Jock Wilson: Oldest British survivor of the D-Day landings who won the Military Medal for courage under fire

Jock Wilson was the oldest British veteran of the D-Day landings in the Second World War. He died at the age of 105, more than 60 years after surviving the German pounding that killed comrades around him in Normandy.

At the age of 41, Wilson was older than most of his unit, the 79th Regiment of the Royal Artillery, when they landed on Juno beach in June 1944. His performance there, and later elsewhere in France, and in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, was rewarded with the Military Medal. It was not until much later in life that he spoke about the horrors he had witnessed. The turning point came after he visited the invasion beaches in 1990. His daughter explained: "He even hid his medals away in a drawer, but after he visited Normandy he began to tell the grandchildren stories about it and he opened up a lot more."

John Nicholson Wilson (known as Jock) was born in Edinburgh in September 1903 and joined the Scottish Horse Guard as a teenager. He had already seen conflict, witnessing a Zeppelin attack in Edinburgh during the First World War which killed 11 people.

When the Second World War started he did not expect to be conscripted, having already retired from the army. But he was called up in 1941, and three years later landed in Normandy. He described the scene: "Everyone was scared, but it had to be done. I remember the noise of the guns, shells and men screaming. There were bodies lying everywhere but you couldn't stop to help anyone. It was the noise, the screams, the bodies littering the beach and the overwhelming sense of helplessness."

His task was to act as an artillery observer to guide his unit's guns in their bombardment of German defensive positions: "The job I did was a terrible job," he remembered. "I was an observation post assistant. The first week in Normandy I spent in a church steeple. The Germans knew it was an observation post and it was shot to bits." The citation for his Military Medal commended his "great courage and devotion to duty under heavy fire." He himself, however, once quipped: "I saved the regiment – I shot the cook."

After the war he returned to Scotland, working for decades in a printing firm before his retirement in 1976. He was a lifelong fan of Hibernian football team, having supported them since 1910. He once said of himself: "I am now the oldest living Normandy veteran, so I have had a good kick of the ball."

In 2004 he was one of 70 British ex-servicemen awarded the Légion d'Honneur, France's highest honour, as part of the D-Day 60th anniversary commemorations. He described it as "a lovely surprise." He also had the distinction of receiving two congratulatory letters from the Queen, one on his 100th birthday and the other on his 105th.

In later life he made a number of trips to Normandy, explaining: "I always visit some of the graves of my mates. It's sad to think of this. I like going back because I always pay my respects to my friends. My driver was killed. He came from Dundee and he was only 24. The rest of us were knocked about a bit but we managed to hang on."

He died in a nursing home, where he moved after living for more than 40 years with his daughter Joyce.

David McKittrick

John Nicholson (Jock) Wilson, soldier and printer: born Edinburgh 7 September 1903; married 1934 Lily Ross (deceased; one daughter); died Dunbar, East Lothian 29 September 2008.