Second World War veteran Gordon Sugg, one of the last of the Dunkirk heroes, has died at the age of 100.
Sergeant Sugg of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment was rescued from the beaches in 1940, despite suffering a leg wound when German dive bombers attacked the stranded troops. He was evacuated on board HMS Winchelsea.
At his 100th birthday party last October, he recalled:”We were queuing on the beach, waiting for the boat. We knew it was going to be the last one so you can imagine how we felt.
"I was wounded by shrapnel in the left leg, about 70 yards from the boat. Only the walking wounded made it to the boat, so if it hadn't been for two mates, Alf Taylor and Lee Hunt, who picked me up and carried me to it – I wouldn’t be here now.
"If I had been left behind, I would have spent six years as a prisoner of war ... or shot.”
His daughter-in-law Jennifer said: “Gordon had been determined to reach his 100th birthday but in the past few weeks he had become very tired. He passed away peacefully yesterday.”
But she added: “He was a wonderful man who lived a remarkable life. He had friends all over the world.
“Until the last few years, he was very active and he had a passion for golf -- he joined the Coxmoor club in 1962.”
After the war Gordon ran a successful chain of shoe shops alongside his late wife Gwendoline. His only child, Arthur, died in 2016 aged 73.
Gordon, who lived in Kirkby-in-Ashfield until the last couple of years when he was a resident at Ashcroft Care Home in Sutton-in-Ashfield, was a Rotarian for nearly 60 years. John Berrington, President of the Kirkby club, said: “He was a highly valued member of Kirkby Rotary Club and was still active into his late 90s. In fact, he was still playing badminton at the age of 96, as well as being a keen golfer.
“He was the club grandfather and will certainly be missed.”
Gordon Sugg leaves his daughter-in-law Jennifer and a granddaughter, Nicola.
Any enquiries should be directed to A Wass Funeral Directors, 8 Priestsic Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield NG17 4EB. Phone: 01623 557313.
