ONE of South Gloucestershire’s last surviving Second World War veterans has passed away, a month after reaching his 101st birthday.
Leonard Trewin, known as Len, was a member of the Parachute Regiment and joined the battle for Normandy in August 1944, fighting his way into Germany, where he met his wife while liberating a labour camp.
Len, who still had a piece of shrapnel lodged above his left eye from a wound suffered during the war, had dementia and had been unwell for some months.
His son Mike confirmed that Len died last Saturday, just over a month after his 101st birthday.
Len had been the last surviving member of the 8th Battalion, Parachute Regiment to take part in the Normandy and Ardennes campaigns in 1944, and one of only two left from Operation Varsity, a massive airborne invasion of Germany in March 1945.
Len lived with Mike and his wife Michelle in Yate for 25 years, but had recently moved to Stanshawes Care Home as his care needs increased.
Earlier this year he recalled his wartime experiences for the Voice, to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
Parachute jump – with mortar shells
He remembered seeing action straight after arriving in Normandy, “getting the Americans out of trouble” in the Battle of the Bulge, and jumping from a plane over the Rhine with three mortar shells strapped to his legs as part of Operation Varsity.
Three days after the drop Len was hit by shrapnel from an exploding 20mm anti-aircraft gun shell, which pierced his skin just below his eyebrow.
After the war he was asked if he wanted the shrapnel removed but told doctors to leave it.
Len told the Voice: “It’s not done me any harm – it’s been here long enough!”
Through the final weeks of the war, Len’s battalion fought through Germany. He met his wife Gerda when his battalion liberated the labour camp near Hamburg where she had been imprisoned for refusing to work for the German war effort.
Back in Britain they raised a family, living in Hampshire where Len worked at an Esso oil refinery.
They moved to Yate in 2000 to be nearer Mike and his family. Gerda died in 2010.
Len was made a knight of the French Legion D’Honneur in 2018 and made an honorary citizen of Ahnee in the Ardennes in 2023.
Yate retirement development Trewin Lodge was named in his honour in 2019.
Exceptional service
Paying tribute, the Parachute Regimental Association said: “His loyalty, courage, and friendship touched many, and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”
Paul Turner of the Bristol Normandy Veterans Facebook group said: “I will always remember Len with great respect for his exceptional service to his country and also for his incredible smile that always warmed my heart.”
Len’s funeral will take place at Westerleigh Crematorium on October 22 at 2.15pm: all who want pay their respects are welcome.
Picture: Len Trewin pictured in April this year when he told the Voice about his memories of the Second World War