Tributes paid to D-Day hero on his passing at 97

TRIBUTES have been paid following the passing of a D-Day hero, who was awarded France’s top military medal.

Parteen man Henry Place was seriously injured and had his leg amputated after coming under enemy fire at Caen on August 14, 1944.

Some 71 years after the incident, which saw his troop commander Edwin Crewe killed, Mr Place was awarded France’s Legion d’Honneur.

After being discharged from the British Army, Mr Place moved back to the Mid-West, working at Roadstone before his retirement in the early 1980s.

In his spare time, he was a keen fisherman and boatman.

A kindly neighbour, Henry was also an accomplished artist  and gardener.

He spent his final days in Parteen then Milford Hospice, and was only last month interviewed by American scholar Rishi Sharma for a global project recognising the Heroes of the Second World War.

“As far as I am concerned, Mr Place is a bona-fide war hero. He is Limerick born and raised. One of those people born and raised in Ireland, and despite the cultural differences, went to fight for Britain. He felt it was the right thing to do. It takes a big person to look past the differences you might have with a country to fight for the greater cause,” Rishi said in December.

Local Fianna Fail TD Cathal Crowe said: “Henry’s passing brings great sadness to his family, but also the community. It’s a real end of an era moment. It’s a huge passing of history given that Henry was one of the last surviving combatants of the Second World War. It’s really  important to remember the battles he fought in were about saving Europe from dictatorship and totalitarian rule.”

Henry passed away just three days after his 97th birthday.

He ​was laid to rest in Ballycannon cemetery in Meelick.

May he rest in peace.