Tributes pour in for Kirkby war hero

Kirkby-born Sergeant Sugg of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment was rescued from the beaches in 1940, despite suffering injuries when German dive bombers attacked the stranded troops.

He was evacuated on board HMS Winchelsea.

After the war Gordon ran a successful chain of sports shops alongside his late wife Gwendoline. His only child, Arthur, died in 2016 aged 73.

His daughter-in-law Jennifer said: “Gordon had been determined to reach his 100th birthday but in the past few weeks he had become very tired.

“He passed away peacefully yesterday.

“He was a wonderful man who lived a remarkable life. He had friends all over the world.”

Deborah Knight paid tribute to Mr Sugg online: “My grandad, John Roberts, use to play football with Gordon and was his friend.

“I met him a few times and he was lovely – he did sit ups and press ups every morning and was still playing squash, golf and tennis in his late eighties.

“So sorry for you all.”

At his 100th birthday party last October, Gordon recalled his rescue: “We were queuing on the beach, waiting for the boat. We knew it was going to be the last one so you can imagine how we felt.

“I was wounded by shrapnel in the left leg, about 70 yards from the boat.

“If it hadn't been for two mates, Alf Taylor and Lee Hunt, who picked me up and carried me to it – I wouldn’t be here now.

“If I had been left behind, I would have spent six years as a prisoner of war, or shot.”

Gordon lived in Kirkby until the last couple of years when he was a resident at Ashcroft Care Home in Sutton.

John Berrington, President of Kirkby Rotary Club, said: “He was a highly valued member of the club and was still active into his late nineties. In fact, he was still playing badminton and golf at the age of 96.

“He was the club grandfather and will certainly be missed.”

Gordon Sugg leaves his daughter-in-law Jennifer and a granddaughter, Nicola.

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