D-Day hero died after choking on full English breakfast, inquest hears

‘Stoic’ Frederick Temple died at the age of 97 last year and at the time of his death the former Royal Marine was one of the last survivors of the 1944 Allied Normandy beach landings against the Nazis.

It is thought that there are only 100 men who took part in the operation that are still alive to this day.

Mr Temple dedicated 22 years of his life to serving the country and he inquest heard how he was the 'typical military man' who was 'strong', 'determined', and 'frustratingly stubborn'.

He was moved to the Admiral Jellicoe House, in Southsea in 2022, and it was heard how he had mentally 'regressed' back to his time in the forces, and would often ask care home staff to 'see the captain of the ship'.

Christopher Wilkinson, senior coroner for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton said that Mr Temple died on August 1 last year. The court heard how Mr Temple had a similar choking incident the day prior to his death and the coroner has concluded that dementia contributed to this.

At the age of 16, he left home to join the Marine Cadets until he became of age. He then went on to become a Coxwain, assigned to the SS Empire Cutlass, where he was successfully involved in four trips delivering British soldiers to Sword Beach on D-Day.

After joining in 1943, he served for six years before leaving, and later rejoining in 1950 until 1966. The D-Day hero was part of the Royal Marines 41, 42, 43, and 45 Commando, which took part in the Normandy landings.

The inquest heard evidence from the care home manager, Jade Delaney, who said Mr Temple had a diagnosis of dementia.

She said: "Sometimes, Fred would demand to see the captain of the ship at which point we would go along with his reality.

"We would talk through some of the issues he was having."Somebody accepting his reality really helped Fred to feel like he was being listened to and he was being heard."

She said that she would introduce herself to Mr Temple as 'Captain Delaney' and said that 'instantly he relaxed'.

On July 31, Mr Temple began choking on his breakfast but with the help from the staff at the care home, he was able to cough up the food.

The following day, he was fed his breakfast but after a few mouthfuls, and a few sips of his drink, he began coughing and gasping.

Unfortunately, Mr Temple choked to death in an incident which occurred 'swiftly', the coroner said.It was heard that as soon as he started choking, the situation was 'unrecoverable'.

The coroner said Mr Temple was a 'typical military man' who was 'quite stoic in his approach' to life.

Mr Wilkinson said: "He probably had a relatively high tolerance to pain, he liked to go on.

"It does strike me that the level of care that he was receiving at the care home was good.

"He had been appropriately and safely assessed by the care home team, he had been assessed by the speech and language therapy team.

“I don't think it would have been abundantly obvious that anything significant had changed.”

The coroner said Mr Temple was unable to process and swallow his food on August 31, which is related to his dementia.

He continued: "Sadly, therefore, he died as a result of that.

"As I have said, it's more likely than not that dementia has played a part here but I cannot say the extent to which it was.

"It was an accident, it wasn't expected, it wasn't intentional, but it sits against the background of a recognised contribution of dementia.

"I do believe, on balance, objectively that he was receiving the right care, and the right care for his stage in life."