D-Day veteran remembered with sign at beloved park

A D-Day veteran has been honoured with a memorial sign at his favourite park.

Albert Price took part in the 1944 Normandy landings aged just 18 after lying about his age to join the Army two years earlier.

He dedicated the rest of his life to commemorating his fallen colleagues and was instrumental in opening the Armed Forces Garden in Hillfield Park, Solihull, in 2022.

On Tuesday, his widow Betty and daughter Karen joined figures from Solihull Council to unveil a sign there in his memory.

"Albert was a well-known and popular figure in Monkspath and a great supporter of the Armed Forces Garden in Hillfield Park," Karen said.

"He was very modest about his exploits and bravery during World War Two and determined to do his duty from joining the Home Guard at age 14 to landing on Gold Beach with the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards on D-Day.

Mr Price died aged 98 in April 2024, just two weeks before his and Mrs Price's 72nd wedding anniversary.

In 2019, he returned to Gold Beach in Arromanches-les-Bains, France, to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

He was involved in the designing of the Armed Forces Garden in Solihull as somewhere for veterans of any conflict to "relax and heal", the council said.

"Albert loved Hillfield Park and did so much to shape the Armed Forces Garden," Solihull's mayor Shahin Ashraf explained.

"There is also the poppy mural walk which he helped to create."

The memorial sign, she added, would "stand as a reminder of his life and his spirit".