War hero's Normandy D-Day reunion sunk after 91-year-old is denied passport over spelling cock-up

Jim Peaks was at the wheel of the first armoured car to land on French soil during the Allied invasion of June 6, 1944, and was invited to join the official 70th anniversary commemorations by Laurent Beauvais, president of the Basse-Normandy regional council.

But instead of spending today (Wednesday, June 4) at an official medal ceremony in Caen, the 91-year-old great-grandfather was sat at home, in Sherburn Village, County Durham, after a paperwork slip-up left him without a passport for the trip.

Mr Peaks’ middle name was mis-spelled on his passport application, meaning the form had to be re-submitted and the passport is yet to arrive.

Friends were devastated.

But a philosophical Mr Peaks said: “These things happen.

“I was hoping to perhaps see somebody I knew, an old mate. But I wasn’t counting on it.

“I wanted to see the beach again. But you take these things as they come.”

Jim Peaks as a 17 year old in WW2

Born in Northampton, Mr Peaks lied about his age to join the Army in 1940, aged just 17.

Having married sweetheart Ellen, who lived near Durham, in 1941, he had just two weeks with his new wife before he was sent to North Africa, where he served with the famed Desert Rats.

An armoured car driver, he was blown up several times – once suffering nasty head injuries.

He served at El Alamein and fought through Libya, Tunisia, in the invasion of Sicily and up through Italy, before being returned to England to prepare for D-Day.

On June 6, 1944, he landed at Sword Beach – driving the first armoured car to hit the German-occupied French coast.

“You lost the fear of dying because you’d seen so much of it,” he said.

“You’d be talking to somebody and two or three days later he was dead.”

Surviving huge losses at Normandy, Mr Peaks fought through France and Germany, all the way to Hitler’s capital, Berlin.

Jim Peaks as a 22 year old at the end of the war

Having won six medals, he was de-mobbed in July 1946 and returned to live in Northampton for many years before moving to the North-East.

He discarded his passport after his wife died, thinking he would never travel abroad again.

Despite having never returned to Normandy, he resolved to do so on receiving the invitation to yesterday’s ceremony, held at the Abbaye aux Dames, in Caen, in advance of the 70th anniversary on Friday.

Transport and accommodation were arranged by the Royal British Legion.

But unfortunately Mr Peaks’ middle name, Fredrick, was mis-spelled as “Frederick” – which the veteran called the “German spelling”, on his passport application.

The form was returned and then re-filed, but no passport was forthcoming before the RBL party departed for Normandy.

A HM Passport Service spokesman said: “We will not issue passports until all necessary checks have been satisfactorily completed.

“If details are missing, consistencies need to be checked or further information or documentation is required, then it will take longer.

“We stress people should leave plenty of time and should not book travel until they have received their passport.”