Jim Glennie, one of Scotland's last remaining D-Day veterans, has died at the age of 100. He was just 18 when he landed on Sword Beach as part of the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, during which thousands of Allied servicemen stormed five beaches in Nazi-occupied France.
War service and capture
A private in the Gordon Highlanders, Mr Glennie made it off the beach but was badly injured a week later when his unit ran into the 21st Panzer Regiment. He was taken prisoner and treated in a German field hospital in a ward alongside German patients, who called him “Scottie” and gave him food and cigarettes. On his 19th birthday, Mr Glennie was transferred to camp Stalag IV-B near Munich. He was later moved to Leipzig, where he was forced to work filling bomb craters before being liberated by American troops in April 1945.
His son James Glennie Junior described his father as “our hero”. He said: “As far as the family is concerned he’s our hero. He’s our family hero. The last Gordon Highlander who landed on the beaches on D-Day, shot twice, captured, prisoner of war, lots of adventures before he got home.”
Post-war life and honours
After the war, Mr Glennie returned to Turriff in Aberdeenshire, where he became a welder. France awarded him the Legion d’Honneur, and he was awarded the British Empire Medal in last year’s King’s Honours list. He was presented with the medal during his 100th birthday celebrations at the Gordon Highlanders Museum in Aberdeen, where he volunteered for more than 30 years. The King also met him when he toured the regimental museum earlier the same year, with Charles praising Mr Glennie as a “great example to us all”.
The museum’s chief executive John McLeish said they were “so sad” to learn of Mr Glennie’s death. “Jim had volunteered here at the museum for over 30 years and, among his many achievements, was awarded the British Empire Medal in The King’s Birthday Honours List 2025 for services to The Gordon Highlanders Museum. Only last year, Jim celebrated his 100th birthday here at St Luke’s with family, friends and colleagues. It was a very special day and one we will all remember with great fondness. Jim will be sorely missed by volunteers, veterans, visitors, staff and everyone associated with the wider Gordon Highlanders family. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jim’s family today.”
Mr Glennie was also awarded an honorary degree by the University of Aberdeen last October, where senior law lecturer Scott Styles described him as “the last of his generation”. Following the ceremony he laid a wreath at the university’s war memorial, inscribed with the words “RIP chums” and the Scots word “Bydand” – meaning “steadfast” – which is the motto of the Gordon Highlanders.
