Leslie Sutton received the Légion d'Honneur in 2016 and described how he was 'lucky and privileged to serve' in the armed forces
February 25, 2019 17:20
A British Jewish D-Day veteran who went on to observe the Nuremberg trials and later received the Légion d'Honneur has died at the age of 94, with his family vowing to “carry on his legacy.”
Leslie Sutton, who for many years was on the executive of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (Ajex) and served as the organisation’s national standard bearer at marches for over two decades, passed away of natural causes on Sunday.
At the age of 21, Mr Sutton, who served as a corporal in the RAF, took part in the D-Day landings at Omaha beach, Normandy, along with the American First army. His three brothers also fought in the war – the eldest, RAF Sergeant Ronald Sutton, was killed in action over Cologne, Germany in 1942.
“I was lucky and privileged to serve," he told an audience at the Jewish Military Museum in Hendon in 2009.
"I was in a ground crew regiment and we were training in the Isle of Man for six months before we headed over to France.
“There were five or six Jewish boys on our base. I was fortunate that one of our cooks was a gentleman with the surname Bloom. He served me extra portions.”
Talking about the days leading up to the D-Day landings, he said: “My unit didn’t know what was happening until when we got on the ship from Chichester to Omaha Beach.
“When we reached Omaha we climbed up some cliffs and then cleared an area to allow planes to land and re-fuel,” he said.
He would later help liberate a women's camp in Germany towards the end of the war, and subsequently worked as a security escort for VIPs. It was in this capacity that he accompanied Charles de Gaulle to the Nuremberg trials, later describing how “looking back, I saw history being made”.
Of his wartime experiences, he said: “I went in a boy and came out a man.”
In 2016, he received the Légion d'Honneur [Legion of Honour], France’s highest award, from the French ambassador to Britain, at a ceremony at the French embassy.
Mr Sutton, who was a resident of Ilford and a member of Redbridge United Synagogue, told the JC at the time that he felt "very proud and privileged” to receive the accolade, “because it represents not only what I did but the boys and girls who didn't come back.”
He served as Ajex’s national standard bearer at memorial parades both at Whitehall and the Champs-Élysées in France, retiring from the role in 2013 at the age of 89.
His grandson, Dan Halawi, told the JC that the family “couldn’t have been prouder of our grandpa.
“He taught all of us in the family a lot of lessons on how to be a better person. We will carry on his legacy.”
The funeral for Mr Sutton is due to take place at the United Synagogue cemetery at Waltham Abbey, at 11 on Tuesday morning.
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