D-Day veteran dies aged 101

1 hour ago

Eleanor LawsonWest Midlands

News image — Bill Redston took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, having joined the navy aged 18

BBC Hundred-year-old Bill Redston wears a dark jacket, white shirt and matching dark tie. He has two pins on his lapel and a series of military medals pinned to his jacket. Behind him are three flags - one of which is the England flag and the other is the union jack. — Bill Redston took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, having joined the navy aged 18

A 101-year-old D-Day veteran who spent four years in the navy during World War Two has died.

Bill Redston from Wolverhampton "passed away peacefully" in the early hours of Wednesday 27 May at Bridge Manor Care Home in Wombourne, his son told the BBC.

Redston joined the navy as a commissioned officer when he was 18, but was promoted to first lieutenant within a few months.

He is survived by three children, two grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. His son, Chris Redston, said: "He will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him."

Born in Maidenhead in 1924, Redston spent most of his childhood in the Thames Valley but would go on to live in Wolverhampton for more than 60 years.

During World War Two, he and his crew regularly travelled to the coast of occupied France to collect "British spies who needed to get out in a hurry", his son told the BBC.

He also took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as his motor launch escorted a convoy of essential supply vessels to Utah Beach the day after it had been invaded by American troops.

However, D-Day could have turned out very differently for Redston and his crew.

The Redston family Bill Redston in a black and white image dressed in a Royal Navy uniform. He has short, dark hair with a side parting and is clean shaven. — Bill Redston joined the navy when he was 18 during World War Two

Redston had been due to guide US soldiers on to Utah Beach during the landings, but the Americans wanted their own ship to lead them in and his crew were instead tasked with bringing barges over the Channel.

They later found out the replacement ship had been sunk within the first half an hour, the first Allied vessel to be sunk in the D-Day landings, with its crew suffering many casualties.

After Normandy's beaches were secured, Redston and his comrades were sent to patrol in Burma in the same boat until the end of the war when Japanese forces surrendered.

He then spent some time in Singapore in charge of Japanese prisoners of war, before coming back to the UK in 1946.

Chris Redston Bill Redston wearing a navy jacket and hat looking up at King Charles wearing a pale suit and medals, with another man in a suit and medals standing with his hands clasped in the background — Redston said he had been honoured to meet King Charles on two occasions

Chris Redston A photo of an old man sitting in a wheelchair wearing a military cap. The Princess of Wales crouches down to shake his hand, wearing a black jacket and a poppy. — Redston met the Princess of Wales in 2025

On returning to civilian life, Redston became a civil engineer with the Wolverhampton-based construction company Tarmac, and helped build the UK's first-ever motorway.

He worked in construction for nearly 30 years and then worked part-time for the Dudley-based cardiac rehabilitation charity Action Heart, before finally retiring in 1994 at the age of 79.

Redston always said that the secret to his long life was regular exercise, having run the London Marathon when he was 65 and the New York Marathon when he was 66.

He was also a member of his local cycling club well into his eighties and could still walk over a mile until well after his 100th birthday.

Over the years, he met King Charles on two occasions as well as the Duke of Edinburgh in 2024 and the Princess of Wales in 2025.

In 2021, he received the Legion d'Honneur medal from the French ambassador for his services on D-Day, which he said was one of the proudest moments of his life.