A WAR hero who bravely parachuted into Normandy on D-Day has died exactly 72 years to the day after the famous battle.

Major Ronald Campbell died aged 94 last Monday, the 72nd anniversary of D-Day. He enrolled at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1937 at just 15 and served for 21 years as an officer in the King's Regiment. He then went on to work for the Ministry of Defence for a further 21 years.

After serving in North Africa, Maj Campbell became one of 156,000 Allied soldiers, including about 61,000 British troops, who fought in Normandy on June 6, 1944, in a daring attack designed to force the Germans back and reclaim the continent.

Barrow-born Maj Campbell was among the 13,000 men who parachuted into enemy territory. His wife of 12 years, Enid, said: "D-Day was such a prominent event in Ron's life. He often spoke of it, even when he was in his 90s. It does seem ironic that he should pass away on that exact day after surviving the battle so many years ago.

"He could always remember everything about the night down to the last detail - the way he jumped out of the plane at two minutes past midnight, the gunfire directed at his parachute and the young men that he led. Although he was only 22 at the time, he remembered leading young lads who were only teenagers."

Maj Campbell was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry during his wartime service and also went on to work at BAE (then Vickers) in about 1960 where he worked on the Polaris programme, which pioneered Britain’s first nuclear missile submarines.

Maj Campbell was a much-loved husband to his first wife Gwen, whom he married during the Second World War. He was a beloved brother, uncle and a dear stepfather.

After the death of his first wife, Maj Campbell found love again when he met Enid.

She said: "We had 12 wonderful years together and I always felt very proud of all his military achievements.

"We met in a charity shop, I was chairwoman for Age Concern at the time and Ron came in to ask about volunteering.

"I thought he was lovely and invited him to dinner. We were then married in 2004, at the Methodist church in Ulverston, where we were both devout members of the congregation."

Maj Campbell, of Mount Barnard View, Ulverston, died at Furness General Hospital, in a bed close to Enid.

His funeral will be held at Ulverston Methodist church on Friday.

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