Portsmouth Royal Navy veteran believed to be last survivor of Dunkirk in Second World War dies aged 102

Lawrence Churcher pictured at a memorial aged 99. Picture: PO Arron Hoare.

Lawrence Churcher, a Royal Navy veteran, died at a care home in Fareham just days short of his 103rd birthday according to the Project 71 charity which supports Second World War veterans. The non-profit organisation said Mr Churcher was thought to be the last known naval veteran of the evacuation and posted a tribute to him on Facebook.

They said: “A truly remarkable man, loved and respected by all who knew him. Stand down Lawrence, your duty is done. It has been an honour to have known you.”

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Mr Churcher, of Portchester – who was awarded the Legion d’Honneur – was posted to HMS Eagle at the start of the war and landed in France in May 1940 to help supply ammunition to the front lines and was posted to a railhead outside Dunkirk. The charity added: “When he, together with thousands of others of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) was ordered to pull back to the beaches, he began looking for the Hampshire Regiment in the hope of finding his two brothers, Edward and George.

“Amazingly they met each other and managed to sail back to the UK on the same ship.” Mr Churcher is reported to have said: “When my brothers found me, I just felt relief.

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“There were so many soldiers there and continuous aircraft dropping bombs and strafing us, I had so many things on my mind until I got on board of our ship.

Lawrence Churcher (center) pictured alongside Lieutenant Calvin Shenton (right)

“One fella leaned on my shoulder, gave a sigh of relief and said ‘Thank God we’ve got a Navy’ and that sort of churned it up inside of me. We knew we had to get those soldiers back from Dunkirk.”

Mr Churcher was only 19 when when he landed in France. An Allied force of 338,000 men were being driven back to Dunkirk by Nazi forces and faced being wiped out.

Mr Churcher went on to serve in the Mediterranean, at D-Day and ended the war in the Far East – being in the Royal Navy for 22 years. He later became a football referee and became Portsmouth FC’s oldest fan.