An 89-year-old veteran who went missing from his care home in Hove, England was found in Ouistreham, Normandy, after escaping to join his former comrades at the D-Day commemorations.
The Telegraph reports that Bernard Jordan was originally told by his home that he could not attend the ceremony, but decided to go along anyway. He left on Thursday morning wearing a grey anorak covering his medals and was not heard of again until 10.30 in evening when a fellow veteran contacted the home to say he had met Mr Jordan on a coach to France.
The pair were safe and well at Ouistreham, the site of Sword Beach, one of the crucial D-Day battlegrounds.
Mr Jordan, who had served in the Royal Navy during the Normandy Landings, had been left disappointed after staff at his care home failed to get him onto an official tour for D-Day commemorations.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “We were called at 7.15pm yesterday (Thursday 5 June) by staff at a nursing home in Hove who said an 89-year-old who lived there had gone out at 10.30am that morning and had not been seen since.
“The nursing home received a phone call from a younger veteran from Brighton at 10.30pm who said he had met the pensioner on a coach on the way to France and that they were safe and well in a hotel in Ouistreham.
“We have spoken to the veteran who called the home today and are satisfied that the pensioner is fine and that his friends are going to ensure he gets back to Hove safely over the next couple of days after the D-Day celebrations finish.
“Once the pensioner is home we will go and have a chat with him to check he is OK.”
Brighton & Hove Police yesterday tweeted:
90 year old veteran reported missing from care home. Turns out they’d said no to him going to #DDay70 but he went anyway #fightingspirit
— Brighton&Hove Police (@BtonHovePolice) June 6, 2014
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