Stratford D Day veteran Phil Sweet, who turned 100 last year, has sadly died

Philip Sweet, one of the last survivors of the D Day landings sadly died last Wednesday, 30th April.

Known as Phil to his friends, the veteran led a landing craft on Gold Beach on D Day, 6th June 1944.

Paying tribute CEO of Escape Arts Karen Williams said: “Phil an inspiration, gentle and kind man. We will miss him so much, he was a very dear friend.”

Just last year Phil celebrated his 100th birthday - having been Born on 25th October 1924. He keenly attended many Stratford war memorial events over the years, and will be especially missed this Thursday, VE Day.

Phil was the longest and oldest resident of one of the Municipal Charities Almshouses in Stratford.

He leaves a daughter and son and wider family.

In an interview with the Herald to mark his 100th birthday Phil spoke about his memories of D Day and how his own father survived the Gallipoli campaign during World War I.

Last year Phil took part in the 80th Anniversary of D Day at the National Arboretum where he met Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.

Recalling his wartime experience, he said: “I was sent to a place called Lochailort in the Highlands where I did six weeks of hefty nautical and ability training. Those six weeks were the toughest I have experienced in my life both physically and mentally. At the end of each week you had exams and if you were not good enough you would be dropped. But I lasted and was appointed an officer then sent to Troon for officer training for another six weeks and then appointed to a tank landing craft ready for the D-Day landings.

“The war had been going for quite a considerable period of time for my training was in readiness for the D-Day landings the time of which we did not know then.

“I was part of the initial wave that landed at the village of La Rivière as part of the Gold Beach landings. I was in a flotilla which were the first to go into the beach with two tanks on top of each other on the landing craft so that they could bombard the beach with shells as they were coming in to land. We didn't lose anybody that day although the landing craft was damaged by the underwater objects as we were going in.

“Then following the landing we were offloading equipment to the beaches and whilst doing so I had to go to the tented hospital at Bayeux with suspected peritonitis which turned out to be appendicitis.

“I was sent to Plymouth to HMS Foliot, running all the movement of landing craft. We were tropicalizing (adding refrigeration and air conditioning) landing craft ready for the Far East but of course that collapsed because they dropped the atomic bomb.”

The Trustees, residents and staff of Municipal Charities extended their condolences to Phil’s family.