‘Extraordinary’ Normandy veteran Ken Hay dies aged 101
Normandy veteran Ken Hay has died aged 101 (Jordan Pettitt/PA) PA Archive Jessica Coates 3 minutes ago Normandy veteran Ken Hay, who survived capture just weeks after D-Day and spent years educating children about the war, has died aged 101.
The British Normandy Memorial, for which he was an ambassador, announced his death on Sunday, saying he “gave everything to support the Trust’s work in sharing the message of Remembrance”.
“His passion for education was unwavering,” the organisation said in a statement on social media.
“The countless schoolchildren whose lives he touched with his stories of courage and resilience nicknamed him ‘Grandad Ken’.
Veteran Ken Hay at the Spirit of Normandy Trust service in Coleville-Montgomery, France (Gareth Fuller/PA) PA Wire “We extend our most sincere condolences to Ken’s sons Chris and Jeremy, all the Hay family and his very many friends.
“Ken Hay MBE Leg d’Hon. An extraordinary gentleman whose remarkable life will never be forgotten.”
Mr Hay, from Upminster in East London, served in the 4th Dorset infantry regiment and landed at Courseulles-sur-Mer days after the Allied invasion of Normandy.
He was captured during a night patrol on July 7-8 and was taken to Zabrze in Poland , where he was put to work as a prisoner of war in a coal mine.
Speaking to the Press Association in 2024 about his capture, Mr Hay recalled his first feelings were of “dread” and “fear”.
“We went out on night patrol, was supposed to be doing a blow up of a self-propelled gun in no man’s land, but in fact, it was behind their lines,” Mr Hay said.
“So they let us through and then very unfriendly, they sealed it and wouldn’t let us back, so we had a battle.
“We had 30 went out on our patrol, 16 including my brother, who was a corporal, got back, five of us got captured and then presumably nine got killed.”
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