South Shields D-Day veteran survived the Second World War and three fights with cancer - and now he's beaten the coronavirus

And this time, true hero Fred McQueen has emerged victorious in his fight against the coronavirus.

South Shields born and bred Fred was in South Tyneside Hospital for weeks after first contracting a chest infection and later testing positive for Covid-19.

But he fought all the way with posters and pictures of his family to keep him going and with the hospital’s amazing nurses to help him recover.

His family feared his latest fight might be a hurdle too far, but he reassuringly told them: “I fought in the war. This is nowt.”

Now he is back in his South Shields care home and his adoring family have called him a ‘definite hero’.

His daughter Joan Embleton said: “He has had three types of cancer – bladder, bowel and kidney. He has a lymphodema now and he is blind in one eye.

“But he has an attitude of ‘I’ll get through it’. “

His proud granddaughter Suzanne Mullen told the Gazette: “He just keeps going. He is definitely a hero.”

Fred is no stranger to battles. He was in the 615 Field Squadron of the Royal Engineers and was part of the Second Guards Armed Division. He was one of the first people ashore on D-Day when he joined the Canadians for the landing on Juno beach.

Once ashore, he was instrumental in setting up radio communications back to England.

His actions saw him win the rank of Chevalier in the Legion D’Honneur, France’s highest order of merit, for his actions in the liberation of France.

He still has the letter from the French ambassador in London which reads: “We must never forget the heroes like you.”

Later, it adds: “We owe our freedom and security to your dedication, because you were ready to risk your life.”

Fred was also involved in Operation Market Garden in September 1944 where the Allies tried to seize nine bridges and push into German territory.

And later still, he was among the troops to liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and was sent into Bergen to seize mattresses from houses so they could be used by the people who had just been freed.

He came through the war and went on to have one daughter Joan, grandchildren Caroline, Amy and Suzanne, and six great grandchildren adding to his joy. His wife Auriel, who he met in his Army days, died more than a decade ago.

Fred’s was a happy life but he was battling for survival once more from January this year when he was admitted to hospital with a chest infection and was later diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Although they couldn’t visit, his family made him posters and pictures of his grandchildren and great grandchildren. Nurses at South Tyneside Hospital would sit with him and chat about the pictures as he continued his fight in a hospital bed, said Suzanne.

Fred was tested positive after a spike in his temperature and spent weeks in hospital as his oxygen levels dipped but Suzanne said: “He never had to go on a ventilator.”

She put her grandad’s latest victory down to his positive nature and said: “He likes jokes and he liked to craic on with the nurses.

The last time I saw him, it was only through the window of the care home but he was doing this trick where he pretended his thumb was coming off!

“It has been five or six weeks that we have not been with him but we have been talking through the care home window and via the care worker who helps him.”

The day he was admitted to hospital was ‘really hard’, said Suzanne.

“As soon as we found out he had tested positive, we got really upset. We couldn’t see him or talk to him and we thought the worst. We didn’t think he would survive it.

“But he just keeps going. He is definitely a hero and we absolutely love him.

“Me and my sisters took photos of the family to keep him going and we gave them to the nurses.

“They were talking to him with the photos and they were amazing.”

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