Bradpole: D-Day veteran Ronald Murphy passes away aged 98

Ronald Murphy died peacefully at his home in Fox Close, Bradpole, on Saturday, July 1 after a long and eventful life which saw him put his life on the line for his country.

His funeral will be held at Holy Trinity Church in Bradpole at 12.30pm on Tuesday, August 1 with a Royal Navy Merlin helicopter flypast at about 1.30pm. 

Born in Brockley, London, in August 1924 before moving to Morden in the south of the capital, he joined the Home Guard at the age of 16.

He volunteered for the Royal Navy at 17 and served on combined ops under Mountbatten during the Second World War. 

Mr Murphy was one of the remaining survivors of the D-Day landings in June 1944, which killed 4,000 allied troops.

He was on board one of the boats which landed on Normandy beach into enemy fire and described the atmosphere on board beforehand as 'strangely mixed - quiet resignation on the one hand and noisy false bravado on the other'.

In 2016, Mr Murphy got a model reminder of the day he landed on Juno Beach thanks to modelmaker Daniel Taylor. 

Mr Murphy described his experiences during the war in an autobiography called 'The First Twenty-Five Years of an Average Chap'. 

Mr Murphy met his late half-Indian wife Eileen whilst working for Cooks Travel Agency together and they married in the late 1940s and the couple had two children: Pauline and Barry.  

Ronald Murphy proudly showing off his medals (Image: Barry Murphy)

After the conflict, he joined the Admiralty and eventually worked on Portland for the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment before he retired.

Mr Murphy met the late Queen Elizabeth II when he was awarded an MBE in 1980 before retiring four years later.

After spending time in London and Bath, the family moved to Dorset in 1965, first to St Helen's Road in Weymouth, before Bradpole in 1973.

Mr Murphy has remained in the west Dorset village near Bridport ever since.

Son Barry said: "My father was very well decorated. The Royal Navy have recognised his contribution and agreed to give him a good send-off.

"The night before [he died] he was watching the cricket, had a cup of tea and went to bed and the next day he suddenly passed away.

"It was very sad and took us all by surprise. He would not want all of this fuss, but I think he deserves it.

"He did a lot for his country and was fighting for our freedom. He put his life on the line in the event that he might not survive, but he did it to protect the United Kingdom."

Mr Murphy, who also had four grandchildren and five great grandchildren, remained largely independent and was still carrying out his own chores in Bradpole.

Barry, 70, said he has taken a leaf out of his father's book by catching the travelling bug after moving to Australia at the age of 18.

"He helped me a lot with his advice and how to deal with people," Barry said. "A lot of skills I got from him and I am forever grateful for that."

A printed version of this story published in the Bridport News today stated that Mr Murphy's funeral will be taking place at Holy Trinity Church, Bothenhampton.

It is taking place at Holy Trinity Church, Bradpole. We apologise for the error.