PA MediaA World War Two veteran who fought in Normandy as a teenager before becoming a prisoner of war has died at the age of 100, a charity said.
Douglas Baldwin, from Caddington, Bedfordshire, served with the 6th Battalion of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB).
Aged just 18 he landed in northern France in June 1944, three weeks after D-Day. Later captured by German forces, he was made to work in coal mines during nine months in multiple Stalag camps.
The Taxi Charity For Military Veterans, which had helped Mr Baldwin make many trips to Normandy, said it was “saddened” to hear of his death.
“We honour Doug’s remarkable life, courage, and sacrifice, and we remember him with gratitude and respect,” it said in a statement.
One of seven children, Mr Baldwin, who had celebrated his 100th birthday in November, grew up in Sheerness, Kent.
During an interview in 2024, he said he remembered “the drone of engines” as enemy bombers flew up the Thames estuary.
He enlisted for army training at Colchester and was kept in reserve before being sent to Normandy on a landing craft on 25 June 1944.
Mr Baldwin said: “All the way over I was quite calm. It was still an adventure to me.”
He said many people waved and blew him kisses as he left British shores, adding: “I felt like a hero before I even landed in Normandy.”
He moved with his regiment through northern France after landing, and said: “There were many occasions where there was nobody to tell you what to do. You had to think for yourself.
“There was very little difference between being brave or stupidity.”
Mr Baldwin was captured alone in the village of Estry on 8 August that year, after taking cover from German fire in a disused house and being stunned by a nearby explosion.
He said he was taken to a car with a gun pointed at his head before eventually being transported to Germany in a railway truck, arriving at Stalag XII-A on 28 August.
He spent time in several camps before liberation by Allied forces, before returning home via Paris on 1 May 1945 – one week before VE Day.
KOSBDespite his previous hardships, Mr Baldwin went back to Germany after the war ended with the Royal Scots Fusiliers to serve in the Army of Occupation.
He later relocated to the Luton area for work and described himself as a “jack of all trades, master of none”, working in a variety of jobs including at Vauxhall and Luton Airport.
He visited Normandy many times through trips organised by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, and received the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest military honour, in 2021 in recognition of his service.
Asked in 2024 what the secret was to a good life, Mr Baldwin said: “Freedom to do what you want.”