"One of Scotland's last D-Day veterans has died aged 103. John McOwan, a former sergeant in the Royal Auxiliary Ordnance Corps, and later the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, passed away at his home in Pebbles, in the Borders. The 103-year-old was training as an optometrist when the Second World War broke out in September 1939. He took part in the Allied invasion landings at Salerno, Italy, in 1943 before going ashore on Gold Beach during the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, reports the Scottish Express. After the war, John returned to Peebles in 1946 and joined his brother Kenneth in running the family jewellery shop, which they sold in 1991. He married Betty Reid in 1947, and the couple had one daughter, Eleanor. Betty passed away in 2000. In the 1950s, John made summer visits to a Dutch family in Eindhoven, where he had been billeted during the winter of 1944." One of Scotland's last D-Day veterans dies aged 103 as hero hailed for courage
