Funeral celebrates life of 'hero' D-Day veteran

Alan "Mac" McQuillin was among the men who landed on the beaches of Normandy in June 1944

The life of one of the last surviving D-Day veterans has been celebrated at his funeral.

Alan "Mac" McQuillin died last month, aged 102. He was well-known in his home village of Kemble, Gloucestershire, where he was thought to be Britain's oldest paperboy, delivering newspapers into his nineties .

He was also known for his role in the Normandy landings. At the age of 21, he took part in the famous battle, where he helped to establish and maintain forward airstrips under fire.

Dozens gathered for his funeral on Tuesday, which was held at St Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Cirencester.

Mr McQuillin had previously been described as a "hero in the truest sense of the word" at a council event to mark the VE Day 80th anniversary.

Mr McQuillin's was well-known across the area

Mr McQuillin was born on 5 June 1923 and joined the Royal Air Force at the age of 18.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 2024, Mr McQuillin said: "I wanted to fly like most of us that age did but when I got to the recruiting officer, I had a medical and found out I couldn't fly because I was short-sighted."

Instead, Mr McQuillin trained as a bomb armourer and was a servicing commando on D-Day.

"You did anything to help anybody," he said.

"You wanted help putting rockets on, I'll give you a hand. A squadron of spitfires or something that will land and needed petrol and ammunition, we could all do it in about 20 minutes and they'd be ready for take off again."

Mr McQuillin's mind was "really sharp" throughout his life

On his 100th birthday in 2023, Mr McQuillin joked his secret to a long life was "a full English breakfast and malt whiskey".

Major Austin Hind, one of Mr McQuillin's friends, said his death on 7 July had come as a shock to the local community.

"He died on the Monday but, on the Sunday, he'd actually taken part in a garden party just up the road in Kemble," he said.

"Apparently, he was in fine form. His death really has come out of the blue in that sense because he was fit as a fiddle and still really, really sharp of mind."