Tributes paid to D-Day hero, 101, who said ‘I am so proud we did it’

Tributes have been paid to Royal Navy and D-Day warrior Peter Smoothy after his death at 101.

In 2024 – on the 80th anniversary of the landings – the hero returned to Normandy alongside the Express and choked back tears on the same beach where he saw so many pals slain.

He said then: “I am so proud that we did it – it could have been so different.”

The braveheart from Herne Bay, Kent, was just 19 and serving on Landing Ship Tank 215 on June 6, 1944 ferrying soldiers and equipment onto Juno Beach under heavy and constant bombardment.

Revisiting the exact spot where pandemonium erupted he said: “Sadly there are very few of us left.

“I was 19 in 1944. How many people can say that? I just wish the public gave us more credit [for what we did] and thanked us for the easy way of life they have. If we had been defeated it could have all been so very different. I dare not think about it.”

His death on Wednesday came just weeks before his 102nd birthday.

To honour the momentous anniversary of the landings Peter was pictured on the front page of the Express under the headline Eternally In Their Debt.

In 1944 he was part of a crew of 99 men with his landing ship carrying 28 tanks, 45 lorries and 200 soldiers, drivers and crew for vehicles as part of the invading Allied armada.

He was left scared by what he witnessed but, in a moment of quiet reflection, said: “We were all very young men and said at the time, ‘If our names are on a bullet, it’s our bad luck’ – we were lucky that our names weren’t.

“We sailed out of The Solent on the evening of June 5 with hundreds of other landing craft. The Germans didn’t really know we were coming. At about 2am on D-Day, halfway across the Channel, we were called to action stations.

“We got into Juno Beach at about 7.30am. There were quite a few shells firing at us. The ones you could hear were all right. It was the ones you couldn’t that were the deadliest.

“There were shells dropping about, but we didn’t get bombed. The first wave of beach landings had been in front of us. They’d had the worst task finding themselves immediately face to face with the Germans.”

On his return hero Peter was mobbed by hundreds of locals who wanted a picture and to shake his hand for the pivotal part he played in helping to liberate Nazi-occupied France.

Some young enough to be his grandchildren were in tears, clasping him tightly as they thanked him for his service. One man grabbed him by the arm and simply said: “Sir, thank you on behalf of us all.”

Later in his Royal Navy career Peter served in Italy and Burma and after the war was landlord of the Four Fathoms in Herne Bay, run by Kentish brewery Shepherd Neame, for more than 40-years.

He was a regular on the annual pilgrimage to northern France with the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans and would salute chums at Pegasus Bridge and Ranville Cemetery, near Caen, the final resting place for hundreds of British soldiers killed during the early stages of the bloody three-month Battle of Normandy.

Charity Vice President Dick Goodwin said: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Peter.

“He was one of a remarkable generation who answered their country’s call and played their part in securing the freedoms we enjoy today. His service and courage will never be forgotten.

“It was always a privilege for the Taxi Charity to spend time with Peter and to hear about his experiences. Like so many veterans of his generation, he carried his extraordinary history with great humility. He will be remembered with enormous respect, gratitude and affection.”