Midsomer Norton D-Day veteran, 92-year-old Geoff Plumley, died peacefully on Tuesday, 19th April at Fosse House Nursing Home, Stratton-on the-Fosse, where he been cared for following a stroke.

Geoff was one of three children born to Albert and Mabel Plumley. His mother, Mabel, lived until she was 107, making Geoff still a youngster when he died in comparison.

At the age of twenty, he was called up to fight in the war – training in Devon with the Gloucester Regiment before being transferred to the 65th Anti-Tank Regiment and then to the Desert Rats. On 5th June, 1944, Geoff was one of thousands of soldiers who set sail for Normandy for the now famous D-Day landings. In his memoirs, Geoff wrote that he was “in awe of the vastness of the operation” and was “proud to be part of the largest invasion in modern history.”

Geoff survived the gruelling fighting on the beaches but soon after, suffered a shrapnel injury and was shipped back to England to recover. He returned to fight in Holland, Belgium and Germany. Geoff’s final assignment was in India, where he helped to build roads in some of the remote villages.

It was whilst home on a month’s leave before going to India that Geoff met Dorothy, and they wrote to each other every day while apart and married in October 1946. This year would have been their 70th wedding anniversary.

After the war, Geoff worked as a miner in the Somerset Coal mines, where he was a Deputy, and a member of the rescue team. Later, he worked on farm construction for Blatchford’s and at Western Inks. When Western Inks closed, Geoff moved to Coates’ Inks from where he retired.

In their early married life, Geoff and Dorothy enjoyed taking their three children camping to Cornwall; in later years, they liked the luxury of holidaying abroad, going as far as Australia and New Zealand. They were also involved in the French

Twinning Association. Geoff was formerly a keen golf and bowls player and loved

ballroom dancing. Among his other interests were reading, doing crosswords, using the computer and following the adventures of his much-loved family.

Geoff leaves behind his devoted wife, Dorothy, his three children, Stephen, David and Diane, their spouses, six grandchildren and seven great-grand-children.