The first soldier to set foot in occupied France lived in Portishead for 45 years.
Norman Poole, who died in the coastal town in 2015, was the first British soldier to touch down in Normandy on D-Day.
Lieutenant Poole was a paratrooper in the Special Air Service (SAS) during World War II, and helped pave the way for the largest seaborne invasion in history.
He was the first man to jump over Normandy on the night of June 5, 1944, as part of a team of six for the Titanic IV mission.
The group landed on the Cherbourg peninsula with 200 dummy parachutists and were tasked with distracting German troops while the landings began, using amplifiers to play false combat noises.
But Norman and his team were separated from the other troops, and spent six weeks behind enemy lines before being captured by German troops. The men were later liberated by the Americans, according to Mr Poole who was awarded the Military Cross.
He left the military at the end of the war and became a banker, eventually becoming the south west regional manager of the National Westminster Bank – now NatWest – in 1970.
He lived in Nore Road, Portishead with his wife Elisabeth. The couple had two daughters – Elisabeth and Alison – as well as four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
He retired in 1980. He died in 2015, aged 95.
