Hero who saved seven D-Day lives dies at 99
D-DAY hero Jack Quinn who disobeyed direct orders to save the lives of seven stricken French sailors has died aged 99.
The Royal Marine landed the night before a daring amphibious assault, ferrying a team of commandos whose task was to attach explosives to German beach defences.
They were detonated moments before the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, beginning the liberation of France and Europe.
Corporal Quinn had been ordered to return to his troopship when he spotted a French boat ablaze and drifting towards a minefield.
Ignoring his commanding officer, he single-handedly rescued the sailors before their vessel exploded.
He was awarded the Croix de Guerre – the French version of the Victoria Cross – for an incredible feat of heroism.
After the war, the father of six worked as a lorry driver. Last year Mr Quinn, from Sheffield, accompanied the Daily Express to Normandy for the 79th anniversary commemorations of D-Day. It was to be his last visit.
Indomitable
He lost every member of his Royal Marine unit in battle and, standing on Sword Beach, choked back tears as he said: “I never saw them again and we should have shared this medal.
“We were told to do a job and we did it. It fills me with great sadness.”
Speaking of his death-defying feats in a pivotal moment of the conflict, he said: “I just did my job. A lot of other men did valiant things but nobody saw them doing it.”
Mr Quinn and fellow veterans Ken Hay, Henry Rice, Stan Ford, Alec Penstone, Reginald Pye and Richard Aldred, dubbed the Magnificent Seven and recipients of France’s highest order of merit, The Legion of Honour, returned to Sword Beach where they stood shoulder-to-shoulder once more.
They were aided by volunteers including Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s grandson, the current Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. Underneath a statue of the war hero in CollevilleMontgomery, the seaside village renamed in 1946 in his honour, Jack and his comrades were told they belonged to a unique generation whose indomitable spirit shaped the post-war world.
Almost 80 years on they were still feted as heroes by generations of grateful French who wanted to shake their hands for bringing them freedom.
The D-Day invasion saw 133,000 soldiers from Britain, the Commonwealth, the US and allies land on five Normandy beaches.
Mr Quinn was the last surviving member of Sheffield Normandy Veterans Association who served on D-Day.
Secretary Graham Askham said: “It’s so sad that we’ve lost them all now. I’d like to thank Jack and all the others for what they did for this country.”