ONE of York’s surviving Normandy veterans has died just a week before Remembrance Sunday, aged 94.

Tributes have been paid to Bert Barritt, of Acomb, who landed on Sword Beach on D-Day while serving with the Second Battalion, the East Yorkshire Regiment.

Nick Beilby, who arranges the veterans’ monthly meetings and trips back to Normandy each June, said Bert was a "wonderful man, who always put others before himself and whose faith underpinned his life," adding: “I was greatly privileged to have known him.”

He said he anticipated there would be a very large attendance at his funeral, as he was a man of whom many thought highly.

Ian Richardson, of the Allied Air Forces Memorial and Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, said: “This is terrible news, particularly as we approach Remembrance Sunday.

“It has been an honour to have Bert and indeed all the ‘boys’ with us on so many occasions here at Elvington. Our thoughts and sincere condolences are extended to Bert’s family and friends. A sad loss indeed.”

Bert was one of five veterans whose personal testimonies about their D-Day experiences formed the basis for a play called Bomb Happy, which has been performed at schools and arts centres all over the region, and also at the Edinburgh Fringe in the summer.

He received France’s highest honour, the Legion d’Honneur, in 2016 - almost two years after it was promised by former French President Francois Hollande.

Bert told The Press in 2014 how he landed on Sword Beach at half past ten on D-Day and walked off the beach without being fired on, resistance having been cleared, but was wounded three weeks later in his hand by shrapnel.