War hero battled for his community (From Oxford Mail)

Les Collett

8:30pm Thursday 27th October 2011 in Obituaries

A well-known Oxfordshire Second World War veteran and prominent Royal British Legion member has died at the age of 90.

Les Collett, from Wolvercote, passed away in the John Radcliffe Hospital on Monday, three weeks after suffering a heart attack.

Last night fellow Dunkirk veteran Bob Halliday, 91, was among those leading tributes to Mr Collett. He said: “This is very sad news. Each time we Dunkirk veterans meet up, there are faces missing from the crowd. We try and get together as much as possible, but the nature of life is that we lose members each year. It is always sad.”

Jim Lewendon, from the Royal British Legion, added: “Les will be sorely missed, he did a lot for the Legion over the years.”

Mr Collett joined the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry’s 4th Battalion in 1940.

Just a few months later he was among the thousands of troops being evacuated under enemy fire from the beaches of Dunkirk. As he waited on the sands for his rescue, enemy aircraft circled overhead while artillery fire pounded the beach.

He took a bullet in the back but managed to haul himself into a rowing boat and back across the Channel.

But he’d made a daring escape to get that far. After fighting in the battle of Mont Casell, he was captured by the Germans just 20 miles from Dunkirk.

In an interview with the Oxford Mail last year Mr Collett recalled: “I was taken with a few others into some woods near a churchyard and we were kept there for four or five days.

“The Germans took all my possessions, but I met up with a few Gloucester chaps and we decided to make a break for it.

“We split into two separate groups of two, took our opportunity and ran for it.

“The other two didn’t get very far. We hadn’t been going long before we heard the machine gun fire.”

Mr Collett’s memories of Dunkirk were recorded for posterity by the Second World War Experience Centre in Yorkshire last year.

His voice now forms part of more than 4,000 recordings that are regularly used by authors writing books about the war, or by students and TV researchers.

Following the war, Mr Collett worked as a chef in Brighton, before returning to Wolvercote and working at the Morris Motors factory in Cowley for 37 years.

He was also a founding member of the Wolvercote Royal British Legion and fought to save the club from demolition earlier this year.

Mr Collett led prayers each year at the Remembrance service in Wolvercote.

Ken Bampton, a friend of 35 years, said: “He was so funny. He was a great character.

“His stories were always coming, especially when we’d all had a drink. We’ll all miss him.”

He leaves behind wife Gladys, two children and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

A funeral date has not yet been set by the family but will include a full Royal British Legion tribute.