DUNKIRK veteran Marcus Wiffen has died at the age of 98.

Known as Marc, he was one of the dwindling number of WW2 veterans who survived both the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940 and the ill fated Dieppe raid in 1942.

Marc, who was born in Seaford, Sussex was a sapper in the Royal Engineers Territorial Army 223 Field Company and soon after the outbreak of war was sent as part of the British Expeditionary Force to France and stationed close to the border with Belgium.

After Belgium was invaded the British Army moved into Belgium and Marc and his Company were busy building fortifications to resist the invading German Army.

However the British were forced to retreat south and then west to the port of Dunkirk to await evacuation. The water supplies were cut off in the town and Dunkirk was ablaze from abandoned vehicles and stores and ruptured oil tanks.

Marc said maps were unnecessary as they simply headed towards the plumes of smoke.

As one of the many awaiting evacuation Marc overheard a conversation between the beach master and senior naval officers saying that a greater number of troops could be evacuated if they brought ships alongside the bomb-damaged piers.

Marc volunteered his section of Royal Engineers and fabricated a walkway across the bomb craters from lengths of railing and timber found among the debris.

This walkway, although very precarious and under enemy bombardment, enabled Destroyers and larger craft to embark troops directly without the need of the little ships on the beaches.

As the last boat was leaving Marc and his section were told to abandon the walkway and jump aboard the SS Queen of the Channel.

However in daylight the ship came under attack on the return voyage to the UK and was bombed and left slowly sinking.

As the troops prepared to swim or drown the SS Dorian Rose approached and rescued the troops.

In 1941, after training at Aldershot and Newark, Marc was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and posted to 76th Div based in East Anglia.

However in 1942 Marc was part of the raid on the port of Dieppe and was tasked to provide support for the Royal Marine Commando attack on the Hess Artillery Battery on the west of the town.

The raid was repulsed by the German troops with a casualty rate of over 62 per cent and although wounded Marc was picked by the Royal Navy and brought back to the UK where he spent some months in hospital at Naburn, just outside York.

It was in York that he met his future wife, Betty, and they were married in 1943.

Marc was no longer classed as fit for front line duties and got involved in training troops before D Day.

Marc left the Army in 1946 and returned to his father's company, Burneys Fashion Group, taking up a post of Director.

In 1956 Marc and Betty moved to Rhodesia where he was a senior manager at Miekles, a large retail enterprise, the Rhodesian equivalent of Harrods.

Returning to the UK in 1963 Marc and Betty eventually settled in Poole and he took up the post of senior manager of Bobby's in Bournemouth until his retirement .

Marc and Betty enjoyed their retirement holidaying in the UK until Betty became housebound and Marc devoted his life to looking after her at their home in Branksome until her death in 2012.

He died on March 18 and his funeral was held at Bournemouth Crematorium on April 2.