"A decorated Royal Navy veteran who risked his life on secretive scouting missions during the Second World War has died. Tributes have poured in praising the remarkable bravery of John Bowden, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) and Légion d'Honneur for his service. The 95-year-old was part of a covert group tasked with preparing the Allies for beach attacks during the war. He was part of the Combined Operations Pilotage and Reconnaissance Parties (COPP), an elite team tasked with scouting beaches prior to major Allied invasions. He would lay unseen, take notes of the beaches and listen into enemy conversations - just yards away from the Nazi guards. He volunteered for the role in 1943 and carried out five missions that helped signal the attack on Sicily in July of that year. His role enabled 150,000 allied troops to land on Sicily in an invasion that forced fascist leader Benito Mussolini to resign. For that he received the Distinguished Service Medal. He carried out similar operations in Normandy in preparation for the D-Day invasion where 150,000 Allied troops took the Germans completely by surprise by landing on five beaches. Although they sustained heavy casualties they gained control of a crucial beachhead which enabled the liberation of France to begin. For that, he received France's top medal for bravery, the Légion d'Honneur. Paying tribute to his father, his son Michael, 70, from Gloucestershire, said: 'John was a devoted family man and always encouraged the children to do their best. 'He found the love of his life with his late wife Doreen - a love that was missing from his early childhood years. 'Although he was short, he was full of energy, was positive, cheerful, keen and enthusiastic.' Mr Bowden was born on July 12, 1921, in central London. By the age of four, he and his four siblings were abandoned by their parents and taken into the care of Portsmouth Corporation, where he stayed until joining the navy at 16. Having completed his gunnery training at HMS St Vincent in Gosport, Hampshire, he joined the doomed HMS Hood as war broke out. By May 1940 he was on the converted merchant ship HMS Foylebank and survived a deadly attack by German bombers in July 1940, which killed 70 people." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3942614/WWII-Royal-Navy-veteran-risked-life-scouting-missions-hiding-just-yards-Nazis-taking-detailed-notes-ahead-beach-landings-died-aged-95.html#ixzz4QE9epFLn
