99-Year-Old WWII Veteran Awarded France’s Highest Honor

Douglas Charles Cracknell, a 99-year-old veteran from Cransford, Suffolk, has been awarded France’s prestigious Legion d’Honneur for his bravery during World War II.

“I was really amazed,” said Mr. Cracknell. “It’s not often I’m stuck for words, but I was. It’s a bit overwhelming at nearly 100 years old.”

Mr. Cracknell, who served as a rifleman with the 5th Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, landed in Normandy on June 22, 1944, during the D-Day invasion. He fought across northwest Europe, enduring some of the war’s fiercest battles. “I was scared stiff,” he recalled. “You didn’t know where you were or who your enemy was.”

The Legion d’Honneur was first promised to British veterans by French President François Hollande on the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Mr. Cracknell’s granddaughter, Vicky Dann, explained that after initial struggles in securing the award due to limited information, the family worked with a friend in the military to uncover the details of his wartime service, including his involvement in brutal battles, coming under mortar fire, and advancing into Germany.

Mr. Cracknell, who was wounded twice—once by a bullet in the Netherlands and again by shrapnel in Hamburg—reflects on his experience with the somber realization: “You didn’t know if you were going to be here the next day.”

It was during a brief leave that he met Sheila Dix, who asked him for a cigarette. They married two years later and enjoyed 70 years together before Sheila’s passing in 2020.

Mr. Cracknell’s family shared that he was “overjoyed” by the recognition, not just for himself but for his fallen comrades. “It’s so important these men get the recognition they deserve for what they went through,” said Ms. Dann.

He will receive the Legion d’Honneur in a ceremony at Framlingham College, where the French military attaché will present him with the medal.