A British war veteran who survived the D-Day landings, as well as being shot three times in the line of duty, has died aged 101. Cecil Newton, from the village of Aldbourne in Wiltshire, served in 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards during World War 2 and was in the thick of it as the allied forces stormed the beaches at Normandy.
Cecil’s family said the war hero died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday. His son Paul said in a message: “Thank you all for your friendship for my father and for supporting his efforts to remember those of the 4/7 RDG who did not come back.” The former soldier, who was a loader in a tank crew, was just 20 when he was among the first to long on Gold Beach in an ambiphibious Sherman on 6 June 1944, as Britain and its allies fought back against the Nazis, as per BBC News. Minutes later the tank sank into a shell hole, though he and the crew were able to get out and were later some of the first to reach the French city of Lille.
In November of that year, Cecil was lucky to escape with his life after his tank was attacked in a German village. He sustained a serious leg injury and was shot three times in the leg and chest as he got out of his tank.
Cecil later become a quantity surveyor after the war and moved to Swindon, MailOnline reports.
He returned to France in June 2024 to take part in the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations, and visited a French school named after him, as well as places where comrades of his lost their lives.
In a post on X, former defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps said he was “deeply moved to hear of the passing of Cecil Newton, a true hero of D-Day”.
“At just 20, he landed under fire at Gold Beach and helped liberate Europe,” he added. “He lived to 101, bearing witness to the freedom he fought for. We owe him – and his generation – a debt we can never fully repay.”
The warrior’s friend Gary Wright wrote: “For those of you who met my dear old friend Trooper Cecil Newton I received the news last night that he died yesterday at 17:00 Thursday 1 May 2025.
“He was 101 and one of our last D-Day veterans. He arrived on Gold Beach in an amphibious tank with 4/7 Royal Dragoon Guards.”
Cecil’s passing comes only days before the 80th anniversary of VE Day on May 8, marking the formal acceptance by the Allies of Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces that brought the conflict in Europe to an end.
Events will be held across the UK to commemorate the sacrifice of those who fought in the six-year conflict, and the many that lost their lives.
