A Second World War veteran who received more than 16,000 cards for his 100th birthday is to receive France’s highest honour.
Dougie Shelley, who joined the Royal Navy aged 17, was a seaman gunner on the destroyer HMS Milne on D-Day.
Mr Shelley, of Southend, Essex, had previously mentioned to his carer Paul Bennett that he thought he should receive the French medal, the Legion d’Honneur.
“A lot of his shipmates, apparently, people he served with, were awarded this medal for service to France during World War Two,” said Mr Bennett, 77.
He said that in 2024 he completed a Ministry of Defence application form on behalf of Mr Shelley, but there were “lots of delays”.
Mr Bennett said that on September 16 this year he received a letter by email from defence minister Lord Coaker saying the bid had been approved.
“I got this letter from (Lord) Coaker saying he’s been in touch with the French embassy in London and they’ve said the application’s been successful,” he said.
“After that they kept telling me, ‘You have to wait for the French to send a letter to the applicant, Dougie Shelley, he’s the official applicant’, I just applied on his behalf, of course.
“We’re waiting to get confirmation in writing that he’s going to receive the award from the French and the where and when of the presentation.”
Mr Bennett told Mr Shelley the news on his 100th birthday on Tuesday, and said he was “over the moon”.
“I said things like, ‘Dougie, you’re going to get your medal’, and that seemed to cheer him up a bit,” he said.
“I’ve since reminded him what the medal looks like, the photos, and he said, ‘Oh yes, that one’.
“A lot of people got this medal after the war.
“He was there on D-Day on HMS Milne, his destroyer, guarding the beaches in Normandy for the troops going ashore.
“So that was the argument we used and it seems to have borne some fruit.”
Mr Shelley, who is also a veteran of the Arctic Convoys, said earlier this year: “There’s not many of us left.”
He celebrated his 100th birthday at a tea party at the Royal Naval Association branch in Southend on Tuesday.
His local branch had put out an appeal for birthday cards for him, and a count the day before totalled 16,266 cards received, as well as many gifts.
Cards came from as far afield as Australia, as well as from the King and Downing Street.
