Dunkirk veteran from Kirkby celebrates centenary of life at huge birthday party

Gordon Sugg pictured at his 100th birthday party

Nearly 80 years after he survived one of the most brutal battles in history, retired businessman Gordon Sugg celebrated his 100th birthday with friends and family in style.

But as a 20-year-old private with the 9th Battalion The Sherwood Foresters, Gordon was shipped to France in April 1940 to face Hitler's advancing army.

In the final days of the retreat to the coast his battalion was ordered to dig in outside the blazing town of Dunkirk as the last line of defence against the Nazis.

Gordon Sugg pictured with his late wife Gwen

When Gordon and his comrades finally got the order to withdraw, they were among the last to be withdrawn.

But in the early hours of June 2, as he waded through the waves to a waiting boat, he was wounded by shrapnel from an exploding bomb.

“We were queueing on the beach, waiting for the boat,” recalled the veteran.

“We knew it was going to be the last one so you can imagine how we felt. We knew time was running out.”

Gordon and Gwen Sugg pictured on their wedding day in 1942.

“I was wounded by a piece of shrapnel in the left leg.

“just above the ankle, about 70 yards from the boat and two local lads – their names were Alf Taylor and Lee Hunt – picked me up and carried me to it.

"Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here now, I was one of the lucky ones."

Mr Sugg remained on English soil for the rest of the war, rising to the rank of sergeant, before returning to his home in Kirkby.

Family and friends help Dunkirk veteran Gordon Sugg celebrate his 100th birthday

He established a successful string of shoe shops with branches in Sutton and Alfreton.

He maintained a lifelong love of sport, still playing golf at Coxmoor, and badminton, well into his 90s, and was a Rotarian and Freemason.

A great grandfather, his only child, Arthur, died at the age of 73 in 2016.

A celebration organised by his daughter-in-law Jennifer Sugg, 76, and granddaughter Nicola Pipes, 52, was held in the Sutton care home where he now lives.

Mrs Sugg said: "What a life he has had and what an achievement. We are immensely proud of him.”

Among the dozens of greetings he received - including a telegram from the Queen - was a card from The Mercian Regiment, which now incorporates the Sherwood Foresters, with a message from colonel of the regiment, General Ian Cave.

He said: “The courage and spirit you showed during your time with the 9th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters, is the very essence of what drives our soldiers today.”