A D-Day hero who dodged enemy shells and chronicled the suffering that day has died.

Merchant seafarer Donald Hunter, of Park Farm, Ashford, died on March 18 aged 98 - not long before the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings.

Mr Hunter joined his first ship - the S.S. Empire Pickwick L.S.I - at the end of 1943 aged 16.

He was an officer for radio, gunnery and fire control.

Mr Hunter and his comrades took part in Operation Neptune, the combined Royal and Merchant Navy landing on D-Day on June 6, 1944.

The Allied invasion led to the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War and remains the largest seaborne invasion in history.

As his convoy progressed through the Strait of Dover it was under heavy bombardment from German Naval gun emplacements built into the cliffs between Calais and Boulogne.

It was also attacked by E-boats (fast torpedo vessels) along the French coast.

When Mr Hunter’s ship landed troops at Juno Beach it was fired on from a German command post.

He wrote later in a journal: “A torpedo missed us and hit a nearby tanker, which went up in flames.

“On the beachhead you would see some of our troops who had landed that morning coming back at midday in black bags.

“They’d lay them on the deck while they identified them. That was a reminder of the reality of war. The younger generation should be aware of the sacrifices for our freedom.”

Chillingly he revealed that convoy crews were ordered not to pull survivors from the water in case they and their cargo became targets too.

He wrote: ”I’m afraid it’s a sorry truth of war. I was looking down from the bridge, horrified to see these men struggling in the water. Unfortunately for these poor sailors our orders were full steam ahead.”

The blast of battleship guns damaged Mr Hunter’s ear drums and he later had to wear hearing aids.

He wrote: “My ears bled. We didn’t have earplugs. We didn’t even have steel helmets. We were badly equipped.”

More than 140,000 merchant seamen were known to have been at sea at any one time during the war.

They transported food, raw materials and fuel to Britain, and carried troops, equipment and explosives to fighting fronts. This made the ships targets for enemy mines, torpedoes and shells. Some 2,450 merchant sailors were killed.

Mr Hunter spearheaded fundraising for the putting up of a Merchant Navy memorial statue at Marine Parade, Dover seafront, in 2008.

Funds were also provided for a Norwegian Memorial, also at Marine Parade.

This is in memory of Norwegian sailors who were killed in the Second World War while stationed at Dover.

In February 2020, Mr Hunter was awarded the prestigious Norwegian King’s Commemorative Gold Medal.

In 2004, the French Embassy presented him with the Légion d’Honneur for his part in the Normandy Landings.

This is the highest French military and civilian order of merit.

Mr Hunter married his wife Jean in 1947 and she died in October 2019. Surviving them is one son, Ian Hunter.

His funeral was held today (Monday) at St Mildred’s Church, Tenterden.