War veteran killed himself after 'not wanting to become a burden on his family'

12 April 2012

As a paratrooper fighting in one of the toughest campaigns of World War II, Albert Taylor had to show incredible bravery.

But as he neared the end of his life, the 93-year-old decorated veteran could not bear to be a burden on his family as a he fought a long running battle with pneumonia.

He phoned his family and friends before walking out into the garden and, using his military expertise, severed the artery in his neck with a knife.

Mr Taylor was found dead in the garden in Knutsford, Cheshire, by neighbours with the kitchen knife lying by his side.

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Albert Taylor slit his own throat after he worried that he was becoming a burden on his own family

An inquest into his death this week heard the former paratrooper was worried about becoming a burden on his family when his health began to fade.

The veteran of the desert campaign also did not want a slow lingering death or die in hospital, his family told the hearing.

They said that as a former paratrooper, Mr Taylor knew how to inflict a fatal knife wound to his neck that would ensure a quick death.

His nephew James Shalliker told the inquest that his uncle, who was known as Bob, was very strong minded and had enjoyed an interesting life.

He entered the Army and served in Palestine before the war, later training as part of the newly-formed Parachute Regiment and serving in Egypt where he caught malaria.

A flare-up of the disease prevented him taking part in the Allied landings at Arnhem in 1944 in which thousands of British troops died, including his best friend.

Mr Shalliker said after he left the army he worked as a bus conductor, a mechanic and the green keeper at a golf course.

He said Mr Taylor had been a devoted husband to wife Edna and the couple, who had no children, loved their life in Cheshire.

But after her death in 1994, Mr Taylor had seemed lost without her though he still kept up with a network of friends and neighbours.

Mr Shalliker said: "In retrospect there was shock that we had lost Bob. But having realised what happened I don't feel terribly sad that he didn't live for two more days with pneumonia."

Initially, police suspected murder but a closer examination of the evidence revealed the former soldier had taken his own life.

A post mortem examination revealed he was suffering from pneumonia and found he had died from a single deep wound to his neck in June last year.

Recording a verdict of suicide, Cheshire deputy coroner Janet Napier said: "He seemed like an extremely delightful man.

"He obviously enjoyed life and he made other people happy.

"In this particular case it seems like he was conscious of his failing health.

"He had bronchial pneumonia and would have been aware that it made him feel worse.

"He planned his life and death. I am quite certain he made his own mind up. It was an incredibly brave thing to do."

Mr Shalliker, 64, from Plymouth, said: "It was all to do with his own dignity.

"When you think about how he died it seems awful, but he had a better life and better death than most people.

"Bob did take his own life, but this wasn't the act of a depressed man. He was a very proud person.

"He had pneumonia and we believe that he made the decision that he did not expect to recover and that he decided he was not going to die an undignified death in hospital fighting for his breath.

"He chose to die in his own way and time."

His niece Pauline Hoult added: "At first it was difficult to accept he took his own life, but afterwards you look at the reasons then it makes sense."

Another niece, Debbie Downing, told how Mr Taylor had phoned members of his family in the days before his death.

She said: "He rang to thank his family for everything we had done for him over the years.

"At the time I didn't think anything of it, but it was a few days before he died.

"Now I think I know why he called us. He was a very sentimental man and he would have known how ill he was."

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