A SOLDIER who was one of the last people to leave the beach at Dunkirk during the Second World War has died at the age of 105.

Col. Michael Allgood Bell was well-known in country sports circles and memorably caught a salmon on his beloved North Tyne after celebrating his 100th birthday in 2012.

He was also an avid huntsman with the Tynedale Hunt and was one of the best game shots the district has ever seen.

Col. Bell lived an active life at his long-term home of Staward Manor, Langley, until moving into Overstone Retirement Home in Hexham, 18 months ago.

Born at Broomhouse, Morpeth, in 1911, Col. Bell spent much of his early years at Nunwick, Simonburn, with his grandparents.

He became a Gentleman Cadet at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, before joining the Highland Light Infantry in Dover in 1932, where among his fellow junior officers was the future film star and author David Niven.

From there, Col. Bell joined the 2nd Battalion at Razmak on the Indian (now Pakistan) border with Afghanistan, before returning to Scotland in 1935.

At the outbreak of war, he was in command of a military police company and was promptly posted to France.

He and his company were on the beaches at Dunkirk supervising the evacuation, and he was one of the last to leave.

After a staff college course and long training for mountain warfare, Col. Bell went as second-in-command of his battalion, landing at Arromanches in late June 1944, a few weeks after D-Day.

He ended the war in Bremen where he saw the last air raid on the city.

After the war, Col. Bell was posted to the Gold Coast, Colchester and York, before being appointed Colonel of the Highland Brigade in Perth.

Having married his wife, Pat, in 1938, the family moved to Staward from Blindburn, near Wark, in 1954.

Following the death of Pat in 1992, Col. Bell lost the youngest of his two sons, Paddy, in a hunting accident in 2004.

Col. Bell is survived by his elder son, Tim, four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

A service of remembrance will take place at St Cuthbert’s Church, Haydon Bridge, on June 23, at 2.30pm.