Worthing D-Day veteran passes away on Armistice Day

Eric Virrels, 99, landed on Gold Beach during the Normandy landings in 1944 before serving as a bodyguard to General Bernard Montgomery, a senior officer who commanded the D-Day forces.

In 2016 he was awarded the Legion d’Honneur, the equivalent of a knighthood in France, for his contribution to the liberation of France.

The father-of-two lived in Byron Road with his wife of 76 years, Patricia. His family – which includes four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren – paid tribute to the ‘devoted’ veteran.

Eric’s son, Geoff, said: “Dad and mum were devoted to each other and were happily married for 76 years. Dad wouldn’t talk about the war other than to say most soldiers were scared stiff as they mounted Gold Beach and beyond, and the barbarity of it all caused him to try to forget.”