Meet the man who sent VE Day ‘end of the war in Europe’ message

Norman Wilfred Cohen, 96, who now lives in Jerusalem, was drafted into the British Army in July 1942 and was trained as a wireless operator.

He had been due to go off shift when the message began to come through, 75 years ago.

Gail said: “The replacement operator was not experienced in either Morse Code or the German language, so my dad remained at his post near Lunaberg Heath, Germany, and took down the message on his notepad.

“He has kept a copy of the message and donated the original to Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.”

Norman was proficient in Morse Code and was the one who transmitted the historic surrender message from the German High Command that ended the war in Europe in 1945. He later received a commendation from General Dempsey.

Norman lived most of his life in Leamington and ran Lancaster House for Carpets in Spencer Street for years. His wife, Lola, was a teacher at Arnold Lodge School.

The D-Day veteran reflected on his years during the war with the Jerusalem Post.

Talking about the war in what the paper describes as his ‘cool and nonchalant nature’, he said: “I was a very good soldier. I was sitting outside the wireless truck, drinking a cup of tea.

“The German planes overhead start firing at us, but I wasn’t nervous. I looked up, and saw the British guns firing at German planes.

“They hit one, and the plane started descending.

“I glanced at my mug, and I felt something. A lump of shrapnel had landed in my mug.

“I said, ‘You spoiled me tea!’ I got myself some more and the firing stopped, and the plane had gone down.”

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