Charlie Horne

Charlie Horne died on Tuesday 3 November 2026 at Erskine Veterans Charity's Edinburgh home, where he had lived since the summer. He was 100. His death came days before Remembrance Sunday and a few weeks before what would have been his 101st birthday on 26 November. No cause of death was made public.

Erskine Veterans Charity announced his death. Its chief executive, Wing Commander Ian Cumming, said everyone whose lives Charlie touched was deeply saddened, adding: "His passing is particularly poignant as we approach Remembrance." He said it had been a privilege to care for Charlie in the final months of his life. The East Lothian Lieutenancy described him as "a remarkable man" who would be "remembered with pride and respect". His death was reported by the BBC, The Scotsman, The Telegraph, The Independent and the East Lothian Courier. Funeral arrangements had not been published at the time of writing.

Charles Horne, known as Charlie, was born in Prestonpans, East Lothian, on 26 November 1925. His family had fished out of Port Seton for generations. He was the oldest of eight children, and because his father, Andrew, a fisherman, was away at sea ten days out of twelve, he took on a good deal of responsibility at a young age, including running for the midwife or doctor when they were needed.

According to the John Gray Centre's exhibition on his life, he enjoyed school and often won prizes. He attended Prestonpans school and then Preston Lodge High School, where he was streamed to study Latin and French. He left school at 14 and went to sea, beginning a lifelong connection with fishing and the sea.

Horne joined the Royal Naval Patrol Service in 1943 while still a teenager. Already an experienced seaman, he served as a Stoker First Class in the engine room of the motor minesweeper MMS 291, a small wooden vessel that was among the first to head for the Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944. Its task was to clear mines off Omaha Beach ahead of the arrival of American troops.

The crew worked under fire from German shore batteries and air attack. Horne kept a handwritten diary, which recorded that his minesweeper destroyed eight mines after leaving Plymouth and described the wreckage and dead servicemen in the water. The minesweepers kept working off Normandy long after the first landings. On 18 June another minesweeper struck a mine nearby, and Horne and his shipmates launched their small boat to help rescue survivors. Speaking to the BBC on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, he said: "I was scared, I must admit, but you just had to get on with it."

After the war in Europe he continued mine clearance in Europe, North Africa and Asia, including service in Malta, and was demobilised in March 1947. He then returned to fishing, a career he followed for almost 50 years.

On his last leave home in 1946, Horne met Jenny Thayne at a dance at the Labour Hall in Musselburgh. They married in July 1949 and shared 60 years of marriage until Jenny's death in 2009. Dancing remained part of their life together throughout their marriage.

The couple had three daughters, Carolyn Algeo, Jean Craig and Margaret Nemri. His family grew to include grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was also survived by his younger siblings Nancy and Gordon, who joined several generations of the family to celebrate his 100th birthday in 2025. He lived in Port Seton for much of his life before moving to Edinburgh in the summer of 2026.

Horne's service at Normandy was recognised with the Legion d'honneur, France's highest order of merit. In later life he took part in D-Day anniversary commemorations, at which he met Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III and other members of the Royal Family, and he was interviewed repeatedly about his experiences.

His wartime diary and recollections helped others understand what minesweeper crews faced, and his life story is preserved in the John Gray Centre's online exhibition Golden Days: The Life of Charlie Horne. In a recent interview he said: "I will never forget the men who didn't come home. All I ask is that, when we are no longer here to tell you ourselves, you don't forget them either."