Farewell to Old Soldiers - 2026

French resistance fighter Odette Bergoffen née Blanchette died January 6 at the age of 101. She was an agent of Libération-Nord in the Tours sector under the Code name Michéle. She held the rank of sargeant. She was named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem for her efforts to rescue Jewish children from the Nazis. She was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour and promoted to Grand Officer.

D-Day veteran who 'never thought of himself as a hero' dies aged 100 (BBC)

One of Scotland's last surviving D-Day veterans has died aged 100. Albert Lamond, from Glasgow, was an 18-year-old signalman aboard HMS Rowley when he took part in the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. He also served in the lead up to VJ day the following year, helping to evacuate prisoners of war (PoWs) from remote islands in the Pacific and transport them to Australia. Lamond's family said he "never thought of himself as a hero" and believed he was "just doing his duty"... "He spoke honestly about his service, not to glorify war, but to make sure people understood its cost"...

'Humble' WW2 D-Day veteran dies aged 101 (BBC)

Tributes have been paid to a D-Day veteran who has died at the age of 101. Joe Bullock, from Stourbridge, in the West Midlands, served on landing craft and small naval vessels that took troops from ships to Juno beach during the Normandy landings in World War Two...

Although known as an anti-war protester, singer “Country Joe” McDonald, who has just died aged 84, served in the US navy in Japan in the late 1950s, and in the '90s he helped organise the construction of a Vietnam veterans memorial in Berkeley (link).

Antonio Tejero obituary (Guardian)

Lt Col Antonio Tejero, who has died aged 93, terrorised much of Spain on 23 February 1981 when he led an armed assault on the Spanish parliament, the Cortes, in Madrid. At 6.23pm, some 250 civil guards burst into the semi-circular chamber of the lower house during the investiture of Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo as the new prime minister. For 18 hours the entire parliament was held hostage until a negotiated surrender the following morning; the Communist party leader Santiago Carrillo said he had expected to be shot. Tejero’s bushy moustache, angry stare and traditional civil guard tricorne hat became iconic images of the failed coup, the attempted return to the fascist Spain of the Franco dictatorship of 1939-75. Pistol in hand, Tejero strode to the rostrum shouting “¡Quieto todo el mundo!” (“No-one move!”). A few minutes later, with shots fired into the ceiling – since conserved to commemorate the defeat of the coup – he screamed the notorious phrase “¡Se sienten, coño!” (“Sit down, fuck it!”)... the king saved the day by vigorously opposing the conspirators... All his life {Tejero} defended military dictatorship... He attended the Military Academy in Zaragoza and entered the civil guard at the age of 19. He led a typical military life, posted to at least six destinations during the following 20 years, and was steadily promoted until becoming lieutenant colonel in the Basque country in 1974...

The British author, Len Deighton, who was best known for his spy novels, has died at the age of 97. He did his National Service in the Royal Air Force, where he learned spy skills including photography, flying and scuba-diving (link).

Tributes to D-Day veteran who has died aged 101 (BBC)

Tributes are being paid to a "true legend" World War Two veteran from Merseyside who has died at the age of 101. John Dennett from Wallasey, Wirral, who was a Royal Navy anti-aircraft gunner and took part in the D-Day landings, died in hospital on Sunday after a short illness, his family said... Dennett served at every major Allied landing: North Africa, Italy, Normandy. As a gunner on a landing ship, HMS LST 322, his vessel was vital for getting tanks and armour ashore. He had signed up against his mother's wishes in 1942, and had been accepted without anyone seeing his birth certificate...

Veteran who did not talk and slept outside remembered (BBC)

A war veteran who lost his ability to talk and slept on the streets due to a fear of being enclosed has been remembered with a memorial. William Clements, known as Barton Billy, was captured by the Japanese during World War Two. After his release, his claustrophobia became so severe he could not sleep in his own home in Barton, Gloucester. He died in 1995, but until Wednesday, when a plaque was laid in Gloucester Old Cemetery in Tredworth, there was nothing to show where his ashes had been scattered... "His experience as a prisoner of war left a long-lasting mark on his life," James said. "He couldn't bear to be inside, he lost the power of speech." "Lots of people used to see him on a day-to-day basis and the community helped him a lot by giving him food and drink and clothing and even free haircuts," he added. "Lots of people would remember him fondly. That's why we wanted to make sure we had a visible tangible memory of his life"...

>6 John5918: Lyn Deighton wrote one of the very best war novels I have ever read: Bomber. It's about the bombing mission of a Lancaster, which goes off course. To write it, Deighton interviewed numerous pilots, aircraft crew, and ground crew ... and then went to Germany and interviewed people who were on the receiving end. It is FAR more realistic than anything else I've read about World War Two. Hollywood made a movie supposedly based on this book, but as usual they just turned it into crap.

D-Day veteran who 'was amazing man' dies aged 106 (BBC)

One of the UK's oldest surviving D-Day veterans has died at the age of 106. John Daniels was serving as a Royal Navy radio operative when he was sent to Omaha Beach in France to support US troops on 6 June 1944. He previously described the Normandy landings as "a bloodbath", which he could not believe he had survived...

