Ken Hay, a Normandy D-Day veteran who survived capture by Nazi forces, has died aged 101. The former soldier, from Upminster in east London, served with the 4th Dorset Regiment and later became an ambassador for the British Normandy Memorial, where he helped preserve wartime memories and educate younger generations.

Hay was captured during a night patrol in July 1944 after five of 30 soldiers were taken prisoner, while others were killed or returned to safety. He was forced to work in a coal mine in Poland and later endured a 1,000-mile march before being liberated by American troops in 1945; he subsequently received an MBE and France’s Légion d’honneur, and was affectionately known by schoolchildren as “Grandad Ken”.