineers on Juno Beach, Courseulles-sur-Mer (Calvados).
He conceded however that they were necessary to end the war.
“I know we had to defend ourselves... but young guys like me, 20, 21, who never lasted five minutes, some of them were killed before they got off the boat,” he said to the PA news agency.
Despite his time on the front line, Mr Sheppard only received two wounds, one of which he was not aware of for almost 70 years.
He cut his leg when ducking for cover from German bombs, which he believed was his only injury.
However, medical scans in the 2000s showed he had some shrapnel residing in his lungs, dating from the war.
It never caused him physical health issues, and he was unaware of how it got there.
Read more: Resistance fighter honoured as part of 80-year Paris Liberation events
