Family tributes to ‘quiet man’ war hero
TRIBUTES have been paid to a Second World War hero who bravely fought in campaigns across Europe.
Wilf Shaw, a former Royton driller, received the Legion d’Honneur from the people of France for his services in the Normandy landings in 1944.
The grandfather-of-two was a signaller with the 6th Battalion the Green Howards, 50th infantry division, and also fought in El Alamein in Egypt, Wadi Akarit in Tunisia and Sicily.
He passed away in hospital on Wednesday, March 21, aged 98.
Wilf’s family have paid tribute to a ‘remarkable and inspirational’ man and also spoke of their shock about learning of his extensive career in the forces in the days after his death.
His son Mike Shaw, 73, from Saddleworth, said: “He never really talked to us about it and then all of a sudden this treasure box opens.
“I knew he won the Legion d’Honneur, but when you see the number of campaigns he fought in, and the amount of times he was one of only a few soldiers left standing, it’s incredible.
“He didn’t prattle on about what it was like.
“He was ‘Mr Quiet Man’ who had all these amazing campaigns. For years and years he meticulously wrote a diary every day. On the day he died he called it ‘the end’.”
Wilf served with the 6th Green Howards from late 1940 to June 1946.
He was shot twice, in the ankle and shoulder, but quickly returned to action until Rommel’s forces were driven out of North Africa.
He married his first wife Dora in April 1944 one month before taking part in the invasion of Normandy - and thought he would never see her again.
They had one child, Mike, and later divorced.
He later married Sylvia and they too divorced.
Wilf’s grandson Leon Shaw said he was a ‘legend’ and they are ‘very proud’ of his achievements.
The 33-year-old technical director, from Saddleworth, said: “He was very humble.
“He didn’t see himself as a hero. He was just doing his job and his duty. He was very understated. He lived in his flat in Oldham and went out every day. “He’s a bit of a legend.” Wilf left the army after the war to work as a driller at Sutton’s lorrymaking company in Royton.
The funeral is at St Paul’s Church in Royton on April 11 at 1.30pm.