Thomas Richard Day was born on 10 October 1919 in Brentwood, where his father was a timber maker. After working on a farm, he joined the 5th Battalion Essex Regiment (TA) in 1939, serving with the 1/5th on home defence duties from the outbreak of World War 2 until June 1941.

That month the Battalion sailed for Egypt, via Sierra Leone and Durban. After service in the rear areas of the Western Desert the Battalion was sent to Iraq to join 19th Indian Infantry Brigade of 8th Indian Division which was engaged in securing the country against a pro-Nazi rebellion.

In mid-1943 the Division moved to Syria for intensive training, then was deployed to Italy with the 1/5th landing at Taranto on 24 September, following up the allied advance on the east side of the country. In the early hours of 2 November the Battalion took part in its first major action of the war, a brigade operation to cross the fast-flowing River Trigno.

The operation was hampered by appalling weather and lack of intelligence regarding the enemy. 5th Essex nevertheless secured their bridgehead, but their success could not be exploited and they were ordered to withdraw, with 139 casualties. Private Day was one of those casualties, being taken prisoner. He spent 18 months in Stalag IV-D at Torgau on the River Elbe, before being released when the war in Europe ended.

Staying on in the Army post-war, Private Day joined the 2nd Battalion of the Essex Regiment and served in Germany, Trieste and Italy before the two battalions of the Regiment were amalgamated back in the UK. By this time he was a Lance Corporal with the Regimental Police.

In the early 1950s he served a spell with the 1st Battalion Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment in the Canal Zone of Egypt, becoming entitled to the General Service Medal 1918 with clasp ‘Canal Zone’ when the latter was approved nearly 50 years later! Promoted to Corporal he was awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1958, then after the formation of the 3rd East Anglian Regiment became a Sergeant with the Royal Military Police before retiring in 1961.

Tom then went to work as a safety officer with British Celanese in Derby, eventually settling in Beeston on the outskirts of Nottingham. He became a well-known local veteran and very much part of the community, and he took much pride in laying an Essex Regiment wreath at the Beeston war memorial at the age of 99 in 2018. The Regiment was represented at his 100th birthday party in 2019. He was then still managing to live on his own, albeit with some help, but later after a fall and a spell in hospital his daughter Carol and son-in-law Glenn moved in to care for him.

Tom passed away peacefully on 11 October 2020, the day after his 101st birthday. His funeral took place on Armistice Day, with a large crowd turning out onto the streets to remember him, and his son Richard later laying an Essex Regiment wreath on the local war memorial in his memory.