WWII veteran, 95, dies before marrying childhood sweetheart

Roy Vickerman, who
was engaged to his long-time sweetheart Nora Jackson, passed away in his sleep
on Wednesday last week. Vickerman, 95, was one of Stoke-on-Trent’s last surviving
Normandy veterans.

The COVID-19 pandemic had forced the lovebirds to live apart, but they were still hoping to
tie the knot once the lockdown ended.

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Roy and Nora’s love
story began in the 1940s Stoke-on-Trent when World War II tragically tore them
from one another’s sides. Now his family, friends, and other former soldiers
hope to offer him a  send-off with a funeral at Stoke Minster.

His son Howie
Vickerman, aged 63, said, “I was talking to the British Legion and the Normandy
Veterans’ Association and they would like to arrange a military honor back-up.
I said that would be brilliant. We haven’t confirmed the date yet. My phone
hasn’t stopped ringing since he passed away,” Mirror reported. 

Roy, who died at his
Hartshill home, had seen his health fade in his final weeks. He hadn’t been
able to shake a cough after suffering a chest infection. He became a decorated
war hero after being called to serve with the Black Watch at the age of 18 in
1944. He then joined the Army Intelligence Corps.

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Roy fought in the
Battle of the Bulge and was wounded by a sniper’s bullet during the invasion of
Germany. Barely 19 years old, he returned to his family’s one up-one down-home
in Bucknall.

The experience on the frontline had left
him not only physically injured, but suffering post-traumatic stress. It also
led to him splitting up with his girlfriend Nora, whom he’d met at school. The
pair would rekindle their romance 70 years later when Roy was given Nora’s
address in Shelton.