A SECOND World War veteran described as 'a true hero' has passed away aged 105.

Raymond Whitwell, who lived in Malton for most of his life, was born in Rillington, moving to Scampston when he was a year old.

He left school at 15 and got a job as an errand boy at G Longster and Sons in Malton.

He was called up to the army in September 1939 at the age of 20 and was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) before moving to Belgium as the German advance began.

Raymond was part of the rearguard to allow the BEF to make for Dunkirk and evacuate to England. He eventually got to the beaches, but the situation was chaotic and hopeless, so decided to try elsewhere.

Raymond was left in France after the evacuation of Dunkirk and spent 16 days travelling around, trying to find his way back to England.

He had no knowledge of the overall situation and eventually met up with a regular army officer who was also lost, but could speak French.

They arrived at Lille Railway Station, where he found a Dutch fishing boat in the harbour and hitched a ride to Southampton.

Raymond's distinguished career continued with a period serving in North Africa and then the Battle of Arnhem when, he recalls, he and others went for nine days without food.

From there he went to Norway to disarm the German garrison, before he came back to England for VE Day and eventually, demob after serving for six years and four months in the Army.

Raymond returned to Malton and opened his own shop in Castlegate as well as running several market stalls until he retired aged 90.

He was married to Iris for more than 40 years and the couple had three children, Paul, Tim and Jill, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Over recent years The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans had the immense pleasure of taking Raymond to the Netherlands several times.

On one of those trips, when Ray was 103, the Gelderse Gliding Club took him up in a glider to see the area where he landed all those years before. Ray said at the time “It was wonderful, I could see for miles. I loved every minute and was very glad that when we came down it was still 2022 and not 1944!”

London Cab Driver and Taxi Charity for Military Veterans volunteer Sebastian Philp was Ray’s regular driver when he joined the charity for trips. Seb would drive to Malton to pick Raymond up and they became great friends. Seb said:“What an honour it was to have Ray Whitwell as a friend. He had a cheeky personality, was very friendly, witty, funny and shared amazing stories of what he had witnessed during his life. I will really miss him. What a great man. A true hero!”

Ray was a proud Yorkshireman who people knew as ‘Smiler’.

His daughter Jill said: “He was special to me but they all were. We need to remember that it was ordinary people like him who did the extraordinary for people of this country at that time. I would describe him as humble and kind, a gentleman in the true sense. He was proud to be a veteran. He felt especially loved and appreciated by the people of Arnhem and the Netherlands. And, when you met him, he had that twinkle in his eye and a lovely smile. He was just a nice man and of course a hero!”

To find out more about the support the Taxi Charity offers to veterans or to donate visit www.taxicharity.org