Donald Turrell, the Sword Beach veteran who forged a letter to enlist at 17, has died aged 101

Donald Turrell, wounded when a mortar blast tore through his company at the Battle of Eterville in July 1944, leaned on his rifle to walk clear of the carnage before being evacuated from the Normandy coast and eventually discharged on medical grounds. The London-born rifleman had forged a parental consent letter to join the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) at 17, and later recalled seeing bodies from earlier fighting washing back onto Sword Beach as he came ashore in the days after D-Day. The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans announced on Saturday that Turrell had died on Friday at his home in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, surrounded by family. Turrell told interviewers: 'I did lie about my age. I pushed it up a bit, gave all the right answers, and I was in. I was happy.'

His children Andrew Turrell and Linda Baker called him 'an extraordinary man' who led a 'truly wonderful and remarkable life.'

Charity vice president Dick Goodwin said Turrell 'represented a generation whose courage and service we will never forget.'