Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Hundreds bid fond farewell to D-Day ‘warrior’
IT was standing room only at Yeovil Crematorium yesterday as more than 100 mourners paid their respects to a local D-Day hero.
Veterans, servicemen and women, and members of the public joined family members to see off Sydney Walsh, who died aged 97, just one day after the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
The service was preceded by a procession of more than 40 motorbikes through the streets of Yeovil, as well as a flypast from an AW101 helicopter from RNAS Yeovilton.
The Rev Tim Cook, who conducted the service, remarked that despite more than 100 attendees, only about a dozen of the guests had known Mr Walsh personally.
Peter Milsom, the great nephew of Mr Walsh, said he was “overwhelmed and truly amazed by the occasion”, which included Royal Navy standard bearers and a bugler.
Sydney, who was born in Port Talbot in Wales, travelled to Plymouth in 1940 to join the Royal Navy at the age of 19.
It is thought he was aboard landing craft number 162 which landed at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944.
Not only did Mr Walsh take part in D-Day, but he was also a part of the Dunkirk evacuation, and Operation Pedestal, where he aided the protection of tankers travelling to Malta, among other Second World War missions.
He was also aboard HMS Eagle when she was sunk by German bombers, and spent four hours in the water before being rescued.
Described as a “proud Welshman”, Mr Walsh lived out his later years in Yeovil, Chard and Martock.
The first hymn of the service was the Welsh classic Bread of Heaven, and the service ended with Delilah by Tom Jones, which saw guests burst into song for the final chorus.
There was also a reading of the
Sydney was really proud of his Welsh heritage. He also liked rugby, and he told me he played to a
high level CASE OFFICER
famous poem If I Should Never See The Moon Again, written by Major Malcolm Boyle shortly after landing at Gold Beach on D-Day.
The case officer who looked after Mr Walsh during his final years described him as a “private and self-confessed warrior”.
He said: “Sydney was really proud of his Welsh heritage.
“He also liked rugby, and he told me he played to a high level – and he didn’t rate the English team!
“He was funny, stubborn and determined. I was very fond of him.”