Normandy veteran Billy Reynolds dies aged 100

Billy Reynolds has died, aged 100

The last member of Jersey's Normandy Veterans Association has died.

Billy Reynolds celebrated his 100th birthday in June.

Raised in Jersey, he left the island just before Nazi Germany invaded in 1940 during World War Two. He survived the Blitz in London and Liverpool, before going into the Army and joining the Guards Armoured Division.

Mr Reynolds landed in Normandy shortly after D-Day, and drove trucks full of ammunition up to the front line to supply tanks in the battle for Caen.

The Lieutenant Governor said Mr Reynolds was "a real hero"

He was awarded France's highest military honour, the Legion d'Honneur, for his actions throughout the war.

Mr Reynolds returned to Jersey after the war and became a champion racing driver.

He also maintained a fishmonger's business.

The Lieutenant Governor, Vice Admiral Jerry Kyd, said Mr Reynolds would be "missed by so many".

He said: "Although he was an incredibly humble man, as proper gentlemen tend to be, he was also a real raconteur with a quick wit and an easy smile.

"He was intensely proud of his family and Jersey, and, as one of the last remaining veterans of the Second World War, he was also very proud of his war service in the British Army.

"He lived his life to the full and a man who gave so much throughout his life – a real hero and a gentleman and family man who will be missed by so many."

Tracey Williams, president of the Royal British Legion Jersey said he was "such a great character".

She said: "He had such a wonderful smile and a glint in his eye, always, whenever I met him.

"He was just such a cheeky gentleman, but he was a gentleman and he will be very well remembered fondly missed as well."

Obituary: Chris Stone, BBC Jersey

In the early summer of 1940, Billy Reynolds' family was in a dilemma.

Should they leave the island before the Germans arrived? Or should they stay to look after their homes and their business?

On one of the last boats out of Jersey, Billy and his mother finally left, leaving the rest of the family on the island.

They went to live with his sister in London, where Billy worked as a delivery driver for a grocers based in Covent Garden at the height of the Blitz.

But eventually their luck ran out and their flat was destroyed in a raid. They lost everything and relocated to a village near Liverpool.

As soon as he was of military age, Billy applied to join the RAF - like many he wanted to join the glamorous ranks of the so-called Brylcreem Boys - the fighter pilots who had saved the country in the Battle of Britain.

But that battle was over and they were then recruiting for air gunners. Perhaps fortunately for him, Billy turned that down and instead joined his brothers in the Guards Armoured Division.

Intense training prepared him for his part in the great invasion of occupied Europe. He landed in Normandy a few days after D-Day and was quickly in action in the campaign to liberate Caen.

He faced bombs and shells as he worked to supply front-line tanks with fresh ammunition. On one occasion, an 88mm shell landed in soft earth next to him, still spinning, and ricocheted off to explode on a nearby bank.

Billy Reynolds was the last surviving member of the Jersey's Normandy Veterans Association

After fighting to close the Falaise Gap, his unit raced across France to help liberate Brussels, a joyous occasion which saw them hailed as heroes by the grateful Belgians. He never forgot the welcome they showed him.

But tougher challenges were ahead. The Guards Armoured Division was part of the British spearhead of Operation Market Garden, Montgomery's famous "A Bridge Too Far" attempt to end the war early by securing important bridges into Germany; and site of the Battle of Arnhem.

Billy's column was bombed to pieces in Eindhoven, and he tried to drive his burning lorry away from the rest of the inferno. He also had to drive a loaded truck across the Nijmegen bridge under fire from German guns which had already knocked out the first trucks in the column.

Shortly afterwards, he was sent to rescue civilians who had packed into a church in the town of Elst to escape the battle that was raging outside.

Incredibly, Billy survived the war virtually unscathed and returned to Jersey where he remembered being amazed at how small everything was.

The need for excitement didn't leave him, though, and he took up motorsport in earnest - he became a hill climb champion, and sand racing champion, and was never happier than when he was behind the wheel.

His happy marriage to Doreen, and three children, did little to calm his passion for cars, and he would often be seen driving his 1932 Lagonda well into his 90s.

Billy was a generous man with a great sense of fun. He was once asked by the future King Charles whether his Jersey heritage had given him any useful French that might have helped him in Normandy.

With a twinkle in his eye, Billy replied: "Yes, sir. I learned to say: 'Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?'"

Billy Reynolds had a life that was both very long and very busy. He was a war hero, a racing champion, a businessman and a loving family man.

I'm proud to say that he was also my friend.