A D-Day veteran from Stourbridge who was presented with the freedom of Dudley borough last year has died aged 101.
Joe Bullock served in the Royal Navy from 1942 to 1946, crossing the Channel in the Normandy landings during World War II and later being posted to Singapore.
He was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in 2015 by the French government and was president of the Stourbridge branch of the Royal Naval Association.
Mr Bullock captured the imaginations of civic dignitaries when he was invited to the Armed Forces Day celebrations at Himley Hall in June 2025, where he was recognised for his service and received a commemorative civic paperweight from the Mayor.
Following a campaign by the Dudley Remembers group, Joe received a commemorative scroll, marking his Freedom of the Borough, from the Mayor of Dudley at a special ceremony held at Himley Hall in November.
Rose Cook Monk from the group said: "For those of you that came to my peace concert last April you will remember [Joe] as the lovely man who got up and lead the dancing to his favourite Glenn Miller music.
"I visited him just a few days ago and whilst he was a little frailer, he still had that wonderful twinkle in his eye and again he relived memories of both D-Day and the far east campaigns during the Second World War.
"Joe was a great ambassador for the armed forces, and for our Veterans, but to him he was just doing his job."
Councillor Pete Lee, Mayor of Dudley, said: “It was a privilege to grant Mr Bullock the freedom of our borough. It was something I had pushed for since having the honour of meeting him at Armed Forces Day.
“His record and commitment to this community and country speaks for itself, and I am pleased we were able to formally recognise that.”
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