Appeal goes out for funeral mourners after hero veteran who stormed the beaches on D-Day and helped liberate Belsen dies aged 99
An appeal for funeral mourners has been made to give a D-Day hero a proper final goodbye after he dies aged 99.
Rifleman Jim Justice stormed the Normandy beaches on June 6 1944 and marched on, while freeing German-occupied towns and villages in Belgium and Holland, to help liberate the Belsen-Bergen concentration camp a year later.
The family of the great-grandfather-of-10 have called for mourners to 'come together for this one final act of honour' and to witness Mr Justice's The Last Post call.
Mr Justice hid his bravery from his family for decades after coming home to life as a warehouseman in Crawley, West Sussex - and only started telling his war stories at 60.
The stories included his mother Ellen's defiance to his choice to enlist at 17, leading her to contact a local MP in Islington, North London, in attempts to stop him.
Mr Justice went on to recall seeing half-submerged tanks and bodies floating in the water as he landed at Gold Beach in Normandy.
He then advanced from France's beaches through Arromanches and Bayeux and helped free the German occupied village of Villers-Bocage on the way to Caen.
The WWII veteran resisted a ferocious German counter-attack as an anti-tank gunner in the 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade, and continued into northern France.
Jim Justice met Queen Camilla at the 80th anniversary of D-Day commemorations in June 2024
Mr Justice stormed the Normandy beaches on June 6 1944 and marched on to help liberate the Belsen-Bergen concentration camp a year later
The decorated veteran died at his care home in New Milton, Hampshire, on January 10
After crossing into Germany and the Rhine in 'the final push', Mr Justice saw the horrors of Belsen-Bergen and helped liberate the concentration camp in Lower Saxony.
His military courage awarded him the prestigious Legion D'Honneur by France in 2017; a royal reception by Queen Camilla at the 80th anniversary of D-Day commemorations in June 2024; and an invitation to the 80th anniversary VE Day service at Westminster Abbey last year.
The decorated veteran died at his care home in New Milton, Hampshire, on January 10 and is survived by his wife of 72 years Joy and two surviving daughters.
Christine Derrington described her father as 'a very unassuming, very ordinary man with no airs and graces about him'.
She added: 'As a family we are all incredibly proud of him. Growing up, he was very private about the war but when he reached 60 he started to talk more about it.
'He volunteered aged 17 without telling my parents and was a young lad on his way to Normandy.'
A spokesperson for New Milton Crematorium, where Mr Justice's funeral will be held on Monday February 2, said Mr Justice should be 'given the send-off he so deeply deserves' after 'an extraordinary life of service, courage and quiet strength.'
They added: 'Jim’s family have been in contact with local charities and groups and have some arrangements in place, but we would love for the wider community to come together for this one final act of honour.'
The funeral will be held at 11.45am.
