A DAWLISH man will be laid to rest this week,to the sound of a military bugle. Normandy veteran Max Summerhayes, aged 99, died on November 5 at his home in the resort. He and his late wife Eileen retired to the town some 40 years ago.

Max was born in 1923 in Street, Somerset. He left school at 14 and like so many in his home town he went to work in the Clarks Shoe Factory. With the outbreak of war Max found himself in a reserved occupation making submarine parts. However, aged 18 and conscious of others who had joined the forces and wanting to do his bit he joined up in Bristol, little knowing that several years later he would eventually find himself in the thick of it in Normandy.

Max in wartime days
Max in wartime days (-)

His initial training was preparing him for the armoured division. Wireless radio and gunnery courses were followed by experience driving a Sherman tank.

However, he successfully responded to a request for volunteers for the Airborne Division. So while his comrades went with the Armoured Division to India he set off to Hardwick Hall in Chesterfield for physical exercises and speed marching. Then it was Ringway to practise jumping and Bulford for final preparation. Take off was from Fairfield early on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Pegasus Bridge was already taken but Max was involved providing protection for the crossing.

Three weeks on and a phosphorous bomb caused him to suffer severe burns to his arms and legs. The flames hit his legs and without thinking he tried to brush the phosphorus off. Max’s son-in-law Mike said: ‘He should never have done that but it was instinctive. He carried the scars for the rest of his life.’

Back in the UK following an arduous journey he was taken to hospital in Durham. Skin grafts followed with an introduction to embroidery to aid flexibility. When he finally left hospital he was downgraded on on medical grounds and posted to Catterick.

Then it was back to Germany where, as Max was no longer fit for fighting, he was drafted into the 5th Royal Deskillon to complete the war in the medical section. After the war Max was back home in Street. It was here he met his wife Eileen at a dance, and they eventually married, having two daughters Beverley and Faith.

As a family they spent happy holidays in Dawlish and it was probably then that the idea of retiring there one day was born. Max joined the Prison Service, serving at Horfield in Bristol and then Winchester, ending his career there as Principal Officer in 1980.

Later that year Max and Eileen retired to Dawlish. Daughter Bev said: ‘When we were little we would come here on holiday. They were very happy times.’ As a new Dawlishian, Max became heavily involved in the town’s Probus Club. ‘It was an important part of his life,’ Mike said.

More than 70 years after his experiences in Normandy, in 2017 Max was awarded the Legion D’Honneur by the French Government in recognition of his contribution to the liberation of their country. He was proud to receive this award but knew he was fortunate, and said that unlike so many of his comrades he lived a long and satisfying life seeing his children, grandchild and great-grandchildren grow up and succeed.

As Mike explained: ‘He said he did nothing different to thousands of others, but was lucky to live long enough to see his fellow comrades get that recognition.’

The couple lived quietly and privately but still independently, and he kept up to date with current affairs and knew everything that was happening in the news. Sadly, Eileen passed away in 2018, yet until July this year Max continued to live independently. A fall in the summer forced him to convalesce at The Rise nursing home but he was able to return home where he died earlier this month.

His wartime service will be recognised at his funeral on December 2. Representatives of the Dawlish Royal British Legion will be in attendance at Dawlish Cemetery, and their Standard will follow the coffin to the graveside.

There, a bugler will play The Last Post, and after a two-minutes’ silence will play Reveille. After which he will be interred. Max Summerhayes is succeeded by his daughters Beverley and Faith; Simon his grandson, and great-grandchildren Lucy and Ben.