D-Day hero shot in head by sniper dies aged 95
TRIBUTES TO VETERAN WHO TOUCHED HEARTS OF NATION HE LOVED
A D-DAY veteran who touched the heart of millions in a video of him being helped out of his wheelchair to pay his respects on Armistice Day has died aged 95.
Ray Shuck, described by friends as a ‘true hero of the Second World War,’ became a viral online sensation at last year’s centenary event at the Manchester Cenotaph.
The video which showed Mr Shuck, from Bolton, was made even more poignant when two younger paratroopers helped him stand up to remember the fallen servicemen and servicewomen.
Family friend Gary Bridson-Daley, seen in the video pushing Mr Shuck in his wheelchair, said the veteran died peacefully in the early hours of Saturday, surrounded by his family.
He added: “Ray will have a special funeral, which will be fitting for the true hero of the war that he was. He deserves to be honoured and have the highest amount of respect paid to him.
“He captured the hearts of millions when the video went viral and that’s a testimony to the kind of man he was.
“Despite being 95, it remained important to him to stand up and pay tribute to all those who lost their lives during conflict. My thoughts are with the family.”
Mr Shuck was a paratrooper for The Parachute Regiment during the war. Last year, Mr Shuck told the M.E.N. of his miraculous survival after D-Day in 1944, when he was shot in the head in Ranville by a German sniper.
The bullet put a groove in his skull as it went straight through his tin hat.
He was left for dead, covered in blood from his gaping wound, but a Russian man living in Ranville saw his leg twitch on the battlefield and called for a doctor. The bullet had knocked him unconscious but he slowly recovered over the course of a year, firstly at hospitals in France and then back in the UK.
If the bullet had hit any lower, the surgeon said, it would have been a very different outcome.
Describing his recollections of the war, Mr Shuck said: “We were fighting for England, that gave us more courage. We didn’t want Nazis in Buckingham Palace.
“I killed a few before they got me. I don’t know how I did what I did.”
Mr Shuck lived out his last days in Kearsley, Bolton,with his family of two children, four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Lynda Raynor, Mr Shuck’s daughter, said: “He was a big family man and his passing has left a huge hole in our lives.”
“He loved going to Normandy to the annual remembrance service. He was looking forward to going this year as it is the 75th anniversary.
“The funeral details, when confirmed, will be on social media.”