Tributes to hero World War Two veteran who lied about his age to sign up at 17 before fighting in Normandy - as he dies at the age of 101

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 15:24 EDT, 29 August 2026 | Updated: 15:27 EDT, 29 August 2026 A World War Two hero who lied about his age to sign up and fight for Britain aged just 17 has died at the age of 101. Veteran Donald Turrell, born in London in 1925, was a teenager when he enlisted in the Army after forging a letter from his parents. But he went on to fight in Normandy, landing on Sword Beach in France in June 1944 in the days following D-Day, where he took part in fierce fighting against occupying German troops. Mr Turrell joined the Scottish Cameronians as a rifleman upon enlisting and was stationed in various places across the UK in the following months, including Bury St Edmunds, Newquay, Newcastle and Fort William in the Scottish Highlands. He was injured in the Battle of Eterville on July 10, 1944, by a mortar blast while fighting near Hill 112 under Operation Jupiter, which saw his company pinned down under heavy machine gun fire. He used his rifle as a crutch and managed to limp his way to report the situation before he was evacuated back to the Normandy coastline. Mr Turrell went back to visit the French village in 2024 for the first time since the war. Tributes have poured in for the hero, who was described as a representative of a 'generation whose courage and service we will never forget'. The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans posted a tribute on Saturday saying it was 'deeply saddened' to share the news that Mr Turrell had died on Friday, surrounded by his family. World War Two veteran Donald Turrell (pictured) has died aged 101 Mr Turrell (pictured) signed up to fight for his country by lying about his age Mr Turrell (centre) pictured alongside veterans Eugeniusz Niedzielski (left) and Dorothea Barron (right) at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo last August, 2025The vice president for the charity, Dick Goodwin, said: 'Don was incredibly special. He had a warmth and presence that lit up every room he entered, and he touched the lives of so many people.'As a Second World War veteran, Don represented a generation whose courage and service we will never forget.'It was a privilege for the Taxi Charity to know him, and he will be remembered with enormous affection and gratitude.'My thoughts are with his family and all those who loved him at this very sad time.'In an interview last year, Mr Turrell said of signing up to the army: 'I did lie about my age. I pushed it up a bit, gave all the right answers, and I was in. I was happy.''I was 17. I told them I was 18. I wrote a letter out saying that "To whom it my concern, the bearer of this letter is my son, Donald Turrell blah, blah, blah".'He explained he had always wanted to be a soldier and that like 'all the young lads' he had wanted to play his part in defending his country.The veteran described feeling 'excited and apprehensive' during the crossing to the Normandy coast, and said his 'introduction' to the war was seeing bodies from earlier fighting washing back up on the beach as he landed.His participation in the war effort came to an end a few weeks later on July 10, when he was seriously injured during the Battle of Eterville and was later medically discharged.Mr Turrell spoke movingly of the close friends he lost during the campaign, some of whom he buried in the field and who are now buried in Commonwealth war cemeteries on the continent.The war also claimed his older brother Leslie, who had been a telegraphist on HMS Penelope and died when the ship was sunk off the Italian coast near Naples in February 1944. The veteran previously lived in Frinton-on-Sea in Essex.