D-day veteran Ken dies in Canada at the age of 98

NORMANDY veteran Ken Sturdy, former president of South Devon’s D-Day veterans’ organisation, has died at the age of 98.

Mr Sturdy, , died in Canada, where he had lived with his family since 2016.

He was born in Cardiff in April 1920, and joined the Royal Navy as a signalman. After service which included time on the Atlantic convoys, he landed on Sword Beach on June 6, 1944, as a Royal Marine Commando, helping to direct gunfire from ships offshore.

He was badly injured during the Allied advance on Berlin the following year when his truck went over a landmine.

After the war he obtained a first class degree with honours in art and after emigrating to Canada in 1953 taught painting and art history. He became head of the Alberta College of Art and Design.

In 2004 he moved back to England and settled in Torbay, joining the Normandy Veterans Association and becoming its president.

He attended commemorations in France, Holland and Belgium as well as taking part in events in Torbay.

He was awarded the prestigious French Legion d’Honneur in 2015 and returned to Canada to be with his family the following year.

Mr Sturdy was married twice and had six children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A funeral service was held in Alberta.

THE Devon Air Ambulance landed in playing fields at Paignton on Monday. The helicopter ambulance circled over the Tweenaway area before landing in the park off Westleat Avenue. It was responding to a medical call, and the patient was deemed fit enough to travel to hospital by land ambulance. The helicopter returned to its base in Exeter