 |
First
British soldier to land in France on D-Day dies |
Norman
Poole died last month aged 95, but had barely spoken of his exploits. |
 |
Poole
was charged with the unenviable task of distracting the German troops
Photo: © SWNS Group |
By
Telegraph reporter |
9:58PM
BST 07 Jul 2015 |
The
first British solider to land in France during the D-Day landings has
died - taking the secrets of his heroism to his grave. |
Norman
Poole died last month aged 95, but had barely spoken of his exploits when
his six-man team landed in Normandy on June 6 1944. |
The
former SAS paratrooper was described by his family as "a joyful man
who was full of life" - and only a handful of his closest relatives
knew anything about his time behind enemy lines. |
His
nephew, David Barnes, said: "I didn't realise he was such a hero. |
"I
knew that my uncle and my father were involved in the war but they never
really spoke about it a great deal. I guess that is typical of their generation
sometimes, not to mention what happened." |
 |
Norman
Poole with his wife Elisabeth (SWNS) |
Mr
Poole, a former lieutenant, died in Portishead, near Bristol, where he
had spent much of his life with his wife Elisabeth. The father of two
daughters was long retired as a bank manager with NatWest, and had been
a widower for four years. |
His
place in Allied forces' history was secured when he leapt from a plane
with 200 dummy parachutists and his crew, tasked with distracting German
troops. |
He
landed with a carrier pigeon strapped to his chest, and dispatched it
home with vital details about the Nazi war effort. The contents of the
message were never made public. |
| Lt Poole and his team spent six weeks behind enemy lines before being captured by German troops, although they were eventually liberated. He was later awarded the Military Cross for his bravery. |
| Mr Barnes, whose father Hugh was Mr Poole's brother-in-law, said: "I knew he had the Military Cross but I didn't know what he did to win it. |
| "I didn't realise he was the first to land on D-Day, I only found out last week after my uncle died. |
| "I used to go and stay with him when I was a boy, and I remember him as a really joyful man who was full of life. He was always happy and never seemed to have a care in the world. He was always smiling. |
| "You wouldn't think of him as being a rugged para, because he simply did not speak about what happened." |
| A funeral service for Mr Poole is due to be held in Bristol later this month. |
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