Pensioner missing from care home turns up in Normandy

Image taken from the Twitter feed of Gracewell Healthcare of Bernard Jordan wearing his war medals

Bernard Jordan - who left The Pines care home in Furze Hill, Hove, wearing his war medals - has contacted the home and said his friends are going to make sure he gets back safely when the commemorations end.

Sussex Police were called yesterday evening by nursing home staff who said Mr Jordan had gone out at 10.30am and had not been seen since.

He had gone out wearing a grey mac and a jacket underneath with his war medals on, police said.

The fly-past before the Service of Remembrance at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery, Bayeux, to mark 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings during World War II.

Officers began searching the area, including checking hospitals in case something had happened to him, and spoke to bus and taxi companies, but none of them knew where he was.

The nursing home received a phone call from a younger veteran from Brighton at 10.30pm who said he had met Mr Jordan on a coach on the way to France and that they were safe and well in a hotel in Ouistreham.

In a statement to media, Sussex Police added: “We have spoken to the veteran who called the home today and are satisfied that the pensioner is fine and that his friends are going to ensure he gets back to Hove safely over the next couple of days after the D-Day celebrations finish.

“Once the pensioner is home we will go and have a chat with him to check he is ok.”

Chief Superintendent Nev Kemp, Police Commander for the City of Brighton & Hove, also tweeted: “Love this: 89yr old veteran reported missing by care home who said he can’t go to Normandy for #DDay70 remembrance.

“We’ve found him there!”