War hero who ignored orders during D-Day landings to save seven lives dies aged 99
A WAR hero who ignored orders during the D-Day landings to save seven lives has died aged 99.
Royal Marines Cpl Jack Quinn was coxswain on a landing craft ferrying frogmen to target mines on Normandy beaches.
In the early hours of June 6, 1944, the 19-year-old disobeyed orders to rescue the French crew of a burning boat.
He was rewarded with a Croix de Guerre for heroism, France’s version of the Victoria Cross.
And Jack was the first Allied fighter to arrive on Guernsey as the isle was liberated on May 9, 1945.
After the war the dad of six, from Sheffield, worked as a lorry driver.
He later moved to Mablethorpe, Lincs, and said of his war heroics: “I just did my job.
“A lot of other men did valiant things but nobody saw them doing it.”
Last year, he was made an ambassador for the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer.
He had been the last surviving member of Sheffield Normandy Veterans Association who served on D-Day.
The group’s secretary Graham Askham, said: “It’s so sad that we’ve lost them all now.
“I’d like to thank Jack and all the others for what they did for this country.”