A VETERAN soldier, believed to the last member of Durham Light Infantry to have taken part in the D-Day landings, has died two days before celebrating his 75th wedding anniversary with his wartime sweetheart.

Dickie Atkinson, who was evacuated at Dunkirk, stormed the beach at Normandy and helped liberate a Nazi concentration camp, died in hospital on Thursday afternoon, aged 98.

The former private took ill at his home in Whitley Bay, where he lived with his wife, Joan, 94, in the early hours of Easter Saturday.

The couple met on a railway platform in London in January 1944, while he was on leave and she was serving with the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the British Army.

They were wed on April 27 before Mr Atkinson, who was a bricklayer, but served as a driver, had to prepare for Operation Overlord, a turning point in the war against Hitler’s Germany.

The Northern Echo:

Dickie Atkinson during the Second World War

After the war, Mr and Mrs Atkinson went on to have two daughters, Brenda and Cynthia, a son, Chris, and now have six grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Chris Atkinson, who is 65, said: “They got married at Marylebone Registry Office and it would have been 75 years ago.

“He died two days before he got to there but he had fought on, as he always did.”

After the war Mr Atkinson, who grew up in Felling, Gateshead, had returned to work as bricklayer, and in later life spoke to children in schools to educate them about what happened during the Second World War.

Dickie Atkinson's war stories: "It was life or death"

As a member of 9DLI he was actively involved with the Durham Light Infantry Association and remained proud of what the regiment achieved all of his life.

In an interview with The Northern Echo in the weeks before his death, Mr Atkinson said: “Every day of that war I helped to make history.”

It was history he subsequently shared with younger generations in the hope lessons could be learnt from the mistakes of the past.

Four years ago, he visited a Jewish school in the region to explain how he was part of Allied Forces who discovered the true horrors of the Nazi regime when they found the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen.

Mr Atkinson, who returned to Normandy for the 60th anniversary of D-Day in 2004, received the Legion d’honneur for his role in landings at Gold Beach, which helped liberated occupied France.

His son, Chris Atkinson said: “People of that era went through so much, and as a modern generation it is so difficult to comprehend.

“By comparison, we have had it so easy and not gone through any of the same trials and tribulations.

“As his family, we were the ones who did not hear much about his wartime experiences.

“When he was working and we were growing up he did not discuss the war during those years.

“But then he got involved with the DLI and the Fire Service and they started going across to Dunkirk and more and more came out.

“I have learned about a lot about what he went through in these later years.

“Obviously, we are proud of him. We are proud of them both, because mum served the country as well during the war.”

The Northern Echo:

Dickie Atkinson at his home in Whitley Bay

Weeks before his death Mr Atkinson told of the moment he first laid on eyes on the 20-year-old Londoner who would become his bride.

He said: “When I got off the train I saw her and said to myself ‘that’s my gal, I am going to ask her for a date’ and I did.

“When I picked her up she said all of the girls have got dates with your lot.

“The secret of our long marriage is to never go to bed on an argument.

“We always had to have a goodnight kiss.”