'Monty's' D-Day driver killed by mugger who broke his hip and left him for dead

A war hero who chauffeured General Monty on D-Day died after a thug robbed him and left him for dead on his own doorstep.

Geoffrey Bacon, 91, was killed by a mugger who left him with a smashed hip after robbing him of his bus pass and just £40, an inquest concluded.

As well as driving Field Marshall Montgomery, the veteran had chauffeured Dwight ‘Ike’ Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and later US President.

At his inquest, which concluded almost seven years after his death, coroner Dr Philip Barlow recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

The inquest heard that Mr Bacon was attacked from behind as he returned from shopping trip to his flat in Camberwell, south London in April 2010.

He was thrown to the floor, shattering his hip, and punched in the face before the robber ransacked his second-floor flat then left, shutting the door, leaving Mr Bacon lying on the floor shouting for help for 15-20 minutes until a neighbour heard him and called an ambulance.

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The veteran died 11 weeks later after collapsing in his care home in Ramsgate, Kent, on August 5, 2010. A post mortem found his death was caused by a blood clot that formed after the attack.

Mr Bacon’s attacker was never caught, the inquest heard, despite investigations by police, but the coroner said it was clear the assault had led to his death.

Geoffrey Bacon joined the Territorial Army in 1937, and was called up to the regular Army after the war started two years later.

During the war he joined the Royal Engineers as a mechanic and became a respected driver in the Royal Artillery, and was also in the Special Operations Executive.

At one point, while stationed in Windsor, he saved his wife Edith – who died in 2005 – from an attacking Luftwaffe plane, grabbing her and diving into a ditch.

After leaving the Army in 1946 he worked as a mechanic then for the Post Office and in a jeweller’s before retiring aged 69.

Speaking at the time of his death in 2010, his son Philip said: “The mugger is a complete coward who decided picking on a 91-year-old frail old man was easy.

“The robber didn’t have to do this to my Dad, didn’t have to end his life, because that is what he did.”