Tri-Service

WW2 Veteran 'Blown Up' In Tank Given Top Honour

A World War Two veteran, who was injured when the tank he was travelling in was blown up by the Nazis, has been given France’s highest military honour.

92-year-old Bernard Sharrock, from Wigan, was heading to Normandy when he came under fire in 1944.

The veteran and another crew member survived the attack but five others on board were killed.

Bernard's daughter Kathryn said:

"Dad was in a Sherman tank which managed to avoid enemy fire and headed for the town of Caen in Normandy... Things went very wrong and a Panzer blew up the tank which caught fire."

"He was fairly high up so he could scramble out just in time but he lost at least three good pals."

"What made it even more amazing was the fact he should have been driving the tank but that day they swapped and he was the radio operator. If he had been driving, he would have been killed."

"Despite his burns he managed to find his way across several fields, until he reached a road where a field ambulance grabbed him and threw him in the back.

"These memories have stayed with him all his life and he has always remembered everything from the war."

Image courtesy: SWNS

Bernard was rescued by Army medics and airlifted back to England, where he received pioneering treatment for burns to his hands and face.

More - D-Day Hero's Emotional Return to Normandy

He received the Legion d’Honneur for his part in the D-Day landings and the liberation of Europe at a ceremony at the Ancliffe Residential Care Home, where he lives.

Friends, family, members of the Armed Forces and pupils from a local school also attended.

Image courtsey: SWNS

The Mayor of Wigan, Councillor Ron Conway, presented him with the award. He said: "I feel really honoured to have been able to present Bernard with his well-deserved Legion d'Honneur medal.”

"For many years D-Day veterans have been awarded the Legion d'honneur by the French Government as a way of honouring those who fought to secure France's liberation during World War Two, and we are really proud that Bernard has been recognised."

Bernard joined the war effort as a conscript and was trained in tank warfare, serving in the Northamptonshire Yeomanry and landing on Gold Beach during the Normandy operation.