First British Paratrooper To Set Foot In France During D-Day Landings Dies Aged 95

Lieutenant Norman Poole (SWNS)

The first British soldier to set foot in occupied France during the D-Day landings has died aged 95.

Lieutenant Norman Poole was an SAS paratrooper who landed on the Cherbourg peninsula in Normandy on the night of June 5, 1944.

Poole, who lived in Portishead, Somerset until his death, leapt from a plane with a carrier pigeon strapped to his chest on the eve of the invasion.

Although he was part of a six-man team in the operation codenamed Titanic IV, his was the only pigeon that got home with a message for military chiefs.

But Poole, who was later awarded the Military Cross for his bravery, took that message with him to the grave.

“He was terribly private about all of this,” said his daughter Alison Dale.

“On the day of the Normandy landings, he had a pigeon strapped to him – and his was the only pigeon that got home with a message for the SAS.

“But right until the day he died, he never told anyone what the message was.”

Poole landed with 200 dummy parachutists and was tasked with the job of distracting German troops with amplifiers playing fake combat noises.

By the end of June 6 more than 155,000 Allied troops had established bases along the Normandy coast.

The invasion paved the way to eventual victory over Nazi Germany.

The D-Day Landings on June 6, 1944 (Sipa Press/REX)

His team were separated from the other troops and spent six weeks behind enemy lines before being captured by German troops. Eventually they were liberated by the Americans.

Dale said that her father didn’t like to talk about the war because “he had such a grotty time.”

“He did open up a little bit more as we got older,” she said. “But when we were growing up, if we had ever told anyone anything, he couldn’t take it. He had to be private.”

Alison said her father was “very brave” but added: “He always said the really brave ones are the ones who died.”

After the war he became a banker and was a regional manager for the National Westminster Bank – now NatWest – based in Bristol.

He lived in Portishead with his wife Elisabeth, who died four years ago, and retired in 1980.

The couple had two daughters, Elisabeth and Alison, four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.