Tributes have poured in for war hero Hector Duff after his death at the age of 101.

Mr Duff, a D-Day veteran, was part of the 7th Armoured Division, known as the Desert Rats. He later went on to serve in the Isle of Man Constabulary until his retirement in 1972.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said he was ’saddened to learn of Hector Duff’s passing’.

Mr Quayle added: ’I was only with him a week ago last Sunday for Armed Forces Day. Hector served his country and community with distinction until the very end.

’A Manx hero, he enriched our island and our lives. My thoughts are with his loved ones.’

Health and Social Care Minister David Ashford said Mr Duff was an ’amazing person who radiated human kindness to all who he ever came into contact with’.

’One of his great passions was to education and inform the younger generations about his war time experiences, something he did with great passion and oratory ensuring that those experience will not be lost to the annuals of time,’ Mr Ashford said.

Chief Constable Gary Roberts added his praise for Mr Duff, saying he was ’remarkable man, perhaps the greatest person it has been my privilege to know’.

Mr Roberts said: ’His courage, dignity, wickedly good humour and fundamental decency marked him out as someone special.

’Everyone associated with the Constabulary feels great sadness this evening, but also a real sense of pride in that we knew such a great Manxman.

’Hector’s family have been greatly saddened by his passing, but they will take strength from the depth of feeling that the Manx public had for him. They are in our thoughts and prayers.’

Tributes to Mr Duff have also come from some of the schools that he dedicated years of his life to as he educated the island’s children about his experiences of war.

Jo Richardson, head teacher of Onchan Primary School, said: ’He was one of the most special people I am so proud to have known and he left an enormous impression on so many of us. The world will be a quieter place without you Hector.’