Ron Jones, prisoner of war at Auschwitz and Wales' oldest poppy seller has died at the age of 102.
Ron, from Newport , was a prisoner of war in the Nazi Germany death camp while serving in the 1st Battalion of the Welch Regiment during the Second World War.
He was captured in 1942 in the Middle East when he was a 23-year-old lance corporal and, after nine months in Italy, was transferred to forced labour camp E715.
Decades later, Mr Jones became a familiar face and something of a local celebrity, selling poppies on behalf of the Royal British Legion for around 30 years.
His son, Leighton Jones, told the South Wales Argus that his father had died at the Royal Gwent Hospital following a short illness: "The day before he died I had stayed with him for five hours.
"He was very weak and wasn’t his normal, lucid self. He had had enough with life. He was not happy with going into a nursing home - but he knew there was no option. He kept falling over and was a danger to himself.
"I think getting to 102 years of age wasn’t bad going. He was a loving father and adored his late wife."
Here's Ron Jones, in his own words
Mr Jones spoke to WalesOnline two years ago as he had written a book about his experience, The Auschwitz Goalkeeper.
“When I retired in 1980 the British Legion caught hold of me and I have been a member ever since,” he said at the time.
“The reason I joined was because at that particular time the government did not look after causalities from the war but the British Legion did help. Even today we spend a million pounds a month.
“I have sold poppies for approximately 30 years. I come down every day. Sometimes three hours, sometimes six hours – always the same place.”
