Tributes to hero World War Two veteran who lied about his age to sign up at 17 before fighting in Normandy – as he dies at the age of 101
Donald Turrell, a Second World War veteran who joined the Army at 17 after falsely claiming to be 18, has died aged 101. He fought in Normandy after landing on Sword Beach shortly after D-Day, and tributes described him as representing a generation whose courage and service should not be forgotten.
Turrell served as a rifleman with the Scottish Cameronians and was seriously wounded by a mortar blast during the Battle of Eterville on 10 July 1944, near Hill 112. He was evacuated and medically discharged, having also lost friends in the campaign and his older brother Leslie, who died when HMS Penelope was sunk in 1944; Turrell revisited Eterville in 2024 for the first time since the war.
- Normandy veteran Donald Turrell has died aged 101.
- He enlisted at 17 by lying about his age.
- He was wounded during fighting near Hill 112.