Air Commodore Simon Baldwin obituary: RAF navigator in Falklands (Times)

RAF navigator who overcame daunting logistics to launch the longest-ranged bombing mission in history, dies aged 83...

For those not familiar with Operation Black Buck, the Wikipedia page gives a reasonable overview.

Clarence B. Jones, a noted civil rights activist who has just died, was drafted into the army in 1953.

Clarence B. Jones, civil rights activist who helped write MLK’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, dies at 95 (NBC)

We are saddened to announce that Colonel Bruce Perry Crandall, one of the most courageous helicopter pilots in history, passed away on Sunday, May 31, 2026, at the age of 93.

Born on February 17, 1933 in Olympia, Washington, Crandall enlisted in the US Army in 1953. He earned his fixed-wing and helicopter pilot qualifications by 1954 and went on to serve nearly a quarter century in uniform.

His moment of legendary heroism came on November 14, 1965, during the Battle of Ia Drang in South Vietnam, the first major battle of the Vietnam War. Then-Major Crandall was leading a formation of 16 unarmed UH-1 Huey helicopters into Landing Zone X-Ray when enemy fire became so intense that the ground commander ordered all incoming helicopters to abort.

Crandall went back in anyway.

Along with his wingman, Captain Ed "Too Tall to Fly" Freeman, Crandall flew 22 unescorted missions through walls of small arms fire, mortar rounds, and rocket-propelled grenades. They evacuated more than 70 wounded soldiers and delivered the ammunition and supplies that kept the trapped Americans alive through the night.

The battle was later chronicled in the bestselling book "We Were Soldiers Once… and Young" by Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and Joseph Galloway, and portrayed in the 2002 film "We Were Soldiers" with actor Greg Kinnear playing Crandall.

He flew more than 900 combat missions during two tours in Vietnam. In 1968, his helicopter was shot down and he was severely injured, but he recovered and returned to service. He retired from the US Army in 1977.

On February 26, 2007, more than four decades after the Ia Drang battle, President George W. Bush presented Crandall with the Medal of Honor at the White House.
He is survived by his three sons and five grandchildren. His wife of 54 years, Arlene, passed away in 2010.

May Colonel Bruce "Old Snake" Crandall rest in peace.

Kidnapped Nigerian retired general dies in captivity (BBC)

A retired Nigerian army general who had been kidnapped by gunmen in the country's north-west has died while being held captive, the military has said. Maj Gen Rabe Abubakar, who had a high-profile job as military spokesman between 2015 and 2017, was abducted with his wife while travelling in Katsina state last month. No group has said it was behind the kidnappings...

Gilbert Clarke who has passed away aged 100 (RAF Association)

Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Gilbert lied about his age to join the Royal Air Force during WWII, answering the call to serve at just 16. He travelled to Britain via the US, going on to work as a radar mechanic and operator, helping to keep Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft mission-ready. Like so many of the Windrush generation, he left behind family and friends in 1943, driven by duty and a desire to make the world a better place. “I volunteered out of a sense of duty… to fight for King and country,” he once said. Stationed across British and American air bases, Gilbert played a vital role behind the scenes—repairing and maintaining crucial equipment during one of history’s darkest times...

Denis Cleary obituary: Academy Sergeant Major at Sandhurst (Times)

Irish Guardsman who helped to modernise drill practice and got women marching, dies aged 88...

Hugo Broch obituary: Luftwaffe ace on the Eastern Front (Times)

A German pilot awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross for extreme battlefield bravery, he was one of the last living Luftwaffe flying aces of the Second World War, and died on 31 May 2026 aged 104.

France inducts Resistance fighter, soldier, historian Marc Bloch into its Panthéon of greats (France 24)

Eighty-two years after he was executed by Nazis, Resistance fighter and historian Marc Bloch was inducted into the Panthéon on Tuesday to repose alongside such luminaries as Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. A professor in medieval history, Bloch fought for France in World War I and joined the Resistance in World War II...

>15 John5918:

Jamaican WWII veteran who joined RAF at 16 remembered as ‘courageous and humble’ (ITV News)

A Jamaican Second World War veteran who lied about his age to join the Royal Air Force at 16 has been remembered as “courageous and humble”. Gilbert Constantine Clarke, who was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, signed up as a mechanic in 1943 after reading newspaper reports of ships being sighted in the Caribbean. He died on May 23 at the age of 100. His life was commemorated during a funeral service in east London on Saturday morning when a New Orleans-style jazz band led the cortege in East Ham. Members of the RAF then carried his coffin into East Ham town hall... Within days of signing up, Mr Clarke was kitted out, receiving basic training at the Kingston Palisades RAF camp in Jamaica before being sent on a troop-carrying ship to Britain via the United States... “Everyone was doing their bit, you know,” Mr Clarke previously said. “It was important not to do nothing because Hitler … there was word in the Caribbean saying any time he could be colonising the Caribbean and South America, and so we had to do something”...