Great Escaper’s widow dies . . . a week after him
HE won the hearts of the nation after making his very own Great Escape to the D-Day events in France.
And yesterday, just days after the sad death of war veteran Bernard Jordan aged 90, it emerged his devoted wife has also passed away.
Friends said Irene Jordan, 88, had been hit hard by her husband’s death but the couple would now be ‘reunited’. Mr Jordan hit the head- lines in the summer when he travelled to the 70th anniversary D-Day events in Normandy wearing his war medals and grey mac.
He slipped out of The Pines care home in Hove, East Sussex, telling carers he was going for a walk – before catching a ferry to France.
Mrs Jordan, who lived at the same home, died on Tuesday in her sleep, seven days after her husband’s death on December 30. Amanda Scott, managing director of Gracewell Healthcare which runs the home, said: ‘Irene and Bernie will be much missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their friends and family at this sad time.’
Brighton and Hove mayor Brian Fitch said the couple, who had been married for nearly 70 years, were devoted to one another. He added: ‘They were religious people who are now reunited.’
A ceremony celebrating Mr and Mrs Jordan’s lives will be held at All Saints Church in Hove on January 30. In interviews, Mr Jordan had referred to his wife as a ‘smashing woman’. His disappearance sparked a police search on June 5 and his whereabouts emerged only when a younger veteran later phoned to say he was safe.
Mr Jordan, a former member of the Royal Navy, told reporters on his return that his aim was to remember his fallen ‘mates’.
Around 156,000 Allied troops landed on the five D-Day invasion beaches on June 6 1944 at the start of a campaign to liberate Normandy and the rest of France.