War medals proudly worn by the 'Great Escaper' who broke out of his care home to attend D-Day commemorations in France are to be auctioned

  1. •Bernard Jordan vanished from his care home to go to a D-Day memorial 

  2. • He caught a ferry and turned up in Normandy with WWII his service medals

  3. •Mr Jordan passed away in December shortly followed by his wife Irene

  4. •The couple left £600,000 and Mr Jordan's medals to lifeboat charity RNLI

  5. •RNLI has now put medals- which could fetch thousands- up for auction

By Hannah Parry For Mailonline

Published: 19:27, 27 February 2015 | Updated: 20:46, 27 February 2015


The war medals proudly worn by a Normandy veteran who broke out of his care home so he could attend last year's D-Day commemorations in France are being sold.

Bernard Jordan was nicknamed the Great Escaper after he absconded from his carers, caught a ferry to Caen and turned up in Normandy for the 70th anniversary events with his service awards pinned to his blazer.

He passed away aged 90 on December 30 and seven days later his widow, Irene, passed away. With no immediate family, the couple left his £600,000 estate to lifeboat charity the RNLI. 





Bernard Jordan, the 90-year-old war veteran, pictured on the ferry after he broke out of his care home in East Sussex to attend the D-Day commemorations in Normandy, France


Mr Jordan's campaign medals are to be sold at auction - and they could fetch thousands of pounds

Now his campaign medals are to be sold at auction - and they could fetch thousands of pounds.

Mr Jordan was a 19-year-old Royal Navy lieutenant when on June 6, 1944, he was on a tank landing craft that was in the first wave of boats to hit the Normandy beaches.

He had already taken part in the Battle of the Atlantic, the cat-and-mouse conflict between Allied ships and German U-boats over the vital supply routes from Europe to the United States.

At one stage he was part of the boarding party that captured one of the Enigma coding machines, used by the Nazis to scramble messages, from an enemy submarine.

He also served in the Italian campaign, supplying troops fighting their way north in an attempt to drive the Nazis from Europe.

Following the war Mr Jordan got into local politics and served as a town councillor for 23 years in his hometown of Hove, East Sussex.


Mr Jordan got a friendly reception when he arrived in Normandy from Adele Leatham and Julie Maguire


The hero enjoyed posing with fans following his fame but remained humble throughout, insisting: 'There were a lot of other people on the beaches of Normandy that day, this lovely attention is for them really, not me'


Great Escape D-Day vet Bernard Jordan in Ouistream, Normandy, at the Grand Bunker museum 

He was a a city councillor for two years and was mayor of the town from 1995 to 1996.

Mr Jordan hit headlines in June last year when he went missing from his care home the day before the 75th anniversary D-Day celebrations.

He slipped out of The Pines care home in Hove, East Sussex, telling carers he was going for a walk. In reality, he caught a ferry to Caen in Normandy and made his own way to the service.

Police meanwhile had launched a missing persons appeal which was only called off when Mr Jordan called home to tell everyone he was ok.

On his return Mr Jordan was made an honorary alderman of Brighton and Hove and on his 90th birthday he was inundated with 2,500 cards from wellwishers around the world.

He died on December 30 last year, a week before Irene passed away.

More than 150 mourners turned out to pay their respects to Mr Jordan at a joint funeral service for him and Irene held in Brighton on January 30.


Popular: As he made his way to northern France he posed for a photo with female crew members

Tribute: Bernard recalling his 'Great Escape' to Normandy




Mr Jordan was a Royal Navy officer (right) and married his wife Irene in 1946 (left). She also resides at the home where lived in Hove, East Sussex, up until his death. Staff said Mr Jordan died peacefully in hospital

The RNLI said the legacy came as a 'huge surprise' but believed the couple's admiration stemmed from Mr Jordan's time in the Royal Navy in the Second World War.

Charity chief executive Paul Boissier said last month: ''Bernard's story charmed the nation last year when he journeyed from his Sussex care home to France to commemorate the D-Day landings. 

'I am delighted that the couple chose to leave us this sizeable donation, and their contribution, like those of Bernard's veteran peers, will never be forgotten.' 

Auctioneers at Wallis and Wallis in Lewes, East Sussex, say they are expecting lots of interest in the sale of Mr Jordan's medals from the UK and Europe, which has been brought by solicitors acting for his estate.

The set comprises of the 1939-1945 Star, the Atlantic Star with French and German clasp, the Italy Star, the Defence Medal and the War Medal.


Mr Jordan was a 19-year-old Royal Navy lieutenant when on June 6, 1944, he was on a tank landing craft that was in the first wave of boats to hit the Normandy beaches


Upon his return to the UK following his trip to France, Mr Jordan received thousands of cards and gifts


He was clapped and cheered by staff at Pines Care Home in Hove, East Sussex, after returning from France

The official estimate is £200 to £300 pounds but experts say the medal set could sell for thousands.

A spokesman for the auction house said: 'Bernard Jordan was a wonderful chap who really embodied the great British bulldog spirit.

'He proudly served his country both during the war as a Navy officer and afterwards as a councillor.

'Bernard really captured the nation's imagination when he escaped his care home and travelled to France to be part of the D-Day memorial last year.

'Medals such as these would normally only fetch a few hundred pounds but Bernard became something of a celebrity following his Normandy adventure and his set could sell for much more.'

The sale will be held on March 17. 

'A WAR HERO': BERNARD JORDAN SERVED ON DESTROYER HUNTING 'WOLF PACKS OF NAZI U-BOATS ATTACKING ALLIES DURING SECOND WORLD WAR

Bernard Jordan said he served on a destroyer in the Second World War hunting the 'wolf packs' of Nazi U-boats attacking Allied shipping convoys.

'I was once on a mission to recover one of the Enigma machines from a U-boat which we'd forced to the surface by dropping depth charges, and crippling it,' the 90-year-old Royal Navy veteran told friends.

'We boarded the submarine and recovered the machine.'

Exactly which ship he was serving on at the time was not clear, but the successful British mission to seize the German code machines and their codebooks has been credited with changing the course of the war.


Mr Jordan proudly wore his medals every day up until his death and spoke fondly of his time in the Navy

The first machine was seized by HMS Bulldog off Iceland in May 1941 when U-110 was forced to the surface and a boarding party seized the machine.

In another incident a few months later, HMS Petard sent a boarding party on board a U-boat, but two British sailors were drowned when the submarine sank.

Captured machines were taken to codebreakers at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire where they were able to intercept reams of encrypted German signals for years.

Up until his death, Mr Jordan - who captured the nation's hearts after sneaking out of his care home and boarding a coach to France to join in D-Day anniversary events - proudly wore his Atlantic Star medal.


The first German code machine was seized by HMS Bulldog off Iceland in 1941 when U-110 was forced to the surface and a boarding party seized the machine. Captured machines were taken to Buckinghamshire