Tributes have been paid to a former sailor thought to be Britain’s oldest World War Two veteran after his death aged 109.
Frank Chester, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for wartime bravery, passed away on April 19 at a Malvern care home nine days after celebrating his birthday.
The hero’s family said he was the oldest man in Worcestershire, while the Royal British Legion confirmed he could have been the country’s oldest surviving veteran.
Born in Ludlow, Shropshire, in 1917, Mr Chester was called up to serve his country in the Second World War while working for HM Customs and Excise.
After being offered the choice of being in the Navy or the Army, he helped escort Arctic convoys to and from Russia on a corvette ship as part of a mission described as one of the ‘most dangerous’ of the conflict.
Incredibly, his daughter Ruth Pole revealed this week that Mr Chester actually suffered from seasickness despite his deployment as a sailor.
‘Unfortunately for him, he discovered once he went to sea that he was seasick,’ she told the BBC. ‘But with his typical stoicism he stuck at it.’
She said her father was ‘very, very modest’ and she ‘never heard him lose his temper once, which is truly remarkable.’
Frank Chester, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for wartime bravery, passed away on April 19 at a Malvern care home
Having also served as a Lieutenant, Mr Chester settled in Walsall after the war. It was there that he met Elizabeth Proud, the woman he would go on to marry and spend 50 years with.
He later returned to HMRC and stayed in the role until his retirement in 1987.
But even as a pensioner, Mr Chester remained active and dedicated to putting others first. At the age of 100, he was volunteering at his local food bank and living independently.
Ms Pole said her father talked about the war increasingly after his retirement and made links with his ex-Navy colleagues.
‘Dad was fab,’ she continued. ‘I feel very thankful and privileged that I had such a very lovely dad, who’s given me a huge amount of confidence and security.
‘Yes, I do feel very proud of him.’
Mr Chester’s death comes less than a month after Harry Waddingham, the country’s previous oldest veteran, passed away aged 109. He was the grandfather of Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham.
The Royal Navy Gunner was born in 1916 and began serving in the military at the age of 16 in 1932, rising through the ranks from able seaman to sub-lieutenant.
The wartime hero’s family said he was the oldest man in Worcestershire and the third oldest in all of the United Kingdom
The 109-year-old served in the Navy from the very first day of World War II until its last on May 8, 1945, working on six ships, and surviving the sinking of two.
Last year at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, his famous granddaughter paid a touching tribute to the brave veteran.
The Royal Navy Association’s East Sussex Branch described him as ‘truly one of the last of our greatest generation’ in a moving tribute last Wednesday.
‘He lived a long and full life, and he will be greatly missed. RIP Shipmate, your duty is done, we have the watch,’ they added.
