Normandy veteran who survived capture weeks after D-Day dies aged 101

Normandy veteran Ken Hay, who survived capture just weeks after D-Day and dedicated years to educating children about the war, has died aged 101.

The British Normandy Memorial, for which he was an ambassador, announced his death, 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 Sunday.

"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.

"Ken Hay MBE Leg d'Hon. An extraordinary gentleman whose remarkable life will never be forgotten."

Mr Hay, from Upminster, 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 overnight on 7 to 8 July and was taken to Zabrze in Poland, where he worked as a prisoner of war in a coal mine.

Speaking in 2024 about his capture, Mr Hay said his first feelings were of "fear" and "dread".

"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 were very unfriendly, they sealed it and wouldn't let us back, so we had a battle.

"We had 30 that 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."

As the Russian army approached, the inmates were marched to a new location around 1,000 miles (1,609km) away, during which many of them died.

During the three-month march, Mr Hay said he once "lay down to die" after it became too painful to continue, but two friends returned for him and lifted him with an "arm around each shoulder".

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They were liberated by US troops in 1945 and Mr Hay made it back to the UK, via Reims, on 4 May.

Recalling the moment he was reunited with his family in Barking, east London, he said: "They came running down the road to greet me.

"They were having breakfast, I'd had breakfast with the army, so I just had a cup of tea with them and we all went off to mass. I was home in time for VE Day on the 8th of May."

After the war, he was appointed an MBE for services to the community and was awarded the Legion d'Honneur, France's highest order of merit.

Mr Hay regularly visited British schools to share war stories and answer questions, saying it was his "duty to pass it on".

Earlier this year, he attended a remembrance service at the General Montgomery monument in Colleville-Montgomery with fellow Second World War veteran Henry Rice as part of D-Day 82nd anniversary commemorations.

Recalling one of his school visits, Mr Hay said he had been asked by a 13-year-old girl how wars could be stopped.

He said: "I was stumped. How do you stop wars? And then Saint Paul came to my rescue...I said to her, 'Love. Love yourself, your friends, your family at home, the people you met today, the people you met yesterday'.

"If we could all do that, there'd be no wars."

(c) Sky News 2026: Normandy veteran who survived capture weeks after D-Day dies aged 101