Mural of World War II hero Donald Rose unveiled on Ilkeston Town Hall

A mural honouring Donald Rose, the D-Day veteran who was the UK’s oldest Second World War survivor before his death last year, has been finished on Ilkeston’s Town Hall.

The council said the mural of Mr Rose on the Town Hall in Wharncliffe Road in Ilkeston, Derbyshire – which was revealed on Saturday when scaffolding was removed, “depicts Donald as a smiling centenarian and as a fresh-faced young private”.

Street artists Neil Keating and John Culshaw completed the piece on the side of an extension of the grade II-listed town hall. It was finished in time for November’s remembrance commemorations.

The council said the artists also raced to finish it in time for the 774th Ilkeston Charter Fair, which starts on Wednesday evening.

The fair’s opening ceremony will be on Thursday and revolves around King Henry III giving permission in 1252 for a fair to be held by the people of “Elkesdon”.

Councillor Mark Alfrey, who is the council’s lead member for environment, described the mural as “magnificent”, adding that it will be “ready for fairgoers who visit Ilkeston from all over the world to marvel at it”.

Mr Rose, a great-grandfather, died aged 110 in July 2025.

He had fought as a Desert Rat in North Africa during the war. Erewash Borough Council said Mr Rose survived a bullet to the leg before helping to liberate the Nazi death camp at Bergen-Belsen in Germany.

Born on Christmas Eve 1914, he was believed to be Britain’s oldest man before his death.

Originally from Westcott in Surrey, he joined the army aged 23. He later received a number of medals and was awarded the Legion D’Honneur, France’s highest honour, according to the Royal British Legion (RBL).

In May of last year, Mr Rose joined 45 other veterans as guests of honour at a tea party celebration hosted by the RBL at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to mark 80 years since VE Day. At the event, Mr Rose had said: “We just did what we thought was right and it was a relief when it was over.”

More than 100 motorcyclists paid tribute to Mr Rose, who was a big fan of motorbikes, by riding in convoy to his funeral at Ilkeston Football Ground in August last year.