Freedom of Derbyshire awarded to D-Day veteran

A veteran who helped to liberate Europe from the Nazi occupation has been handed the Freedom of Derbyshire.

Albert Keir was part of the D-Day naval crew which carried American troops to Utah Beach in France on 6 June 1944.

Derbyshire county councillors on Wednesday bestowed the civic honour on the 99-year-old, from Bakewell, in recognition of his service and life achievements.

Speaking at a special meeting for him at County Hall in Matlock, council leader Barry Lewis paid tribute to "a real Derbyshire hero".

Mr Keir was awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honour (Legion d'honneur) by the French government in 2015, the highest French order of merit for military and civilian personnel.

He returned to Normandy in June last year with other veterans to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

While there he met King Charles III and Queen Camilla, among other dignitaries.

Lewis said: "He is a remarkable gentleman, and at 99 years of age has seen some amazing things.

"He must be one of very few left of the generation that saw action in World War Two so all the more important that we can honour him in this way.

"We mustn't forget that succeeding generations haven't had to go to war in quite the same way because of the sacrifices made by Albert's generation.

"We don't want a repeat of that kind of conflict again."

The veteran, who will turn 100 in the summer, had been working as a painter and decorator after leaving school at the age of 14 and was a member of the Local Defence Volunteers.

In 1943 he joined the Navy, where as a seaman he carried out general ship and gunnery duties on the Flower class corvette HMS Potentilla.

He was discharged slightly before the war ended in 1945 as part of a "category B" discharge, offered to those in the construction trade who could repair and build houses ready for the massive amount of people coming home at once.

During the 1950s, he began working as a painter and decorator for Derbyshire County Council, where he spent the majority of his working life until he retired in 1990, aged 65.

Outside of work, Mr Keir sold poppies for the Royal British Legion, becoming one of the longest-serving poppy sellers in the country.

Mr Keir married Dorothy in 1954 and they were together for 66 years, having one son, Andrew.

Dorothy died aged 87 in 2019.

He has another son, Michael, from a previous marriage and two grandchildren from him.

Andrew Keir said: "It's special to be recognised by the council, representing everyone from the county, so it's a people's award rather than a military one.

"It's a great honour, we're just very proud of him."

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