Daughter of D-Day veteran honours his service

Diana Talbot was four-years-old when her father was killed while serving in World War Two

The daughter of a D-Day veteran who died while serving in World War Two has said she is "immensely proud" of his service.

Pte Cecil Mercer from Kidderminster was the first soldier from the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters regiment to lose his life after Allied troops landed in France on D-Day.

Diana Talbot, from Suckley, was four years old when her father was killed but remembers the day her family received the news.

"We thought 'who's this' and it was the telegram being delivered. My mother screamed and that was it," she said.

"After that I don't remember anything else."

Ms Talbot will visit the site where her father died and his grave at the Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery in Bayeux later this month.

Pte Mercer joined the the army as a radio operator. He died while travelling to Caen when the vehicle he was in exploded.

The news of her father's death went on to be an unspoken topic in the family but she always felt a great sense of pride for what he did.

"My mother never talked about it or what happened. Our whole lives were changed on that day," she recalled.

"I get goose bumps just talking about it and thinking about him. I think about him so often and having visited Bayeux cemetery four times, I'm immensely proud."