Mural planned for Ilkeston town hall to honour D-Day hero who died aged 110
Artists chosen to create tribute to war veteran Donald Rose on council building
A mural celebrating the life of a D-Day veteran who was Britain's oldest man when he died is set to be painted on the side of Ilkeston Town Hall.
Donald Rose was 110 when he died last summer, having survived being shot during the Normandy landings before going on to help liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany.
Erewash Borough Council has approved plans for the artwork, which will appear on a modern extension of its headquarters on the Market Place.
The tribute forms part of a wider £100,000 project to bring public art to the borough.
Design pays tribute to a "much-loved" veteran
The mural will be created by street artist John Culshaw, known for a Liverpool artwork honouring Nelson Mandela, working alongside fellow artist Neil Keating, who has produced several murals across Erewash.
Their design is themed around remembrance and will feature two portraits of Donald Rose, showing him as a smiling man in his hundreds and as a young private during the war.
The artwork will also depict World War Two fighter planes flying over a warship, alongside an image of a soldier looking into the sunset.
Because Ilkeston Town Hall itself is Grade II listed, the mural will instead be painted on a wall belonging to a finance block that extends behind the building beside bus stops on Wharncliffe Road.
Councillors gave the scheme the go-ahead at a planning meeting on Wednesday 23rd September.
A report presented to the planning committee said: "While the theme of the artwork is melancholic and thought-provoking, the colour scheme is warm and comforting, awakening feelings of hope and optimism."
Part of a wider push for public art
The mural is being funded through the Erewash Investment Fund, a £6.5 million pot set up by the council to support improvements across the borough, including efforts to revive its high streets.
Under the same fund, shops can apply for money to improve their signage and shopfronts, while council car parks have been made free to use at weekends.
Cllr Mark Alfrey, Erewash Borough Council's Lead Member for Environment, said murals have already been appearing in other parts of the borough.
"Murals have been appearing across the borough, including in Kirk Hallam and Petersham," Cllr Alfrey said.
"Earlier this month Neil collaborated with another talented artist, a local 23-year-old named Elle Koziupa, to transform the wall of a canalside building near Long Eaton's new West Park Bridge."
"That mural pays homage to the town's lace industry and proved an instant hit."
"The superb tribute to Donald promises to be just as inspirational."
From the desert to Belsen
Donald Rose, who was originally from Surrey, joined the Queen's Royal Regiment in 1940 at the age of 25.
He served as a Desert Rat with the 7th Armoured Division in North Africa, taking part in the campaign that helped defeat German commander Erwin Rommel.
In 1943 he fought in the Allied invasion of Italy, before landing in Normandy the following year, where he was wounded in the leg but returned to active duty.
He then fought through France, Belgium and the Netherlands into Germany, and in April 1945 was among the first Allied soldiers to enter the Bergen-Belsen death camp.
A celebrated final chapter
Donald Rose spent his later years at Canal Vue care home in Ilkeston, where he became Britain's oldest World War Two veteran and a well-known figure locally.
Opera singer Alfie Boe made a video call to sing Happy Birthday to him when he turned 110, and months before his death a delegation from the town hall visited to award him the freedom of the borough.
He died in July 2025, with his funeral cortege escorted by more than 100 bikers and hundreds of people lining the streets of Ilkeston to pay their respects.
His son, David Rose, spoke about his father's legacy at the time.
"I'm extremely proud of him. You start telling his story and you get a lump in the throat," David Rose said.
Donald Rose himself had always played down his wartime role.
"I didn't do anything that anybody else wouldn't have done," Donald Rose said.
Council flags were flown at half mast to mark his death, and the authority's leader, James Dawson, paid tribute to him.
"Erewash was privileged to count him as a resident," James Dawson said.