D-Day veteran who escaped care home dies

D-Day care home 'escaper' dies

A war veteran who left his care home to attend the 70th anniversary D-Day commemorations in France has died aged 90.

Bernard Jordan - dubbed the Great Escaper after his cross-Channel adventure last year - died peacefully in hospital.

His death was announced in a statement by Gracewell Healthcare, which runs The Pines care home in Hove, East Sussex, where Mr Jordan, known as Bernie, lived.

Mr Jordan hit headlines globally when he disappeared from the care home to embark on a trip to the D-Day anniversary events in Normandy wearing his war medals under his grey mac.

His disappearance sparked a police search last June 5 and his whereabouts were uncovered only when a younger veteran phoned later that night to say he had met Mr Jordan and he was safe.

He was later inundated with more than 2,500 birthday cards from around the world following his adventure to Normandy.

Officials at the care home said Mr Jordan would be "much missed" by his wife and all his friends at The Pines.

Amanda Scott, managing director of Gracewell Healthcare, said: "Bernie caught the world's imagination last year when he made his 'surprise' trip to France and bought a huge amount of joy to a lot of people.

"He will be much missed by everyone here and our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife.

"Bernie was always insistent that what he did during the war was nothing unusual, and only what many thousands of others did for their country.

"That may well be true, but the little bit of excitement he gave everyone last June was typical of his no-nonsense attitude to life and is how he will be remembered by thousands of people."

A month after his escapade in France, Mr Jordan was made an honorary alderman of Brighton and Hove during a reception at Brighton Town Hall.

The honour was to mark his "exceptional contribution to the work of the newly-formed Brighton and Hove Council and the former Hove Borough Council and to the community".

He joined a select band of more than 30 men and women who have been made honorary aldermen or women of the city since 1997.

Others include Burmese democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi, Olympic champion Steve Ovett and First World War hero Henry Allingham, who became the world's oldest man before his death aged 113 in 2009.

Asked at the reception why he travelled to Normandy, Mr Jordan, a former local borough councillor and mayor of Hove, said: "My thoughts were with my mates who had been killed.

"I was going across to pay my respects. I was a bit off course but I got there."

 

He added: "Britain is a smashing country and the people are smashing, and if you have to do something a bit special, then they are worth every effort."