Jack Quinn: Tributes paid to Second World War hero who was one of Sheffield's last Normandy veterans

A highly decorated Sheffield war hero, who was one of the last survivors of the Normandy landings, has sadly died.

Jack Quinn was awarded the Croix de Guerre - the French equivalent of the Victoria Cross - for the incredible courage he displayed in saving seven sailors on a stricken boat during the D-Day invasion.

He died at home on the evening of Friday, January 26, aged 99, just months before he had been due to return to the beaches of Normandy one final time for the 80th anniversary commemorations this June.

Jack was born and bred in Sheffield, where he lived for most of his life on City Road before moving a few years ago to Mablethorpe, in Lincolnshire, with his wife Shirley.

'Magnificent men to whom we owe so much'

He was the last surviving member of the Sheffield Normandy Veterans Association to have served during the landings, following the death of Cyril Elliott last year.

Graham Askham, the group's secretary, 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.

"Sadly, as we approach the 80th anniversary, and what happened fades into history, so many people don't really appreciate what those men went through in 1944, and they don't get the gratitude they deserve. We really do owe them so much.

"The members of the Normandy Veterans Association in Sheffield were very different characters but they were all magnificent men in their own right and it was a privilege to know them."

John Daly, of Sheffield Sea Cadets and Royal Marines Cadets, said Jack had been a good friend to the organisation and he was 'truly humbled' to know him.

One of the first to arrive at Normandy beaches

Jack was among the first troops to reach the French coast on D-Day, actually arriving on Gold Beach at five minutes before midnight on June 5, 1944, when he was aged just 19.

He was a coxswain who worked with frogmen during the early hours to clear German mines and make the famous Allied invasion possible.

As the action unfolded, against orders he bravely went to the aid of French troops on a damaged craft which was drifting towards mines.

No sooner had he got the seven sailors on board, Jack recalled, than their boat 'went up in the air'.

Awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery

It was a remarkable act of courage for which he was later awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French.

But he modestly said he 'just did my job', adding: "A lot of other men did valiant things, but nobody saw them doing it."

Later on D-Day, Jack was ordered to take his craft urgently to Arromanches to rescue two Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents who were being pursued by the Germans.

He got them on board under fire as the enemy approached, saving their lives, before taking them to a hospital ship.

'It was terrible.... They were dropping like flies'

Jack, who was also involved in the liberation of Guernsey, recalled crouching in the grass on D-Day as the Germans realised the invasion was underway and began firing.

"We watched the first infantrymen as they landed on the beach," he said.

"It was terrible. They were running, getting shot at, treading on mines, going up in the air. They were dropping like flies. It was chaotic. Those lads on the beaches had it very rough."

Jack added that he was 'really scared' but 'you just got on with it'. When he first came home, he said, he was afflicted by terrible nightmares from which he often woke up screaming.

The former Royal Marines corporal went on to become a lorry driver, working for the state-owned British Road Services.

'Very loving father and grandfather'

Jack had six children, including his two stepchildren.

His stepdaughter, Jill Handisides, travelled to France with him a number of times to help him pay his respects to fallen comrades.

She told how he would return every year to Ranville War Cemetery to lay a cross at the grave of his friend Cyril, who had been in the same boat when he was shot dead during the war.

She also explained how pupils at a school in France would still write to him each year expressing their thanks to him and the others who helped to restore peace, freedom and democracy.

Jill said: "He was very loving and was always giving good advice, whether you wanted it or not. He was a very good grandad, and great grandad, and my kids adored him.

"He loved life and lived it to the full. He enjoyed golf and fishing and he liked his Jaguar cars.

"He will be really, really missed by everybody."