NORMANDY veteran Frederick Newman of Highcliffe has died at the age of 94.

Born in London, Frederick, who was known as Fred to friends and loved ones, had three brothers and two sisters. The family was struck by tragedy when Fred's dad, George, died from pneumonia leaving Fred's mum, Florence, to singlehandedly bring up six children under the age of 14. Just a short while later, tragedy struck again when Fred's younger brother, Stanley, choked on a screw and died at just 18-months-old.

Fred attended the local primary and secondary schools in Kilburn, before leaving education two weeks after his 14 birthday. His first job was a hotel bell boy while holding down a second job at the same time as a page boy at the Regal Cinema in Marble Arch.

After leaving school, he worked as a parcel boy at Marylebone Station and then following the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the army and served with the 2nd Battalion, London Rifle Brigade. His regiment served as part of the D-Day invasion and Fred also headed to Belgium, Holland and Germany with the army, before leaving in January 1946.

A year later he met his future wife, Eileen, on a coach outing to Margate, before both going to work at Sanderson's wallpaper factory in Greenford.

The couple married in June 1949 at Ealing Registry Office and welcomed their first son, Anthony, a year later, with daughter, Susan, following just under two years later. Around a year after the birth of Susan, Fred's wife became seriously ill with a defective hear valve leaving her needing hospital treatment.

Fred continued working at Sanderson's and took a second job as a window cleaner to support the couple's children before taking on a permanent job with Ford motor company in 1961. Sadly, despite several major heart operations, his wife, Eileen, died after suffering a stroke aged 42.

After two years of sadness, Fred met Kathy and following five years together, they were married in May 1980, initially living in Northolt before moving to Highcliffe.

Throughout his life he remained an active fundraiser for the Royal British Legion and The Not Forgotten Association, being rewarded for his efforts with several invitations to garden parties at Buckingham Palace.

In July 2014, he was invited to a special ceremony at the Christchurch Civic Offices to mark the 70 anniversary of D-Day with commemorative medals being presented by the then-Mayor of Christchurch, Cllr Denise Jones and then chairman of Dorset County Council, Cllr John Wilson.

The event was also attended by the president of the Normandy Landings and Normandy Remembers Committees, Admiral Christian Brac de la Perrière and his chief of staff Madame Liliane Bouillon-Pasquet.

Six weeks before Fred's death, he received his Legion d'Honneur medal, sent by the French government in honour of the contribution made by those on D-Day.