Sheffield Dunkirk and D-Day veteran dies with Covid at the age of 102

Jim Pass, who lived in Bradway in Sheffield, died on November 4 shortly after being diagnosed with coronavirus.

His step-daughter Kerensa Welsby said Jim had moved into a care home in July following a fall at home.

She said it had been a difficult few months for the family, as Jim, who had Alzheimer’s disease, was unable to have visitors including his wife Rita due to the pandemic.

“The last time my mum gave him a hug was when he went into the care home in July. He couldn’t quite understand why she wouldn’t go into the home,” she said.

“It has been quite a traumatic period. But there are blessings. He was 102 and actually died quite peacefully. He didn’t suffer which he could have done with Covid and he lived an amazing life.”

Jim who was born in Castleford in August 1918 but spent most of his life in Horsforth on the outskirts of Leeds before moving to Sheffield in the final decades of his life.

He was awarded the Légion d’honneur for his service in liberating France and had an extraordinary war time story.

Jim was a motorbike dispatch rider in the early stages of the war where he delivered messages between military lines.

During the dramatic retreat to Dunkirk, Jim was part of an ammunition convoy that got strafed by German planes, causing huge explosions and leaving him on his own. On his way to the beaches, he ditched his bike in a canal so the Germans couldn’t use it.

Kerensa said: “He came across an abandoned village where he was lucky enough to find a tin of sausages. He scoffed the lot, only to be violently sick as the food was too rich for his starved stomach.”

When he eventually got aboard a paddle steamer leaving Dunkirk it was hit by a bomb and he narrowly escaped. On his return to England, Jim married his girlfriend Molly Dunn.

On D-Day he drove a DUKW amphibious vehicle bringing ammunition onshore to Sword Beach, where nearly 700 British soldiers died as they encountered fierce German resistance.

After the war, Jim went on to take over his father’s newsagent shop but much of his later years were taken up by his involvement in the Camping and Caravanning Club which he joined on a whim after getting chatting to a group of caravan owners in Pateley Bridge.

He signed up then and there - despite not owning a caravan at the time. Jim went on to hold a series of regional and national leadership roles down the years.

During his time as chairman of the publicity committee, his stunts including sitting the Camping Club Youth Test at the age of 70. Following Molly’s death in the 1980s, in 1988 Jim went on to marry Rita, herself a member of the club and a widow.

Jim’s funeral will be webcast due to coronavirus restrictions on numbers attending in person.

The service, taking place at Hutcliffe Wood Crematorium in Sheffield, will take place at 11am on Friday, November 27.

Kerensa said anyone wishing to watch the ceremony online should contact the funeral director, G & M Lunt. Their number is 0114 274 5508.